PSEG Archives - Saving Seafood

Proposed N.J. wind farm could have major impact on area fisheries, draft report says

June 20, 2022 — A proposed wind farm off the Jersey Shore could significantly affect local fisheries and boat traffic but generally have little impact on tourism and marine life while helping to move away from oil and gas, according to the draft environmental impact statement released Friday by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The impact statement is the next step toward winning federal approval for Ocean Wind, a wind farm to be built by the Danish energy company Ørsted and PSEG.

The draft statement addressed concerns by officials in some New Jersey beach towns that the turbines would spoil the ocean views and discourage tourists from returning.

It said the impact of the wind farm would be moderate on tourism due to noise from construction and the new structures, but that the wind turbines could attract tourists eager to see them.

The impact on cultural artifacts could be significant as “the introduction of intrusive visual elements” could “alter character-defining ocean views of historic properties onshore” and work on the ocean floor could disturb shipwrecks or submerged archaeological sites, the statement said.

And the significant impacts on fisheries could be attributed to ongoing regulations, climate change and the disruptions to operations by the construction and installation of the turbines, the report said. Some fishing vessels would decide to avoid the area altogether.

Read the full story at NJ.com

Orsted will use NJ Wind Port to build offshore wind farm

April 28, 2022 — Orsted, the Danish wind power developer, signed an agreement Thursday with New Jersey officials to use a state-financed manufacturing port to build the components of the state’s first offshore wind farm.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the agreement during an international wind energy conference in Atlantic City, from whose coast the project’s turbines should be visible on the distant horizon.

Orsted, which is partnering with Newark-based PSEG to build the project, will lease the New Jersey Wind Port in Salem County for two years starting in April 2024. Murphy did not reveal how much the developers will pay for the lease. The parties signed the letter of intent Thursday, but binding agreements are to be submitted to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority by June.

The pact marks the first return on the state’s investment of up to $500 million in the wind port, designed to help the state attract companies interested in building wind power projects here as it seeks to become the East Coast hub of the offshore wind industry.

Read the full story at AP News

NEW JERSEY: Fishermen say Ørsted boats destroying traps

April 11, 2022 — Several commercial fishermen claim survey boats hired by wind turbine developer Ørsted inadvertently cut their lines causing their lobster and conch traps to be lost in the ocean. At issue: being reimbursed from Ørsted for the lost gear and income

Lobster fisherman Joe Wagner, a second-generation fisherman of lobster, sea bass and conch, said last year he lost 157 lobster traps to Ørsted, which is partnering with PSEG on the Ocean Wind 1 project that aims to bring up to 99 massive wind turbines to an area 15 miles off the coast of Cape May and Atlantic counties.

“They only paid me for a handful of them because they say it wasn’t their boats,” he said.

Wagner said Ørsted made that claim based on tracking data of the survey boats. He said he caught the survey boats frequently turning off their tracking devices.

Last year his father lost 100 lobster pots to Ørsted survey boats, Wagner asserted, again with Ørsted claiming their boats were not to blame. The cost of lobster pots is $180 to $220 each with a possible two-year delay to receive all the replacements due to supply chain issues, he said.

He said Ørsted sends a weekly email to fishermen with a photo of their leased areas stating “our vessels might be in your area” but doesn’t give exact coordinates.

Read the full story at Ocean City Sentinel

NEW YORK: LIPA, PSEG urged to disclose costs of green-energy program

May 8, 2017 — A cross-section of ratepayers, lawmakers and industry groups are calling for LIPA and PSEG Long Island to disclose the cost of green-energy plans central to LIPA’s release of a three-year study of future energy options.

Missing from an exhaustive three-year study by PSEG were the costs to develop hundreds of megawatts of new offshore wind arrays and solar power needed to comply with state clean-energy mandates. LIPA summarized the study and has been selectively releasing it this month.

When PSEG began the review in 2014, its president, David Daly, vowed both full disclosure and a clear look at how each of the scenarios would affect customers. The PSEG review would have a “very strong focus on transparency,” Daly said, promising to report how each new power source would affect the system, including its impact on customer rates.

But the summary released by LIPA last month leaves out the cost of implementing Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard. The plan calls for LIPA to incorporate some 800 megawatts of new green-energy sources over the next 20 years, despite finding that LIPA won’t need any new energy sources until 2030.

Read the full story at Newsday