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Outrage as Biden approves massive wind turbine project that could drive up energy bills more than 50%
New Jersey has become the latest victim of the Biden administration's push for net zero.
Earlier this month, the president approved a massive offshore project to build 195 wind turbines, the closest one just nine miles from the southern shore, by 2028.
The Atlantic Shores South project, nine years in the making, would deliver 2,800 megawatts of clean renewable electricity to the Garden State - enough to power around one million homes.
The Biden Administration sees the project as another milestone towards its goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.
But such rapid scaling is expected to increase energy costs to residents 55 percent by 2047, and industrial users could see an increase as high as 80 percent, according to an impact report by Whitestrand Consulting.
New Jersey has become the latest victim of the Biden administration's push for net zero (stock)
And residents aren't happy about that.
'Everybody in town is against the windmills. I have not met anyone yet that is for the windmills,' Nancy McGinnis, an Ocean City resident, told Fox 29.
The company behind the project, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind LLC, is a joint venture between Shell and EDF Renewables. They say the project will generate $1.9 billion in economic benefits for New Jersey, in addition to creating roughly 50,000 jobs.
Even so, New Jersey's offshore wind industry is heading in an economically unsustainable direction, according to the Whitestrand impact report.
'Offshore wind is economically not viable without major subsidies in the form of Federal tax credits and guaranteed above market power prices.
'The former is passed on the US taxpayers while the latter is a cost borne by NJ electric rate payers,' the report states.
But coastal New Jersians aren't just worried about energy costs.
Even though Atlantic Shores Wind LLC expects the project to reduce the state's annual greenhouse gas emissions by four million tons, locals are concerned about potential negative environmental impacts.
Residents of Long Beach Island (LBI) have formed the Save LBI coalition, uniting against the Atlantic Shores South project.
They're concerned about the 'destructive impact of placing hundreds of wind turbines in the ocean in close proximity to Long Beach Island and other shore communities,' the Save LBI website states.
In particular, Save LBI worries about the project's impact on marine wildlife.
The project would block a major migration corridor for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
It would also force ship traffic into a narrow 11-mile-wide corridor, which could cause safety issues for both ships and migrating whales.
Plus, offshore wind farms generate underwater noise pollution that can affect the behavior of fish, whales and other species.
Save LBI is also concerned that the wind farm will obstruct ocean views, and 'forever decimate the natural view of the horizon.'
In an effort to stop the project, Save LBI plans to take the state of New Jersey to court.
'The project violates a number of statutes and must be stopped, which is why we are challenging it in court. We have one lawsuit pending and will be pursuing at least seven other avenues of legal intervention,' Bob Stern, president and founder of Save LBI said.
Two other anti-offshore wind groups, Defend Brigantine Beach and Protect Our Coast NJ, are suing the state as well.
Last year, the same three groups sued the Danish wind energy company Orsted over a $1 billion subsidy the company received for an offshore wind project.
Orsted scrapped the project last October, citing supply chain issues and rising interest rates.
As the battle rages on between New Jersey's coastal residents and the state's efforts to become a national leader in offshore wind, Atlantic Shores South shows no sign of pulling the project.
The company's CEO, Joris Veldhoven, told NJ Spotlight News that he expects onshore construction of project components to begin as early as next year, but offshore work won't start until 2026 or 2027.
If this timeline holds, most of the turbines could be installed by 2028.
'That’s the nature of these projects,' Veldhoven told NJ Spotlight News. 'We’re talking multibillion-dollar construction projects that take years and years to develop and construct.'
The New Jersey Energy Master Plan has set a goal to achieve 100% clean energy by 2050. The state plans to hit that target in part by deploying 11,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2040.
Getting Atlantic Shores South off the ground would be a big step towards that goal, and would help move the needle on the Biden administration's goal to achieve a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
But its not just New Jersey seeing these changes. States all along the East Coast are facing rapid deployment of offshore wind in order to hit that 2050 target.
As policymakers throughout the US work to scale offshore wind, they can expect more headwinds from coastal Americans concerned about rising energy costs and environmental damage.