Garden State Times

Senator Holly Schepisi (R-39) has unveiled a new legislative proposal on Tuesday, aimed at safeguarding utility customers in New Jersey from bearing the financial burdens linked to subsidies for forthcoming offshore wind projects.

The initiative comes in response to recent developments involving offshore wind projects in the state. Last July, Governor Murphy signed a bill granting a tax break to Ørsted, a Danish offshore wind developer, for two energy projects along the New Jersey coastline. The move redirected up to $1 billion that would have otherwise been allocated for utility ratepayers. However, Ørsted withdrew from the projects in late October due to escalating costs and supply chain challenges. Despite this setback, the Board of Public Utilities proceeded to award a new offshore wind project to a different company and closed a solicitation for further wind development just last week.

Schepisi emphasized the need for caution in the face of economic uncertainties, stating, "High inflation, rising interest rates, and ongoing supply chain issues continue to jeopardize the future of offshore wind. We need to ensure that offshore wind projects are environmentally safe and economically viable, so that we don't have to subsidize wind farm developers on the backs of New Jersey's utility customers."

The bill introduced by Schepisi, known as S-3078, seeks to prevent the Board of Public Utilities from collecting or pre-collecting any Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate surcharge from ratepayers for future offshore wind projects, irrespective of the intended beneficiary of the subsidy.

"New Jerseyans don’t need yet another surcharge added to the long list of taxes and fees they encounter every day,” Schepisi reiterated. “Our overtaxed residents are burdened with ever increasing utility bills and these funds were intended to provide some relief to these taxpayers. If offshore wind power companies need massive government subsidies in order to operate, then they should seriously reconsider their business model."