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NJ board directs staff to prepare solicitation for 1,100 MW of offshore wind

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NJ board directs staff to prepare solicitation for 1,100 MW of offshore wind

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities directed its staff to implement Gov. Phil Murphy's executive order on offshore wind and prepare a solicitation for the first 1,100 MW of capacity.

On Feb. 28, the board, or BPU, issued an order in response to Murphy's Executive Order 8 to move the state toward a goal of having a total of 3,500 MW of wind offshore by 2030, the agency said in a news release. In that order, Murphy acknowledged that New Jersey has the potential to power at least 1.5 million homes with offshore wind, but despite legislation enacted in 2010, development of offshore resources never occurred during the administration of his predecessor, former Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

The BPU will work with developers and stakeholders on defining the minimum requirements of the solicitation, the board said in its release. The order directs BPU staff and the state Department of Environmental Protection to form an offshore wind task force to come up with a strategic plan on how to achieve the governor's goals. Staff will also start a rulemaking process to develop a funding mechanism for offshore wind renewable energy credits, the BPU said.

The board plans to work with the state Treasury Department to evaluate any gaps in staffing or expertise, according to the release. Lastly, the order directs staff to recommend plans for a regional offshore wind roundtable to explore multistate collaborations and potential regional opportunities on offshore wind. The BPU suggested the roundtable could involve neighboring states, the grid operator PJM Interconnection, and consumer advocates such as the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel.

Developer Deepwater Wind, which in 2016 completed the nation's first offshore wind project, Block Island Offshore Wind, off the coast of Rhode Island, said in a March 1 Twitter post, "Under Gov. Murphy's leadership, New Jersey is finally putting offshore wind back on track."

The BPU in 2011 opened its first solicitation for offshore wind projects to comply with the 2010 Offshore Wind Economic Development Act, which required the state to develop at least 1,100 MW of offshore wind. The most viable project that emerged from that solicitation was a $200 million, 25-MW demonstration project offshore Atlantic City, N.J., proposed by developer Fishermen's Energy of New Jersey LLC, but the project was denied multiple times by the BPU for its estimated OREC price, which represents the price of the power.

Fishermen's appeals of the BPU's decision failed before both a state appellate court and at the state Supreme Court, which in 2015 decided not to take up the appeal. Several bills to allow reconsideration of the 25-MW project or ease the approval process were vetoed by Christie.