(The Center Square) — New Jersey is backing away from several major offshore wind projects as the Trump administration seeks to pull federal leases for the clean energy initiatives.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced this week that New Jersey won’t be providing financial support for a pair of offshore wind projects, including the Atlantic Shores South project, which was given a green light by the U.S. Department of the Interior last year.
The project had called for installing 200 wind turbines less than nine miles off the New Jersey coast — providing enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes.
In a statement, Murphy described offshore wind as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to create tens of thousands of jobs, drive an entirely new manufacturing supply chain, and secure energy independence” but said the industry is “currently facing significant challenges.”
The move follows President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for both onshore and offshore wind projects.
Trump’s order, signed just hours after being sworn into office on Jan. 20, directed the interior secretary to review existing wind leases and permits for federal waters and lands. The assessment will weigh the environmental impact of wind projects on wildlife, economic costs of generating electricity and the impact of federal subsidies on the industry, according to the order.
Murphy, a termed-out Democrat, said he still supports wind energy and hopes the Trump Administration “will partner with New Jersey to lower costs for consumers, promote energy security, and create good-paying construction and manufacturing jobs.”
Other Northeast states say they are still plodding along with offshore wind projects despite Trump’s efforts to kill the nascent industry.
In September, Massachusetts and Rhode Island jointly announced that they plan to procure a total of 2,678 megawatts of offshore wind power spread across all three projects that submitted bids earlier this year, which, when completed, will be capable of providing enough electricity to power more than 1.4 million homes.
In Maine, Republicans are asking Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to revoke existing leases and permits to develop offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. The federal government has identified more than 9.8 million acres off Maine’s coast as potential commercial offshore wind sites. The state has at least two projects planned.
In recent years, offshore wind has come under increasing scrutiny from Trump and other Republicans for what they describe as hidden environmental costs, reliability issues and long-term sustainability challenges.
It has also faced opposition from commercial fishermen and conservation groups who argue that towering turbines off the nation’s coastlines will hurt marine life, the fishing and tourism industries, and the local economy.
Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, had aggressively pursued plans by the federal government to add at least 35 gigawatts of offshore wind in the U.S. by 2030, beginning with Vineyard Wind off the southern coast of Massachusetts. He argued the expansion of wind will boost the nation’s clean energy industry and create jobs.
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, responsible for managing energy resources in federal waters, has outlined eight lease areas off the coast of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Currently, wind power provides roughly 10% of the electricity generated in the United States, making it the nation’s largest renewable energy source, according to the American Clean Power Association. More than 73 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity — enough to power an estimated 30 million households — was under development before Trump issued his executive order.
