The US state of New Jersey has scrapped its first-in-the-nation plan to incorporate offshore wind development targets into its regional grid planning process.
The move comes on the heels of the cancellation of Invenergy’s 2.4GW Leading Light Wind project and the 1.3GW Attentive Energy 2 proposal from TotalEnergies and Corio amid the market uncertainty created by President Donald Trump’s sweeping attack on the sector.
The cancellation of Leading Light Wind and TotalEnergies’ $1bn lease refund deal with the federal government left New Jersey without a viable offshore wind proposal on the table, the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) determined this week.
“New Jersey is now facing a situation in which there will be no identified, large-scale in-state generation projects under active development that can make use of (the cost sharing agreement between the state and grid operator PJM),” the BPU declared this week.
BPU staff recommended the termination of the agreement, and quickly, in an 22 April filing with the board.
“Staff emphasizes that prompt Board action is essential to avoiding a potentially significant increase in New Jersey ratepayers’ cost exposure,” staff wrote.
The move will cancel some $800m worth of grid upgrades originally intended to incorporate offshore wind capacity into the regional transmission system.
“Recent action taken by the federal government, including but not limited to Executive Orders, memoranda, and stop-work orders to individual projects, and payments to foreign energy developers have created significant regulatory uncertainty and disruption in the domestic energy industry,” the BPU wrote this week.
“These actions have altered federal permitting and leasing processes and undermined the regulatory framework necessary for New Jersey to continue progress toward investing in certain in-state generation resources and associated transmission planning.”