Control of the governor’s seat in New Jersey is moving to a
Democrat — a shift that could be a big win for wind power in the state’s
waters.
Phil Murphy won the New Jersey gubernatorial election
yesterday over Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.
Despite having legislation in place since 2010 calling for
mechanisms to support offshore wind development, including authorization of
offshore wind energy credits, New Jersey never achieved any progress on that
front.
Speaking
to Renewable Energy World in September, Shiva Polefka, associate
director, ocean policy, for the Center for American Progress, said that if
Murphy won the race for governor, “New Jersey could very quickly spring to life
as a major new market for offshore wind development.”
As part of his campaign platform, Murphy in April, called
for a plan to establish a New Jersey offshore wind target of 3,500 MW by 2030.
Ocean
Wind LLC, an Ørsted company, and US Wind Inc. hold leases for offshore
wind development in New Jersey waters. Earlier this year, both companies
requested that BOEM extend the term for the commercial leases from March 2017
to March 2018. BOEM approved the requests, and site assessment plans for the
lease areas are due in March 2018.
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