New Jersey continues to up the ante in states' commitments
to developing offshore wind.
When he ran for office, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy promised
to promote the deployment of 3,500 megawatts (MW) of wind energy
projects off the coast of New Jersey by 2030. That was more than
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's goal of building 2,400 MW of
offshore wind by 2030. And it was more than the mandate under
Massachusetts' Green Communities Act, which required the
state's electric distribution companies to solicit proposals
from developers for 1,600 MW of offshore wind by 2027.
Governor Murphy's 3,500-MW goal took root in the Offshore
Wind Economic Development Act (OWEDA) of 2010, which supports
offshore wind projects through offshore wind renewable energy
certificates (ORECs). OWEDA directed the New Jersey Board of Public
Utilities (BPU) to develop an OREC program to require that a
certain percentage of electricity—at least 1,100 MW of
generation—sold in New Jersey be