Orsted proposes to build a wind farm 15 miles off the South Jersey coast. This photo shows the turbines for an Orsted project overseas. (Photo credit Orsted)
TRENTON - In a court filing announced today, opponents of Orsted's offshore wind turbine project asked NJ Superior Court to strike down Orsted's nearly $1 billion subsidy in violation of the New Jersey Constitution.
According to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court by Protect Our Coast NJ and Defend Brigantine Beach, the subsidies granted by the NJ Legislature for the Ocean Wind 1 turbine facility are an unconstitutional state giveaway, a release stated.
The Legislature's giveaway of federal tax credits to Orsted benefits a single company in violation of the New Jersey Constitution, said Bruce Afran, counsel for the two public interest groups that filed the suit. In New Jersey, laws that favor a single private party are generally unconstitutional.
In a bill passed last month and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on July 6, the NJ Legislature awarded Orsted nearly $1 billion in federal tax credits, reversing the Board of Public Utility's 2019 order that required Orsted to refund the tax credits to ratepayers to keep the costs of the 98-unit turbine facility from being paid by the public, Afran said.
Orsted said "inflation" and "supply chain" issues could prevent it from building the offshore wind facility.
In a statement to the Assembly last month, the NJ Division of Rate Counsel condemned the bill saying that it would push the cost of the offshore wind project onto ratepayers and there was no evidence that Orsted needed the additional funds to build the turbine facility.
Basically, the Legislature caved to the Danish engineering company, giving away $1 billion in tax credits to relieve Orsted from its commitment to build Ocean Wind 1 from its own money, Afran said.
The suit is pending before Superior Court Judge Douglas H. Hurd in Trenton and is expected to be heard in fall.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Economic Development Authority agreed to allow Orsted to sublease 34 acres of land at the 220-acre NJ Wind Port owned by PSEG Nuclear for two years at a cost of more than $25 million.
Orsted is the first tenant at the Wind Port, which plans to build wharfs where turbine components, such as blades, towers and cables can be shipped out to other wind project locations along the East Coast.
The project is expected to create 200 jobs during the lease period.
Ocean Wind 1 is the first of two wind turbine projects being built by Orsted off the coat of New Jersey.
