New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 8 ("EO8") on January 31, 2018. The purpose of EO8 was to reinvigorate the implementation of the State's Offshore Wind Economic Development Act ("OWEDA" or the "Act"). Noting that New Jersey possesses "some of the best offshore wind resources in the world," Governor Murphy affirmed the Garden State's commitment to "combat the threat of global climate change" to protect New Jersey and also "provide reliability and relief for the regional electric grid, which is the largest, most congested and most costly in the nation." Moreover, the Governor saw that "an aggressive offshore wind energy production goal" could result in the State housing key parts of the offshore wind supply chain for the Atlantic Coast, which would "contribute to a stronger New Jersey economy." To this end, in EO8 Governor Murphy set a "goal of 3,500 MW of offshore wind energy generation by the year 2030."
As required by OWEDA, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities ("Board" or "BPU") adopted rules that provided an application process and evaluation framework for offshore wind facilities. EO8 also directed the BPU to begin the rulemaking process to establish the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate ("OREC") Funding Mechanism. The rules that were promulgated set forth the method and processes by which New Jersey ratepayers fund offshore wind projects and how revenues from these projects are refunded to ratepayers. In September 2018, the BPU issued a solicitation for 1,100 MW of offshore wind energy generation. In June 2019, the BPU approved an application for a 1,100 MW offshore wind generation project submitted by Ocean Wind.
On November 19, 2019, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 92 ("EO92"), increasing the State's offshore wind energy generation goal to 7,500 MW by 2035. Governor Murphy found that as a result of efforts by the State following the issuance of EO8, "offshore wind development is a growing economic sector in the State with increases in supply chain presence, private investment in ports, workforce development efforts, and research and development for offshore wind industry and labor." Governor Murphy found that expanding the offshore wind goal will ensure that the State can "meet the State's goals of 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent clean energy by 2050, in addition to creating a significant number of good-paying jobs."
On September 9, 2020, the BPU issued a solicitation for 1,200 to 2,400 MW of offshore wind generation. On June 30, 2021, the BPU approved applications for a 1,510 MW offshore wind generation project submitted by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1, LLC and a 1,148 MW offshore wind generation project submitted by Ocean Wind II, LLC.
On February 28, 2022, the BPU announced an updated offshore wind solicitation schedule to meet the 7,500 MW goal by 2035. This updated schedule included revising the Third Solicitation schedule to accommodate the integration of the SAA coordinated transmission solution and to allow the developers who successfully bid for new lease areas in the New York Bight sufficient time to further develop their proposed projects, including the establishment of stakeholder and supply chain relationships.
On September 21, 2022, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 307 ("EO307"), increasing the State's offshore wind energy generation goal to 11,000 MW by 2040 and directing the Board to study the feasibility of increasing the target further.
On October 26, 2022, the Board issued the SAA Order, where it found the Larrabee Tri-Collector Solution to be the most desirable SAA solution at this time.
On February 15, 2023, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 315 (“EO 315”), changing New Jersey’s renewable energy goal from 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent clean energy by 2050 to 100 percent clean energy by 2035.
On March 6, 2023, the BPU issued a solicitation for 1,200 to 4,000 MW of offshore wind generation (“Third Solicitation”). On June 7, 2023, the Board extended the Application Submission Deadline for the Third Solicitation to August 4, 2023.
On October 25, 2023, the Board rejected the PBI proposals that were submitted as part of the Third Solicitation, finding that the PBI being awarded to a developer who also receives an award as a Qualified Offshore Wind Project represented an unreasonable risk to New Jersey ratepayers and directing Board staff (“Board Staff”) to develop a separate PBI solicitation.
On November 17, 2023, the Board issued a PBI solicitation and the Prebuild Solicitation Guidance Document in which it “explained that the Prebuild envisioned a single construction effort to install the necessary Duct Banks and associated access Cable Vaults to house transmission Conduits for future use of up to four (4) OSW Qualified Projects, thereby enabling these projects to access the wholesale transmission system. . . .” Any project awarded through the Prebuild Solicitation will be submitted to PJM for incorporation into the RTEP, and will also be submitted for cost recovery through the cost allocation provisions for Public Policy Projects, approved by FERC. The Prebuild Solicitation Application Submission Deadline is April 3, 2024, and an award is expected in Q3 2024.
On November 29, 2023, Governor Murphy directed the BPU to issue the Fourth Solicitation in early 2024 as a reaffirmation of New Jersey’s commitment to achieving a 100% clean energy economy by 2035, including the critical importance of the State’s supply chain facilities to the regional offshore wind industry.
On January 24, 2024, the Board approved the Application for the 2,400 MW Leading Light Wind project submitted by Invenergy Wind Offshore LLC. On January 24, 2024, the Board also approved the 1,342 MW Attentive Energy Two project submitted by Attentive Energy LLC. The Board awarded these projects the full SAA capability of the Larrabee Tri-Collector Solution.
With the release of the draft Solicitation Guidance Document for the Fourth Solicitation, an updated solicitation schedule was announced.
On May 28, 2024, the Governor Murphy and the Board announced the acceleration of the State's offshore wind solicitation schedule, as shown in the table below.
| Solicitation | Maximum Capacity Target (MW)* | Capacity Awarded (MW) | Issue Date | Submittal Date | Award Date | Estimated COD |
| 1 | 1,100 | 1,100 | Q3 2018 | Q4 2018 | Q2 2019 | 2024-25 |
| 2 | 1,200 - 2,400 | 2,658 | Q3 2020 | Q4 2020 | Q2 2021 | 2027-29 |
| 3 | 1,200 - 4,000 | 3,742 | Q1 2023 | Q3 2023 | Q1 2024 | 2031-32 |
| 4 | 1,200 - 4,000* | Q2 2024 | Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | 2032 | |
| 5 | 1,200 - 4,000** | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | 2034 | |
| 6 | 1,200 - 4,000** | Q2 2027 | Q3 2027 | Q1 2028 | 2035 | |
| 7 | 1,200 - 4,000** | Q2 2029 | Q3 2029 | Q1 2030 | 2037 | |
| Total Awarded + Target | 11,000 | * The Board may award projects above or below the target ** To be adjusted based on previous solicitation results | ||||
On July 15, 2022, the Bureau of Oceanic Management ("BOEM") published a Notice of Intent ("NOI") to prepare the New York Bight Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement ("PEIS"), which will analyze potential impacts from wind energy development activities in the NY Bight region. The 45-day public comment period closed on August 30, 2022 and comments can be viewed here.
In February 2022, BOEM completed the country's largest offshore wind lease area auction for six new lease areas between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. These lease areas are likely to interconnect either into New Jersey or New York. Information on the BOEM New York Bight lease areas can be found here.
The lease sale drew competitive winning bids from six companies totaling approximately $4.37 billion, exceeding the value of any U.S. offshore energy lease sale, including oil and gas lease sales, in U.S. history.
The leases grant lessees the exclusive right to propose construction and operation plans to BOEM for the authorization to develop offshore wind energy facilities in their lease areas.
The New Jersey Wind Port is the first purpose-built wind port on the East Coast, with no vertical restrictions and easy access to more than 50 percent of the available U.S. offshore wind lease areas. The port is located in Lower Alloways Creek, New Jersey, bringing new jobs and investments to New Jersey and particularly, South Jersey and Salem County.
The Wind Port is intended to support offshore wind marshalling activities but, longer term, has the potential for additional expansion to include co-located offshore wind manufacturing activities - with a potential developable footprint of over 200 acres. Any potential expansion beyond marshalling activities would be dependent on market demand as well as other factors.
The Port can be home to multiple manufacturing facilities that will build the necessary components for offshore wind turbines. It is also strategically situated for component staging, final assembly, and transport (collectively known as marshalling). The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is leading the development of the project on behalf of the State, working alongside key departments and agencies such as the Governor's Office, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Transportation, and the Board.
New Jersey took a monumental step on November 18, 2020, becoming the first state to integrate its offshore wind transmission objectives with the regional grid operator's planning and development process. To position the State to reach Governor Phil Murphy's ambitious OSW goals, the Board formally requested inclusion of its offshore wind public policy into the PJM, LLC ("PJM") regional transmission expansion planning analysis through the State Agreement Approach ("SAA"). In response to the SAA solicitation, transmission developers submitted 80 unique, competitive, ready-to-build designs seeking to integrate New Jersey's OSW resources into the PJM system.
On October 2022, the Board selected a series of projects to construct the on-shore transmission facilities necessary to successfully deliver offshore wind to New Jersey customers. The awards include a variety of projects needed to strengthen the regional and near-shore transmission grids, including the identification of a preferred point of interconnection for future offshore wind projects off the coast of New Jersey. The Board finds that this "transmission-first" approach to offshore wind, undertaken in partnership with its regional grid operator, PJM, will lower costs, reduce the chance of delays in offshore wind projects, and minimize community and environmental impacts.
Up to three future offshore wind projects may utilize the SAA solution, which was designed and selected to support New Jersey's then existing goal of 7,500 MW by 2035. The Board has directed staff to take steps necessary to evaluate whether a second SAA transmission solicitation is needed to achieve the new goal of 11,000 MW.