Gov. Phil Murphy
“Today’s decision by Orsted to abandon its commitments to New Jersey is outrageous and calls into question the company’s credibility and competence. As recently as several weeks ago, the company made public statements regarding the viability and progress of the Ocean Wind 1 project. In recognition of the challenges inherent in large and complex projects, my Administration in partnership with legislative leadership, insisted upon important protections that ensure New Jersey will receive $300 million to support the offshore wind sector should Orsted’s New Jersey projects fail to proceed. I have directed my Administration to review all legal rights and remedies and to take all necessary steps to ensure that Orsted fully and immediately honors its obligations. “Ultimately, as we have seen in other states recently, offshore wind projects awarded prior to 2020 have been impacted by a combination of interest rate escalation, supply chain cost increases, and inflation. And while today is a setback, the future of offshore wind in New Jersey remains strong. In recent weeks we’ve seen a historically high number of bids into New Jersey’s ongoing third offshore wind solicitation, and the Board of Public Utilities will shortly announce two additional solicitations related to our first-in-the-nation State Agreement Approach to build an offshore wind transmission infrastructure.
“I remain committed to ensuring that New Jersey becomes a global leader in offshore wind – which is critical to our economic, environmental, and clean energy future.”
Senate President Nicholas Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin
“Protecting ratepayers while ensuring a safe environment for future generations has always been our top priority. Unfortunately, Ørsted has repeatedly failed to live up to their commitments to meet those goals, and their failure has now impeded our clean energy efforts.
“We will continue to move forward and create a strong green energy economy that is both manufactured and constructed with union labor. However, these projects cannot be realized without absolute ratepayer protection.
“We will utilize every taxpayer safeguard included in the prior law and make all necessary legislative changes to protect New Jersey residents moving forward. We will continue to stand up for ratepayers, the Shore tourism industry, our economy, and a clean environment.”
Rep. Jeff Van Drew
“Tonight, David defeated Goliath! These Green New Deal style wind farms were bad for our economy, bad for our environment, and would have been an unmitigated disaster for South Jersey’s hard working middle class families which is why we fought like hell over the last few years to make their defeat a reality,” said United States Congressman Jeff Van Drew. “Thank you to the elected officials from every corner of South Jersey, Judge Michael Donohue, all of the various grassroots organizations that spring up, and most importantly the people of South Jersey who have stood shoulder to shoulder with us in this fight. While we welcome the news that Orsted has abandoned Ocean Wind One & Two, we need to build on this momentum and see to it that the remaining projects proposed off our Coast meet the same fate.”
State Sen. Vince Polistina
“I want to applaud the concern by so many people in Atlantic County who had questions about the costs of the project, the impact on utility rates, and how the work was affecting our marine environment. This was a true grassroots effort by so many who were up against their state government, former senators, and some in the building trades who were hell bent on getting the project done no matter what the impacts were.
“It was clear when Don Guardian, Claire Swift and I started asking questions in January that more studies needed to be done on offshore wind. Costs, our marine environment, Jersey Shore beaches and tourism economy in Atlantic County are too important to rush to a conclusion before all the facts are known.
“The revocation of my state building trades endorsement, the bullying from some who had their own agenda, and now the fraudulent campaign against me partially funded with over 2.5 million of union money because I was simply asking questions is over the top. Standing up for our constituents that had concerns hasn’t been the easiest thing we have dealt with but we said we would always do what was right for Atlantic County and it’s residents no matter the consequences.”
State Sen. Vin Gopal and Assembly candidates Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul
“When I broke with my party to vote against the bill to give Ørsted subsidies this past summer, I criticized the Administration and the Legislature for rushing this issue and I criticized Ørsted as a company for failing to be honest about the financial landscape and cost to ratepayers.”
“We are formally calling on the Attorney General to sue Ørsted for fraud and negligence and to get back every dollar given to them from that horrendous subsidy bill. This was a bad deal for ratepayers, and it is up to the Attorney General to recover every single tax dollar wasted.“Whenever a corporation proves to be dishonest and misleading about their commitment to New Jersey, it should be immediately met with the legal remedies necessary to protect our residents and taxpayers.”
Eric DeGesero of the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey and the New Jersey Propane Gas Association
“Time and time again, the Murphy Administration fails to consider the cost to New Jersey consumers when implementing its extreme energy plans.
“Inflation must be really bad if Orsted squandered $1 billion of our ratepayers’ dollars in four months. Unfortunately, that’s chump change compared to what will come directly from our pockets for Governor Murphy’s mandates on electric cars and electric heat.”
State Sen. Kristin Corrado, Assemblyman Chris DePhillips and Assembly candidate Al Barlas
“Governor Phil Murphy and his democrat legislature vehemently denied any correlation between their quest to industrialize our shore and dead ocean animals, while they shoveled taxpayer subsidized incentives to a foreign company. The Democrats rammed a $1 billion tax credit through claiming anyone who didn’t support it was against clean energy. They denounced opponents of the subsidy as being anti-union worker. They chastised anyone who dared to question whether Orsted could/would deliver on the project. Tonight, we are sure Governor Murphy and every democrat who voted for the subsidy is currently on the phone to Denmark getting our tax dollars back. In case they need it, here’s the number for Orsted Corporate 011-45-9955-5111.”
Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli
“To save face, Murphy will now talk about suing Orsted and having the ocean floor leases re-bid to another company. We need to be vigilant in protecting our Jersey shore. Vote Republican.”
Rep. Christopher Smith
“Turns out that despite huge taxpayer subsidies and credible predictions of big increases to ratepayers, Ørsted has concluded that they will still lose money.”
“Ørsted’s decision was a first step in exposing the economic unsustainability and environmental dangerousness of ocean wind turbines—each the size of the Chrysler Building in New York City—and Orsted’s pulling out of the deal may help slow and eventually halt similar projects off New Jersey’s coast.”
“Offshore wind development will have a catastrophic impact on sea mammals including whales and dolphins, it will destroy commercial and recreational fishing, it will harm tourism and it will significantly weaken and degrade radar making ship navigation and piloting jets, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft incredibly dangerous. Offshore wind turbines are a serious threat to national security.”
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco
“Republicans stated for months that Orsted’s offshore wind project was unsustainable and would inevitably fail. Orsted’s decision today confirms that Republicans were right when we said this was too much, too fast, and too costly. Their financial challenges were glaringly obvious, yet Democrats ignored the warning signs to rush through Governor Murphy’s extreme energy master plan without any due diligence. This is just another example of how Governor Murphy’s outrageous energy master plan is coming back to hurt New Jersey taxpayers.
“Thanks to the leadership of representatives like Congressman Jeff Van Drew and my Republican colleagues in the Legislature, the negative environmental and economic effects of Governor Murphy’s failed progressive offshore wind agenda were exposed. The public deserves to know how much money has been wasted on this epic boondoggle. Republicans stand ready to meet this challenge and to ensure that New Jersey’s energy portfolio is strong, safe, transparent, diverse, and fair. It’s time for Republican leadership.”
“Senate Republicans warned over the summer that Orsted’s financial problems would pose a threat to the sustainability of their offshore wind projects. Orsted’s announcement today confirmed that Republicans were right.”
State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, Assemblyman Gerald Scharfenberger, and Assemblywoman Vicki Flynn
“Tonight’s announcement by Orsted is not a surprise to those who have been relentless in questioning the Governor’s overzealous “green” energy mandates.
“For those of us who simply asked reasonable questions about the long-term, practicable and financial viability of the proposed offshore projects, this is an “I told you so” moment.
“We all would love an unending source of energy with no drawbacks. But the wind projects backed by the Governor and Trenton Democrats never seemed to add up – financially or environmentally.
“The failure of the Murphy administration to engage in a critical assessment of these projects, and the Democrat-led legislature’s willingness to use taxpayer dollars to fund these risky projects always was suspect to the LD13 team, which is why we called for a moratorium for all offshore wind initiatives back in March 2023.
“What is a surprise is the feigned outrage by the Governor in response to Orsted’s announcement that it is abandoning these projects. It was quite obvious in June that these projects were unsustainable without substantial financial backing by taxpayer dollars. The Governor and the Democratic-led legislature knew this, and yet, rammed a billion-dollar bailout bill through Trenton for Orsted without any regard for N.J. taxpayers.
“We strongly disagree with the Governor’s position to use litigation to resurrect what is ultimately a horrific deal for our State. Rather than spend more N.J. taxpayer funds to make Orsted “honor their commitment,” as the Governor suggested in his statement, New Jersey should instead take legislative action to prevent any further ill-conceived corporate bailouts for foreign companies immediately. We cannot afford any more back-room dealings by this administration.
“The urgency for a wholesale change in leadership in N.J. has never been more clear as it is tonight – only with a change in leadership in Trenton will we have a real, logical analysis of the Governor’s green energy schemes and other illogical policies the Democrats have enacted under one-party rule.
“The winds are shifting in favor of a new, common-sense leadership in Trenton. The first bill passed in lame duck should be AR181 and impose a moratorium on all offshore wind projects. We hope that given how Orsted has treated New Jersey overall, we would expect this bill to receive bipartisan support.”
State Sen. Joseph Lagana, Assemblywoman Lisa Swain and Christopher Tully
“Ørsted’s decision to abandon its commitments to New Jersey is deeply concerning and raises doubts about the company’s credibility and capability. They acted in bad faith in their negotiations with the state and pulled the rug out from under our ratepayers. We gave them a chance, and they failed us, plain and simple.”
“In collaboration with legislative leadership, we had insisted on crucial safeguards to secure a $300 million support fund for New Jersey in case Ørsted’s projects in the state faced obstacles. We now call on the state to thoroughly assess all legal rights and remedies and to take any necessary actions to ensure that Ørsted promptly and completely fulfills its obligations. To that end, we will immediately begin work on legislation to hold Ørsted accountable and honor their commitment.”
38th District Republicans Micheline Attieh, Gail Horton and Barry Wilkes
“Ørsted’s decision to abandon projects that would continue to hurt New Jersey ratepayers, marine life, and our vital tourism economy is undoubtedly a win for us all. This fiasco, however, also raises serious questions about the judgment of Senator Joe Lagana and Assemblymembers Lisa Swain and Chris Tully, who voted just a few weeks ago to give this foreign offshore wind company a one billion dollar, taxpayer funded bailout. From the high cost of living we are all facing due to their overspending to this latest green energy scheme that has fallen through after substantial taxpayer investment, Lagana, Swain, and Tully continue to show that they cannot be trusted with our hard-earned dollars.”
Republican State Chairman Bob Hugin
“While we are pleased that the voices of grassroots activists and concerns of New Jersey taxpayers prevailed over powerful, foreign offshore wind interests, it does not change the simple fact that Governor Murphy and Democrats in the legislature backed this unsustainable technology at every turn. “Just this summer, Murphy and the Democrats doubled down on this failing scheme with our taxpayer dollars to the tune of a $1 billion bailout. Their irresponsible abuse of our resources and incalculable damage to our shoreline will not be forgotten. Voters will take into account Governor Murphy’s ‘competence and credibility’ on Election Day. New Jersey needs to have all energy options on the table while making it affordable for our families and seniors. It’s time to put ratepayers and taxpayers first in considering the necessary energy transitions we face as a society. Since Democrats in this one-party rule state have proven to be useless lapdogs in enabling this egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars, only common sense Republican leadership in the legislature can produce solutions that will put New Jersey families first.”
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October 31, 2023 -
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