Fishermen’s Energy released a “Job Creation and Economic Content” report today that documents the jobs that will be created in New Jersey from building and operating its planned demonstration scale offshore wind project off the coast of Atlantic City.
The report shows that the project will create almost 500 jobs and will bring more than $150 million in direct investment into New Jersey. “This project is just a down payment on job creation,” said Chris Wissemann, CEO of Fishermen’s Energy. “Iowa took a leadership position in the land-based wind business a decade ago and garnered more than 80 new suppliers and generated more than 3,200 jobs in that state. New Jersey is poised to do the same in offshore wind.” “Clean, responsible energy development projects like this bring good-paying jobs to our state and help us modernize New Jersey’s Economy,” said New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez. “Weeks is investing in the offshore wind industry. We have local vessels and personnel ready to build Fishermen’s Energy Atlantic City project,” said Rick Palmer, vice president of Weeks Marine, a leading marine contractor based in New Jersey, stated: “This industry has created 60,000 jobs in Europe. We would like to bring some of those jobs here,” COO & General Counsel of Fishermen’s Energy Paul Gallagher said. Atlantic City Mayor Donald Guardian concluded, “with the recent loss of jobs in Atlantic City, jobs from this new industry are all the more important for the future of our city.” Former Governor Christine Todd Whitman writing with other Republican former Secretaries of the Environmental Protection Agency in the New York Times on August 1 proposed a Republican Case for Climate Action[1]. She recognizes that traditional Republican responses are untenable in the current political environment, but argues that the Environment itself cannot afford to wait.
“The costs of inaction are undeniable. The lines of scientific evidence grow only stronger and more numerous. And the window of time remaining to act is growing smaller: delay could mean that warming becomes ‘locked in’.” Over the dozen plus years since Governor Whitman left the Governor’s mansion, New Jersey has taken a number of steps to address these challenges. The phenomenal success of solar energy in New Jersey has now been recognized by the National Academy of Sciences, which according to a study published in June[2], found that solar energy in New Jersey displaces significantly more sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter than would a panel in Arizona, resulting in 15 times more health and environmental benefits. The same can be true for wind. Starting with The New Jersey Offshore Wind Feasibility Study prepared for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities by Atlantic Renewable Energy Corporation and AWS Scientific, Inc. and completed in November of 2004[3]; the Blue Ribbon Panel on the Development of Wind Turbine Facilities in Coastal Waters which called for offshore wind demonstration projects on May 1, 2006[4]; the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities award of met tower grants in December of 2008; and with the completion of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Baseline Studies Environmental Impact Study in 2010[5], governmental leadership in New Jersey provided the groundwork for the State to lead the offshore wind industry in America. These actions were confirmed with the adoption of the 2011 Energy Master Plan, which Governor Chris Christie unveiled on December 6, 2011[6]. “This final adopted Energy Master Plan demonstrates the Administration's firm commitment to change the way energy is produced, distributed and used as part of our broader emphasis on driving the development of cleaner and renewable sources of energy to spur business and economic growth throughout the Garden State," said Governor Christie. "The EMP offers concrete strategies to reduce some of the nation's highest energy rates and make them comparable to costs in other regions and states, which is consistent with the recommendations of the State Strategic Plan for facilitating economic growth and lowering the cost of living for New Jersey residents[7]." In August 2010, following bipartisan support in the Legislature, Governor Chris Christie signed the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act (OWEDA)[8], a groundbreaking statutory model which established a financing mechanism to provide offshore development companies with a market for their energy and, perhaps more importantly, with an economic incentive for manufacturing and supply chain development in New Jersey. Three years ago last month, the stage was set for New Jersey to lead the development of this nascent industry in North America and to garner the jobs and investment that it will create. Fishermen’s Energy, founded by New Jersey commercial fishermen to respond to the public’s need to develop the ocean for renewable wind energy, was prepared and positioned to pursue the opportunities created by OWEDA. Fishermen’s goal is to turn Atlantic coastal waters into an unmatched source of clean energy, while maintaining a vibrant commercial fishing industry. By partnering with experienced professionals in the renewable energy and the offshore wind business community, Fishermen’s was soon in a position to propose, plan, and build a responsible project to serve the public’s need for safe renewable energy within the context of OWEDA. Three years after OWEDA became Law, Fishermen’s has a fully permitted five turbine 25 MW project, the Atlantic City Wind Farm, pending NJBPU approval. The project, which has already been awarded a Department of Energy Advanced Technology Grant of $4M, will likely be the first offshore wind farm in America if construction commences during 2015 and operations commence as scheduled in 2016. This $188 million project will create over 400 jobs in New Jersey, will kick start an industry, and will lead to manufacturing and supply chain development along the Delaware River to service the build out of American offshore wind, a build out that Fishermen’s and its partners are eager to lead. “We can have both a strong economy and a livable climate” wrote Governor Whitman. “All parties know that we need both. The rest of the discussion is either detail, which we can resolve, or purposeful delay, which we should not tolerate.” Immediately upon final approval from the NJBPU, Fishermen’s Atlantic City Wind Farm will commence construction. Years of permitting, economic and environmental studies, and planning have made this project “shovel ready”, representing New Jobs for New Jersey Now. A new industry, including the manufacturing and supply chain needed to sustain it, will develop here in New Jersey if the State signals to the world that it is in fact open for business. [1] A Republican Case for Climate Action By WILLIAM D. RUCKELSHAUS, LEE M. THOMAS, WILLIAM K. REILLY and CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, New York Times, August 1, 2013 [2] Regional variations in the health, environmental, and climate benefits of wind and solar generation: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States .By Kyle Siler-Evansa, Inês Lima Azevedoa, M. Granger Morgana, and Jay Apta (Edited by Edward L. Miles, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, and approved May 15, 2013) [3] http://www.njcleanenergy.com/files/file/FinalNewJersey.pdf [4] http://www.state.nj.us/njwindpanel/docs/finalwindpanelreport.pdf [5] http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/ocean-wind/vol1-cover-intro.pdf [6] http://nj.gov/emp/docs/pdf/2011_Final_Energy_Master_Plan.pdf [7] http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/552011/approved/20111206b.html [8] Offshore Wind Economic Development Act, 2010 N.J. Laws 57 (codified as amended at NJSA §48:3-87(d)(4)). DAY 949
FACW has satisfied every standard under OWEDA and there is nothing in the record to contradict this conclusion DAY 946
Ratepayers are completely isolated from risk Petitioner has proposed the following mechanisms be part of the payment mechanism Petitioner has accepted all risk associated with securing the Investment Tax Credit and Department of Energy Grant Power is only paid for when project becomes operational Payments are made only for power produced Payments are made based on a fixed price schedule Power is only paid for once the Petitioner has secured a Type A turbine certification from DNV Petitioner absorbs all risk associated with permitting, construction, financing, performance, operations, maintenance, and decommissioning. Petitioner has proposed abandonment and decommissioning security to hold ratepayers and the State harmless in the unlikely event of a Project failure. Financial integrity and access to capital to allow for reasonable expectation of completion of project construction Petitioner has financing commitment for 100% of project capital costs from a near Fortune 1000 company which has revenues in excess of $1.6 billion and is larger than Atlantic City Electric, South Jersey Industries or New Jersey American Water Company. Construction funds will be securitized prior to construction in order to assure availability. Petitioner has agreed to post a pre-construction security in an amount that demonstrates the balance of capital necessary to build the project is fully available The project offers a fair balance of risks and rewards between ratepayers and shareholders • Ratepayers have been isolated from risks • Petitioner has proposed a rate of return lower than market and within the range of rates of return for utility companies. • Petitioner has offered a guaranteed quantity of New Jersey direct spending to ensure benefits accrue as expected • Petitioner includes a turbine 27.5% less expensive than the Reference turbine • Petitioner includes low cost financing • Petitioner offers lowest power price of any domestic demonstration project DAY 945
BPU Consultants, Boston Pacific, acknowledge “The Project then meets the requirement to demonstrate net benefits to the State as required under the Act.” even without ascribing value to environmental benefits as required under the Act, nor ascribing value to the Price Suppression Effect as established by Board precedent in LCAPP proceedings. DAY 944 • Ratepayer impact is the lowest of all domestic demonstration projects to date. • The ratepayer impact of the proposed project is less than10% of the impact of the Rhode Island project and less than 20% of the impact of the Maine project. • With the proposed $199.17 OREC price, the average ratepayer impact only $0.99 annually. • The impact on a typical consumer corresponds to less than the cost of buying a single cup of coffee each year. DAY 943
DAY 942
The proposed project is the most cost effective demonstration project in the United States. The proposed project’s capital cost of $163,800,000 equates to $6,500 per kilowatt of capacity, making it less costly than the Rhode Island and Maine demonstration scale projects. With benefit of the DOE and ITC the net capital cost will be on par with the lowest in the world. The collective impact of the Department of Energy grant and the Investment Tax Credit effectively reduce the capital cost by almost 50%. The proposed project capital cost is almost on par with the first true commercial scale project in the United States. Even with its small scale, the proposed project’s overall capital cost is on par with the larger Cape Wind project. This is largely due to the selection of the XEMC Darwind turbine which brings both scale and price efficiency to New Jersey. It is not appropriate to compare the proposed project costs with full commercial scale projects in Europe or to compare it to demonstration projects installed years ago. When comparing apples to apples, the net capital cost will be on par with the lowest in the world. DAY 941
OWEDA established the standards for approval of an offshore wind project to receive OREC payments. By establishing a standard that requires a project to demonstrate that its benefits will exceed its costs (i.e., result in net benefits), New Jersey is positioned to make a rational and sound economic decision that will create jobs and make inroads toward building a New Jersey based offshore wind infrastructure. Proceeding with a project only if it demonstrates net benefits positions New Jersey to both capture an industry at its infancy in the United States and to do so in a manner that confers benefits to the State even as it allows for the first use of OREC payments to fund capital investment as electricity is generated. Board Staff’s consultants Boston Pacific/Outsmart (“Boston Pacific”) agrees that FACW’s Application will bring net benefits to New Jersey. This confirms FACW’s finding and establishes irrefutably that the Project is good for New Jersey and meets the net benefit standard. |
CatchThis_NJThis blog describes the benefits of the Fishermen's Energy Wind Farm off the coast of Atlantic City, NJ Archives
October 2014
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