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NEW JERSEY OFFSHORE WIND OPPONENTS REJOICE: Some in New Jersey praised the news this morning of Orsted’s withdrawal from two major offshore wind projects (more on that below), including lawmakers and environmental groups that had voiced concern over threats to the fishing industry or marine life, including whales or dolphins.
“Orsted’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,” Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican who represents parts of the Jersey Shore, said in a statement.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican who represents Southern New Jersey, tweeted that he was “thrilled to see that Orsted has decided to pack up its offshore wind scam and leave South Jersey’s beautiful coasts alone.”
Earlier this year, the House passed a bipartisan amendment introduced by Smith that would require an independent GAO investigation into wind turbines and any impact that the projects might have on the environment, navigational safety, and marine life.
And in September, NOAA and the New York-New Jersey Community Offshore Wind coalition announced a new five-year environmental monitoring program, aimed at exchanging data, expertise, and other scientific information to inform developments and mitigate harm to the environment.
Read on for the latest developments related to offshore wind…
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep) and Nancy Vu (@NancyVu99). Email [email protected] or [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
THE BACKSTORY – ORSTED HALTS TWO NEW JERSEY PROJECTS: Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, cited higher costs and supply chain delays in announcing today that it is halting development on two New Jersey offshore wind farms, Ocean 1 and Ocean 2, that were expected to create roughly 2,248 MW in offshore energy generation.
“The world has in many ways, from a macroeconomic and industry point of view, turned upside down,” Orsted CEO Mads Nipper told reporters on a call.
Orsted stocks fell by 22% following news of the cancellations, a six-year low for the Danish offshore wind giant.
The offshore industry has faced a cascading series of setbacks in recent months—including poorly negotiated power purchase agreements, an underdeveloped supply chain, and high project costs that have ballooned amid rising global demand and materials costs.
These conditions have prompted developers to renegotiate or pull out of contacts completely, all but ensuring the Biden administration’s 30 GW offshore wind goal by 2030 will not be met. Read more from Breanne here.
MEANWHILE, IN BETTER NEWS FOR OFFSHORE WIND…: The Biden administration announced Tuesday approval of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial project – the largest commercial-scale U.S. offshore wind project, which is expected to provide roughly 2,600 MW of capacity.
Located about 23 miles offshore Virginia, the CVOW commercial project is slated to be the largest in the U.S., bringing online enough capacity to power 900,000 homes, according to administration officials. It will include 176 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 14.7 MW.
The project stands to be the fifth commercial offshore wind project approved under the Biden administration as it pursues its offshore wind goals.
“Today’s approval of the largest offshore wind project in U.S. history builds on the undeniable momentum we are seeing,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Together with the labor community, industry, Tribes and partners from coast to coast, we are aggressively working toward our clean energy goals.”
BUY AMERICA REQUIREMENTS CRA: Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted yesterday that the upper chamber will vote on his resolution to overturn a Biden administration decision waiving “Buy America” requirements for government-funded electric vehicle charging stations.
Some background: The “Buy America” requirements, which were written into law by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, would require federal infrastructure projects such as EV chargers to obtain at least 55% of the construction materials from domestic sources and be totally manufactured in the U.S. In February, the Transportation Department issued a temporary waiver to suspend the 55% requirement until July 2024. The waiver would still require the chargers to be assembled at a U.S. factory.
In July, Rubio – along with GOP Sens. Roger Marshall, Rick Scott, and Kevin Cramer – introduced a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act that would overturn the Transportation Department’s waiver, subjecting the EV charging projects to the bill’s original requirements.
Timing for the vote on a resolution is still up in the air, according to Rubio’s office. But keep in mind: under the CRA, there’s a limited amount of time when the resolution can be considered before it expires.
Also: Keep an eye out for any Democratic senators that would cross the aisle in voting for this resolution.
NEW PERMITTING REFORM BILL: Senate Republicans introduced a new bill yesterday meant to streamline the buildout of energy projects by amending the judicial processes often used to delay permit approvals.
Introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the Revising and Enhancing Project Authorizations Impacted by Review, or REPAIR, Act is intended to speed up projects’ implementation by limiting the ability of groups or individuals to file suits under NEPA, the 1970 law that requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of proposed actions before making decisions.
The bill would require individuals filing a suit against a project to file within 30 days and necessitates that the individuals are directly affected by the project and focus on the “direct and tangible harms” not considered in the initial authorization process. The measure would create a database, maintained by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, for claims that have not been adjudicated within 90 days of filing. The bill would establish a “mediation process” that would allow the project developer and the permit-issuing agency to address a challenge directly in order to move a project forward. The measure also allows offshore wind projects access to the same judicial review process as offshore oil and gas.
The bill’s introduction highlights slight movement in an otherwise stalled priority for both parties within Congress. Although there is bipartisan support to streamline the permitting process for energy projects, there is large disagreement between the two sides on how to do so. More on that here.
PANAMA CANAL ORDERS REDUCTION IN SHIP CROSSINGS AS DROUGHT WORSENS: Panama Canal operators said they are further cutting the number of ships that can cross per day amid ongoing drought conditions that have sent water levels plummeting to near record lows.
Authorities in Panama had already imposed a 31-ship limit for daily crossings, down from the average number, which had stood around 36 ships per day.
Yesterday, officials announced plans to further restrict the number of daily ship crossings in the coming months—reducing the number to just 25 ships per day beginning this week, and allowing just 18 per day from February on.
“The canal and the country face the challenge of the upcoming dry season with a minimum water reserve,” the canal authority said in a statement yesterday.
The latest restrictions threaten to further upend trade and container shipping in the area, which is vital to the shipping of foods such as petroleum products, vehicle parts, and grains.
This year’s reduction in crossings is a first for operators of the Panama Canal, which has been operating for nearly 110 years. Read more from the Financial Times here.
MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO REVIVE FLINT WATER CRISIS CHARGES AGAINST EX-GOVERNOR: The Michigan Supreme Court said yesterday it will not hear an appeal to revive charges filed against former Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, for his connection to the Flint water crisis, effectively ending a years-long prosecutorial effort to hold public officials responsible for the crisis—which exposed some 100,000 Flint residents and as many as 12,000 children to high levels of lead in their public drinking water.
Snyder had been charged with two counts of willful neglect of duty by a public official in connection with the Flint water crisis, which started in 2014 and was later declared as a federal emergency by then-President Barack Obama.
Exposure to lead, a neurotoxin, can cause brain damage and damage to the nervous system, according to the CDC, and is highly dangerous to children. The leaching of lead into Flint’s water also coincided with a local outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease and deaths, as the Detroit Free Press reports.
The state’s high court first dismissed the charges against Snyder in December, citing issues with the indictment procedure—and in particular with a judge, whom they accused of improperly acting as a “one-man grand jury” in deciding whether or not to indict public officials for their role in the crisis.
The Flint Water Prosecution Team filed a motion earlier this year to re-open the case, which was denied Tuesday by the Supreme Court.
“Today, our Supreme Court has put the final nail in the coffin of the Flint Water Prosecutions,” prosecutors said in a joint statement following the decision. “The Court decided that a process which has stood in place for over a century, one whose legitimacy the Court upheld repeatedly, was simply not ‘good enough’ to hold those responsible for the Flint Water Crisis accountable for their actions. Our disappointment in the Michigan Supreme Court is exceeded only by our sorrow for the people of Flint.”
Prosecutors said they plan to file a report detailing their findings in 2024. Read more from the Detroit Free Press here.
The Rundown
Bloomberg Deep in Trump country, Biden plan creates hundreds of green jobs
Wall Street Journal A record oil gusher infuses tiny Guyana with wealth and worries
