By Nikita Biryukov, NJ Monitor
A memorandum issued on President Donald Trump’s first day in office will pause nearly all offshore wind projects in New Jersey, with the prospect of a longer-lasting standstill if his administration moves to rescind approvals issued under President Joe Biden.
Trump’s memorandum orders federal agencies to stop issuing permits and leases pending a review of U.S. approval processes for wind energy projects. But while it calls on authorities to review options to end existing leases, it stops short of seeking to withdraw existing permits.
“We’re not going to do the wind thing,” he said at a rally following his inauguration last week.
Only one of the four active New Jersey wind projects appears unaffected by Trump’s memorandum. Atlantic Shores South, which encompasses projects set to deliver 2,800 megawatts of power beginning as early as 2028, won its final federal permits on Dec. 16, just over a month before Trump was inaugurated into a second term.
Because it had advanced to that late regulatory stage, Atlantic Shores South is not likely to be waylaid, said Jeremy McDiarmid, a managing director with Advanced Energy United, a trade group that backs non-fossil electricity sources.
“It is unlikely they will be harmed by this order,” he said. “However, the order does open the door to a review of already issued permits, and that, while unlikely, is not risk-free.”
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