Biden's Wind Energy Area Designation Could Bring 25K Jobs To NJ

NEW JERSEY — Part of New Jersey's coastline has been designated as a priority Wind Energy Area in a recent move by the Biden administration to jumpstart offshore wind efforts.

The offshore wind zone will be located in the New York Bright, an area of shallow waters between Long Island and New Jersey's coast, the Biden administration announced Monday.

This move will not only up the offshore wind production coming out of the New York region, but will also bring jobs to the area.

The Biden administration touts a study from Wood Mackenzie which said the project could bring roughly "25,000 development and construction jobs from 2022 to 2030, as well as an additional 7,000 jobs in communities supported by this development."

There is potential for even greater job creation in the New York Bright lease area, with an estimated 4,000 operations and maintenance jobs available annually, and approximately 2,000 community jobs available after its development.

New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. said the decision signaled a "new day in our collective fight against climate change."

"Few regions of our nation and the world face graver consequences from climate change than the Tri-State Area. This announcement by President Biden and his cabinet advancing projects off the New Jersey coast is a down-payment on our national future and the promise of a great future for our children and their children after them," said Pascrell.

And he wasn't the only one to give it the seal of approval.

"Expanding our clean energy sector must be a core component of any sustainable green jobs recovery in New Jersey that builds a stronger, fairer and more equitable 21st century economy for all New Jerseyans. It’s good to see New Jersey has a national partner to move us forward," said Executive Director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Ed Potosnak.

The priority decision was made by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, who will next publish a proposed sale notice, followed by a public comment period and lease sale in late 2021 or early 2022, according to a news release.

This move is part of a decision by the Biden administration to take "coordinated steps to support rapid offshore wind deployment and job creation."

Those three steps are:

1. Advance ambitious wind energy projects to create good-paying, union jobs
2. Investing in American infrastructure to strengthen the domestic supply chain and deploy offshore wind energy
3. Supporting critical research and development and data-sharing.

Ocean Wind

The BOEM also announced they would be preparing an environmental impact statement for Ocean Wind, set to become America's third commercial scale offshore wind project.

Ocean Wind proposed a project with enough strength to power 500,000 homes across New Jersey, the BOEM said.

It would join two previously announced projects in the northeast, one near Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, and the other in Rhode Island.

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