Ocean County Leader

A recent audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has highlighted the increasing costs of offshore wind development in Denmark, a key location for such projects. The findings should serve as "a major wake-up call for Governor Murphy that even his massive government subsidies and ratepayer hikes won’t be enough to foot the ever-growing bill for his reckless pursuit of offshore wind," stated Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester).

Denmark hosts offshore wind giant Orsted, which withdrew from two offshore wind projects in New Jersey late last year. In response, Governor Murphy relieved Orsted of $175 million owed to the state and accelerated the timeline for new proposals.

"The evidence clearly shows that offshore wind projects are nowhere close to being economically viable—regardless of how much taxpayer money Governor Murphy forks over to foreign corporations like Orsted or how high energy prices are increased," said Smith. He noted that Murphy’s own Division of Rate Counsel admitted his policies would lead to higher energy rates.

Smith cited reports indicating the PwC study found a $6.7 billion increase in planned Danish offshore wind construction costs since 2021, with a Danish green energy lobbying group suggesting the actual figure may be even higher.

"Instead of continuing to run headlong into an economic buzz saw, Governor Murphy should finally face the facts and stop throwing billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars at unsound, improperly vetted offshore wind projects here in New Jersey," added Smith.

Last fall, Danish corporation Orsted announced it had halted development of two offshore wind projects off New Jersey's coast due to anticipated impairments of approximately $2.3 billion from "negative developments from adverse impacts relating to supply chains, increased interest rates…"

"Despite Governor Murphy’s efforts to prop up these projects, Orsted concluded it would still lose money," said Smith. "It’s long past time that Governor Murphy come to the same conclusion and concede that this is a terrible deal for New Jersey taxpayers before he leads our state to catastrophic financial ruin in pursuit of his blind ambition."