OCEAN CITY – Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian reminded city residents that “Ørsted has the go-ahead to begin digging test holes on 35th Street starting September 11.”
The testing is preliminary to the construction of conduit for Ørsted’s Ocean Wind I transmission cables that will carry wind-farm-generated electricity from the offshore site to a grid connection point in Upper Township.
Ocean City had opposed the route and refused to issue the necessary permits until ordered to do so by the court following an Ørsted-initiated suit against the city. Ørsted gained approval for its route from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). The NJBPU’s authority to overrule the municipality’s governing body is rooted in a new state statute passed and signed into law in 2021.
So far, challenges to the NJBPU-approved route have failed in court. The court ruled against a similar challenge from Cape May County, Aug. 17, when Superior Court Judge Michael Blee upheld the NJBPU orders and directed the county to record easements needed by Ocean Wind I as part of the construction of the transmission cable route. Cape May County filed an appeal of the ruling ordering the recording of the easements.
At this point, the legal maneuvers continue, but Ocean Wind I is authorized to begin test digging along the Ocean City route. Those actions, as soon as two weeks from now, will move the wind farm developer from planning and permitting activities to performing tests in support of construction.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
