I had to take this picture down because 189,000 hits on this article crushed my photo hosting account bandwidth. Thanks for reading, though!
The 7.5-megawatt (MW) Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm is the first wind farm to be built in New Jersey, and the first coastal wind farm in the United States. The wind farm is located in Atlantic County, NJ and is visible to more than 30 million Atlantic City visitors each year from downtown Atlantic City and the Atlantic City Expressway. The project produces approximately 19 million kilowatt-hours of emission-free electricity per year, which is enough emission-free energy to power over 2,000 homes
Favorable winds are advancing the cause of windpower in the State of New Jersey
[NOTE: Gotta pick up dinner and drive home. Will check back later. Thanks for participating]
Today, Governor Christie signed the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act, which establishes an offshore wind renewable energy certificate program (OREC). This program had bi-partisan support in the Legislature, and is seen as an important first step in meeting the rather ambitious goals set forth in the New Jersey State Energy Master Plan developed by the Corzine administration. The Master Plan calls for the development of 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2020. Linky, here:
http://www.state.nj.us/...
The bill directs the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to develop an offshore renewable energy certificate program that calls for a percentage of electricity sold in the state to be from offshore wind energy. This percentage would be developed to support at least 1,100 megawatts of generation from qualified offshore wind projects. Through the legislation, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) will provide financial assistance to qualified offshore wind projects and associated equipment manufacturers and assembling facilities. The program will provide financial assistance and tax credits from existing programs for businesses that construct, manufacture and assemble water access facilities to support the development of qualified offshore wind projects.
The BPU has already received proposals to build wind turbines 12 to 20 miles off the coast from four power companies.
In June, Christie signed a Memorandum of Understanding with nine other East Coast governor's establishing the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium to facilitate federal-state cooperation for commercial wind development on the Outer Continental Shelf off of the Atlantic coast.
Anti-wind power and environmental groups are already organizing resistance to these efforts and are expected to call for increased regulation that might discourage these projects. Some groups have already threatened to commence legal action to further hinder these efforts.
One of the cleanest answers to fossil fuel dependence is "blowin' in the wind", and it's a mighty wind a coming to the Jersey Shore, strong enough to move Pauly D's hair, and one that can't be held back anymore. I am proud that New Jersey is finally putting its money where its Master Plan is. We can only hope that the NJDEP and the EPA cooperate in moving this effort forward.
Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind
- Bob Dylan