Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind has filed a formal petition with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities asking to end its Offshore Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) order.
Before the filing, the company was developing a 1.5-gigawatt wind turbine power project east of Atlantic City, which would have powered about 700,000 homes across the state.
Several setbacks influenced Atlantic Shores to file the petition.
Atlantic Shores was a joint venture between Shell and EDF Renewables, but in early January 2025, Shell announced it was backing away from its investments in offshore wind power.
Also in January, President Trump signed an executive order freezing federal permitting and putting the sector under review. Shortly after, the Environmental Protection Agency withdrew approval on an air-quality permit for Atlantic Shores that would have covered construction and operations.
“Due to the uncertainty caused by the Presidential Wind Memorandum, the subsequent loss of the Air Permit and other actions taken by the current administration more generally, Petitioner’s (Atlantic Shore’s) parent company has been forced to materially reduce its personnel, terminate contracts and cancel planned project investments,” wrote Adam L., an attorney for Atlantic Shores, in the OREC filing to the utilities board.
In an Asbury Park Press article, Atlantic Shores CEO Joris Veldhoven stated the NJBPU filing is the close “of a chapter, but not the end for Atlantic Shores.”
“At a time when New Jersey families are concerned about energy affordability and rising utility prices, we need to be building clean energy to lower costs, create good jobs in the state, lessen our dependence on dirty and expensive oil and gas, and protect our communities from the dangers of climate change,” Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement that was in the Asbury Park Press.
