Lawsuits torturing US offshore wind projects, seeking to terminate or delay them

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BRIGANTINE, NJ (AP) – Opponents of offshore wind around the U.S. are slamming projects with lawsuits they want to cancel or jail them for years in costly lawsuits.

The court cases represent another hurdle the nascent industry must overcome, especially on the east coast where opposition to offshore wind farms is loud and well organized.

They add another pressure point to an industry already struggling with rising prices, faltering supply chains, and a number of widespread wind turbine failures that opponents have taken as evidence that the facilities are unreliable and unsafe, something the industry denies.

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There are 13 lawsuits pending in federal courts targeting offshore wind projects, according to the American Clean Power Association, an offshore trade group. An undetermined number of additional cases are pending in federal courts, they said.

Robin Shaffer is the president of Protect Our Coast NJ, a citizens’ group that has filed multiple lawsuits in New Jersey against two current or previously proposed coastal projects.

Shaffer said his group is at least partially responsible for dismantling two New Jersey wind farms proposed by Orsted that the Danish wind giant scrapped last October, saying they were no longer financially viable.

“A side benefit of our legal strategy is to give pause or doubt in the minds of investors to the big companies that do these projects,” he said. “Last year, we saw Orsted walk away from its commitment to build Ocean Wind off the south coast of New Jersey amid the uncertainty of two lawsuits we filed, and one filed by Cape May County.”

Opponents cite altered horizon views from wind turbines and concerns about what the structures could do to marine life. They also cited rising prices for electricity generated from wind farms, and pointed to the recent collapse of a turbine on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and Doggers Bank off the coast of England as evidence that the technology is dangerous.

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Proponents say offshore wind is needed to combat climate change, which they call the main threat to the ocean and its inhabitants.

“Onshore wind projects undergo rigorous environmental review and approval processes, in addition to a lengthy public comment period,” said Jason Ryan, a spokesman for the Clean Power Association. “The current portfolio of US offshore wind projects under construction and development are among the most carefully planned and analyzed infrastructure projects in US history; we are confident that their permits will withstand legal scrutiny.”

Paulina O’Connor, executive director of the New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance, said offshore wind is needed to combat climate change.

“On the heels of the hottest summer on record, it’s disappointing to see another frivolous lawsuit filed by those with opposing views,” he said of the latest case.

That action was filed Friday by Save LBI, another New Jersey citizen group. It says Atlantic Shores, a New Jersey project deep into its state approval process, would violate noise regulations during the drive-thru and operation of hundreds of wind turbines. The group says it has many more cases on the way. Atlantic Shores declined to comment.

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Another lawsuit in New Jersey challenged Orsted’s now-abandoned wind farm plan, the state tax break the company would have received, and the placement of a power line that would bring electricity from the project to shore. A group of Jersey Shore cities sued Atlantic Shores, and fishing and environmental groups sued two federal agencies that oversee offshore wind projects. They appealed the dismissal of their case after the judge ruled that they did not have jurisdiction to sue.

Offshore air defenses in other states are also turning to the courts.

In March, the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group in Virginia, sued Dominion Energy and the federal government in hopes of blocking a wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach. Dominion called the suit meritless and said it uses multiple layers of protection for the marine environment.

Last year, a Rhode Island nonprofit known for its beachfront mansions sued the federal government to challenge the approval process for offshore wind projects near Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The Preservation Society of Newport County said the presence of hundreds of wind turbines along the New England coast would spoil ocean views from several of its historic sites.

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And in Rhode Island, the anti-wind group Green Oceans sued the federal government in April, saying it illegally granted Orsted permits for its South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind projects. Orsted declined to comment on the lawsuit but noted that the South Fork is fully operational and Revolution recently installed its first turbine.

On the West Coast, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians in Oregon, whose culture reveres the ocean, sued the federal government Tuesday over plans to hold an offshore wind energy auction next month.

And in March, fishermen sued California over plans for three floating wind farms.

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Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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