Unions: NJ voters can bring back offshore wind jobs
Coalition pushes for Democrats in Congress
By: Amanda Ogesby
Asbury Park Press
USA Today Network
HAMMONTON - Offshore wind companies have canceled their New Jersey power projects, but that is not stopping a coalition of labor unions, environmentalists and politicians from pushing for wind turbines off the Jersey Shore.
..... During a news conference at the Iron Workers Local 399 offices in Hammonton on Thursday, September 10, [2026] the groups urged New Jersey voters to place Democrats in congressional seats currently held by New Jersey Republicans, such as Representative Jeff Van Drew, who represents New Jersey's southernmost counties. That action, they said, was key to reviving efforts to build offshore wind power for New Jersey.
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Representative Donald Norcross, D-Camden, said the Trump administration and Van Drew had cost New Jersey "good union jobs" by blocking offshore wind power projects."New Jersey was ahead of the entire curve of the electric (grid)m and this guy in Washington (President Donald Trump) killed it along with Van Drew," Norcross said during the press conference. "He killed those jobs, and he's making your electric rates go up."
..... On Trump's first day of his second term, the president issued a memorandum halting offshore wind leasing and ordered a government review of wind permitting practices. The action began a series of executive orders and stop-work orders from his administration froze in-progress offshore wind projects. At the some time, post-pandemic inflation cerated cost overruns and higher prices for labor, steel and other materials. Some projects announced plans to cancel even before Trump's return to office in 2025.
..... For instance, Denmark-based Orsted announced in 2023 that its two New Jersey power projects, Ocean Wind 1 and 2, would not move forward due to financial reasons.
..... Facing additional headwinds under Trump's second term, other companies also abandoned New Jersey offshore wind projects, including Leading light Wind and Atlantic Shores.
..... The result has been the loss of thousands of potential jobs for electricians, iron workers, welders, and other skilled laborers, local union leaders said.
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"The high voltage electrical work, substation constitution and gird upgrades for these projects represent millions of dollars in wages and benefits," said Steve DiMatteo, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 251, which represents workers in southern New Jersey. "Those are wages hat are spent in our local grocery stores, restaurants and small businesses. When those jobs disappear, it affects our economies."
..... Earlier this year, [2026] the Trump administration began buying back lease areas from offshore wind developers. In June, [2026] Leading Light Wind developer intervener and the U.S. Department of Interior announced a settlement in which the government agreed to a partial reimbursement of $765 million to the power company. In return, the company agreed to cancel its various offshore wind projects around the United States, including its New Jersey project, and reinvest in natural gas-fired power plants in the Midwest and geothermal power generation projects in the western U.S.
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In addition, the federal government agreed to pay TotalEnergies $795 million in a reimbursement if the company canceled Attentive Energy, its New Jersey and New York offshore wind projects. As a result, TotalEnergies agreed to reinvest in liquid natural gas and shale gas production.
..... "It's bribery," said Representative Frank Pallone Jr., who represents eastern Monmouth and Middlesex counties. "You're paying using taxpayers' money, to kill clean energy projects so that ... those same companies move to fossil fuels."
..... Pallone said that clean energy projects, including offshore wind, are needed to curb climate changes. Along the Jersey Shore and Raritan Bay, climate change is raising sea levels and threatening thousands of homes and businesses.
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But Bob Stern, co-founder of the grassroots organization Save LBI, said offshore wind poses its own threats to coastal life. The organization opposes building wind farms near the Jersey Shore and has sued the federal government to stop the projects.
..... Offshore wind development "is only a temporary job creator," said Stern. "They're going to get a temporary construction job and then they're going to get link slips and it's going to be very disappointing."
..... In additions, the construction and operation of hundreds of wind turbines in the ocean would crate noise that would disrupt migrant whales and other marine life, he said. The projects would not lower electric rates, because they would have been partially subsidized by New Jersey ratepayers, he added. In addition, the turbines can interfere with radar, he said.
..... "There are so many other things you can do to reduce carbon dioxide emissions hat are far less expensive than this," Stern said.
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In December, 2025, the Trump administration paused five offshore wind leases, saying they presented national security risks due to their potential for creating radar interference.
..... Norcross said the administration's national security claims were "bullshit."
..... "He (Trump) is lying through his teeth, along with his posse here in New Jersey, Van Drew, who wanted to kill these jobs, because it might disturb his view out of their houses," the congressman said.
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Ray Cantor of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association said Trump is not completely to blame for the cancellation of offshore wind projects. The industry faced serious financial challenges in the post-pandemic years, he said.
..... "New Jersey has some of the highest energy costs in the nation," said Cantor. "And that impacts the cost of products. It impacts the cost of doing business in New Jersey." That is why New Jersey needs, diverse sources of energy, he said. However, those sources need to be economically feasible, he added.
..... "We hope one day that the economics of offshore wind work," said cantor. "we hope that the federal government is more supportive, and we look forward to that future."
..... Amanda Oglesby covers education and the environment. Reach her at aoglesby@app.com or 732-557-5701.