This from the June 20 edition of POLITICO NY & NJ Weekly Energy:

 FEDERAL WATCHDOG LOOKS AT WIND: Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said the Government Accountability Office has agreed to launch an investigation “into the impacts of New Jersey’s offshore wind development on the environment, the fishing industry, military operations, navigational safety and more.” The investigation of the offshore wind industry — which would presumably focus on actions by federal officials who oversee projects, like those at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management — was requested by Smith and other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Jeff Van Drew, amid mounting opposition to offshore wind and questions about the industry’s effects on the environment. Smith’s office said the office informed Smith of the investigation in a letter and by phone. “It is absolutely critical that New Jersey residents understand all the impacts of these offshore wind projects—which will permanently transform our marine environment and seascape and could put our tourism-driven economy at grave risk—before it’s too late,” Smith said. — Ry Rivard

MORE RENEWABLE COST PLEAS: The developers of Clean Path, a transmission line into New York City, are asking the Public Service Commission for an inflation adjustment for their project too. The line is backed by the New York Power Authority, EnergyRE and Invenergy, a renewable developer. They’re asking for more money commensurate with the hike asked for by the Alliance for Clean Energy for the projects that will supply the line. The transmission project plans to make payments to those renewable projects based on what NYSERDA pays developers of other new renewables. The petition filed Wednesday notes that the contract with NYSERDA allows for this adjustment. They’re not asking for more money for the transmission component of the project.

Fourteen out of 23 renewable projects contracted to supply the line already have NYSERDA agreements, according to the petition. The other nine “are Tier 1-eligible wind and solar projects that are experiencing exactly the same cost pressures since the time they were bid,” the petition states. The developers are asking for a decision by the October session. — Marie J. French

ORSTED “PREPARED TO WALK AWAY,” DELAY PROJECTS — Orsted executives are “prepared to walk away” or delay some American offshore wind projects, including one of New Jersey’s three approved wind farms. The comments, made last week at a company event in London, were the clearest yet from Orsted about the state of its portfolio, which also includes projects in New York, Maryland and Rhode Island.

The company singled out Ocean Wind 2 in New Jersey, and the Maryland project, known as Skipjack. Orsted’s head of North American operations, David Hardy, said the company still wants to do both of the projects. But macroeconomic factors have affected the financial outlook of its American portfolio. That prompted CEO Mads Nipper to warn that the company could cancel projects, just as it has moved out of a few foreign markets and is no longer actively exploring projects in California.

Orsted’s Ocean Wind 1 would be the first offshore wind generation project in New Jersey, but the company is also struggling to finance it. Last week, state Board of Public Utilities President Joe Fioardliso attacked wind developers for “intolerable” delays. In a statement responding to the broadside, Orsted’s head of government affairs, Maddy Urbish, said the company “is committed to delivering Ocean Wind 1.”

But Ocean Wind 2 could be delayed or changed in some way, Hardy said. “This is a project that in order for us to ensure that we get value creation we’ve decided to reconfigure and we’re in active discussions with the state of New Jersey about what that means,” Hardy said. Hardy blamed a delay of Skipjack on issues at PJM, the regional grid operator.

Hardy said the company’s financial projections for several of its American projects assume they will get 40 percent tax credits from the federal government. In New Jersey, whether the company gets to keep that money is now a point of contention. State utility regulators had expected tax credits to be returned to ratepayers not kept by Orsted.

In New York, Orsted is also banking on getting inflation adjustments and interconnection cost sharing for one of its wind farms, Sunrise Wind. The company asked for those changes to its deal with the state last week. “We don’t know the outcome of that, but we have high confidence that the state will support us,” Hardy said.

Despite all this, Hardy said the company was optimistic and it views completing projects as strategically important because states and the federal government are counting on the company for clean energy. Orsted also thinks being the first mover in the market will allow it to work out kinks and build relationships with key interest groups, like labor unions, that will make future projects easier to do. “We see the market as something that is improving and maturing,” Hardy said

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