The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has voted to vacate the 2021 Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) Order for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1, effectively ending the project’s status as a Qualified Offshore Wind Project (QOWP).
The decision follows a petition submitted by Atlantic Shores on 4 June 2025, in which the developer requested the termination of its OREC award. While the project had reached key milestones – including federal approval of its Construction and Operations Plan in October 2024, completion of offshore surveys, securing operations and maintenance facilities, and signing multiple supply and interconnection agreements – recent regulatory and market developments have made the project unviable under the terms of the original OREC Order.
One of the most significant setbacks came on 20 January 2025, when the federal government issued the “Wind Memorandum”, temporarily halting new and renewed offshore wind permits pending an undefined review of leasing and permitting practices. This was followed in February by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) request to remand the project’s air permit, which is legally required for construction to proceed. The Environmental Appeals Board granted the remand in March, despite Atlantic Shores’ objections.
Atlantic Shores cited the combined impact of federal actions, inflation, rising interest rates, supply chain pressures, and geopolitical factors – including the war in Ukraine – as having severely undermined the project’s financial and operational feasibility. The developer had attempted to adjust by submitting a revised bid in New Jersey’s fourth offshore wind solicitation in July 2024, but the BPU cancelled awards in that round in February 2025 due to the regulatory uncertainty.
The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel agreed that current conditions made the project unviable and did not oppose the OREC termination, while reserving its legal rights.
In its findings, the BPU concluded that the combination of global cost pressures, supply constraints, and the loss of a critical permit meant the project could not be completed as planned. The Board determined that vacating the OREC Order was in the public interest and confirmed that Atlantic Shores had no outstanding obligations under the order.
