States can reap long-term savings by upgrading their onshore grids and coordinating transmission development to serve multiple offshore wind projects, but they’ll also face higher upfront costs, supply chain challenges and ratepayer concerns, speakers at a New Jersey conference said.

New Jersey’s offshore wind sector looks to take a key role in the East Coast turbine industry despite the closure of the state’s two most advanced projects.

With data centers, electric vehicles and population growth, electricity demand in New Jersey could soar to 15,000 GWh in the coming years, state officials said at a public hearing on a new plan for connecting offshore wind projects to the grid.

The BPU approval gives offshore wind developer Invenergy time to find an economically viable turbine before committing more resources to the project.

New Jersey is adding to its efforts to cut medium- and heavy-duty vehicle emissions with plans to spend more than $300 million on two electric bus garages and to increase the use of clean cargo handling equipment at ports.

New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities awarded $3.4 million in grants to 18 proposals under a new program designed to help municipalities implement clean energy projects.

New Jersey last year put an additional 62,426 new EVs on the road, a 68% increase over 2022, which has prompted some advocates to suggest the state is in reach of its goal of having 330,000 EVs in the state by 2025.