A rendering depicts by the gigantic wind farm turbines would have looked like off the Cape May County coast. (Image courtesy of Orsted).
Offshore wind projects are not a high priority for New Jersey voters, including those who support wind turbines, according to a Stockton University poll released Tuesday.
Just over half (52%) of voters somewhat (24%) or strongly (29%) support the installation of offshore wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey, while 9% somewhat oppose and 24% strongly oppose.
These rates remain stable since a September 2023 Stockton poll. That poll found a sharp decline in support since the previous iteration in 2019.
Cape May County mounted a legal battle to oppose a wind farm project that would have included nearly 100 giant turbines 15 miles off the coast stretching from Atlantic City to Stone Harbor.
Elected officials representing Cape May County and its beach communities asserted that the project would have caused devastating economic and environmental damage to the tourism industry, commercial fishing, migratory birds and marine life such as whales and dolphins.
The developer, the Danish energy company Orsted, scrapped the project last year, blaming inflation, rising interest rates and supply-chain disruptions.
When voters who oppose wind turbines were asked for their top reason, most (51%) cited environmental concerns for marine life or the ocean ecosystem, followed by costs (8%), including the cost to produce turbines or the energy costs associated with their use, according to the Stockton poll results.
Support aside, offshore wind projects are not a big priority for most New Jersey voters. Only 24% said offshore wind projects should be a major priority for the state, while 37% said they should be a minor priority and 29% said they should not be a priority at all.
In 2023, Ocean City installed signs on the Boardwalk questioning the environmental and economic cost of building an offshore wind farm along the South Jersey coast.When it comes to elections in their district, 17% said a candidate’s views on offshore wind would influence their vote a great deal, 41% said it would influence their vote somewhat, and more than one-third (37%) said it would have no impact on their vote, including 40% of voters who back wind turbines.
“No matter which side of the issue voters land on, they seem to agree that it’s not a top priority,” said Stockton’s Hughes Center Research Director Alyssa Maurice. “The opposition to offshore wind is particularly vocal and well-organized in New Jersey, but the poll shows that for most voters this issue doesn’t move the needle much.”
Voters in coastal counties and those who oppose wind turbines were slightly more energized by the issue of offshore wind, with 28%-29% saying a candidate’s views on the matter would impact their vote greatly.
A majority of all New Jersey voters (54%) said expanding the production of renewable energy should take priority over expanding the production of fossil fuels, while 37% said fossil fuels should take priority when it comes to energy supply.
Gaps between Democrats and Republicans persisted on almost all measures related to offshore wind, but the largest were identified on this question regarding energy production. A majority (77%) of Republicans favored fossil fuel production over renewables.
Smaller differences were found by geographic location. Similar to what was found in 2023, coastal residents were less supportive of the installation of offshore wind turbines. However, they were aligned with all other voters in their support of renewable energy production in general and on whether offshore wind projects should be a major priority for the state.
The poll of 616 registered voters was released by the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
You can find the full poll results here.
