While New Jersey’s energy demands continue to increase, leading policymakers and industry leaders congregated in the Eynon Ballroom on Feb. 27 to discuss the state’s clean energy future. Hosted by the Sweeney Center for Public Policy, the six-hour-long conference had field experts discuss solar, nuclear, off-shore wind, and other energy solutions to meet rising needs. 

The event, Meeting New Jersey’s Energy Needs: Clean Energy, Supply and Demand, began promptly at 8:00 a.m. with guests being treated to breakfast as they registered and filled out name tags before entering the main room. The conference opened up with remarks from Rowan University’s President Ali Houshmand and Nawal Ammar, dean of Rowan’s College of Humanities & Social Sciences (CHSS). 

Shortly after the opening remarks, Tim Sullivan, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, and Christine Guhl-Sadovy, Board of Public Utilities president, gave keynote addresses to a room full of energy industry leaders. 

“Meeting our future energy needs reliably and affordably while reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most difficult issues facing New Jersey policymakers in the decades ahead,” said Sweeney Center Director Mark Magyar. “The challenge is steeper than ever with a series of body blows to the offshore wind industry forcing a reset of energy generation assumptions that were a cornerstone of New Jersey’s energy master plan.”

Among the notable speakers was Paulina O’ Connor, executive director of New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance, who discussed the obstacles the offshore wind industry is facing within the state.

“Our work focuses on New Jersey’s offshore wind industry, which faces both market challenges like inflation, supply chain issues, and political ones that include policy uncertainty by federal opposition to offshore wind,” said O’Connor. “The three projects under contract could power over 2 million New Jersey homes and produce 5.2 gigawatts of power. That’s a tremendous amount of investment, not just in energy, but also in workforce development, manufacturing, and local infrastructure.”

While New Jersey continues to face economic challenges in the offshore wind sector, O’Connor put an emphasis on the importance of continuing public-private partnerships to aid in the projects moving forward. 

“In a perfect world, we would see support coming from the local, state and federal levels,” said O’Connor. “This isn’t just an economic issue–it’s a climate issue. New Jersey is one of the most vulnerable states to climate change. Supporting offshore wind is critical in reducing carbon emissions and securing a sustainable future for the state.”

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