The Sierra Club now believes larger projects would be more beneficial to the New Jersey consumer, said Kresowik. There are proposals from Orsted North America for a 1,000 megawatt project, as well as a large one from U.S. Wind, Inc.

“The size and cost is not as advantageous to consumers or the climate,” said Kresowik of the Fisherman’s Energy proposal. Kresowik also said that the Block Island Wind Farm had successfully achieved one of its stated goals, which was as a pilot program to bring offshore wind to the United States. That having been accomplished, Kresowik said, there is no longer a need for smaller demonstration proposals.

“We now have have the skill and the knowledge to move to full scale projects,” Kresowik said. “We need to move on to full scale projects for the consumer.”

It was headlines such as the one for a story posted on Bloomberg News that caught the eye of some people who keep a close eye on the Block Island Wind Farm: “Sierra Club Likes Wind Farms — Just Not This New Jersey One,” with a subhead that read: ”Group fighting wind project that it says is too close to shore.”

Kresowik said that a staff person at the Sierra Club in New Jersey did make the remark, but he added “That is not a major concern of ours.”  

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