offshore wind isn't dead but two of New Jersey's major offshore wind projects are Danish developer orad is scrapping plans to build wind farms off the coast of the Jersey Shore in a stunning announcement Tuesday night the developer blamed supply chain costs and Rising interest rates delivering a considerable blow to the Murphy administration's efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and make New Jersey a hub for offshore wind energy in the US the decision comes just four months after the governor signed a law giving orad a billion dollars in tax credits to keep the projects afloat and throws a last minute curveball into the elections which are less than a week out and we'll see all 120 members of the democratic control legislature on the ballot as senior political correspondent David Cruz reports offshore wind has become a controversial topic for both Republicans and Democrats who are likely to use this announcement to Galvanize their base that giant sucking sound you heard was the wind literally going out of the sales of New Jersey's clean energy economy orad pulling the plug on its two offshore wind projects dropped a bombshell into next week's elections and threatens the Lyn pin of Governor Murphy's environmental Legacy this is an I Told You So moment citing inflation Rising interest rates and supply chain challenges a statement from orad said as a result we have no choice but the ceased development of ocean wind 1 and ocean wind 2 this was not totally unexpected the company had announced the delay in the project in August but as recently as September the governor said he was still bullish on offshore wind and on orad I actually still think this's a good shot that they get this done on time I wouldn't be shocked if there was a delay uh but this is going to happen and it has to happen but it's not happening Murphy who pushed lawmakers to approve tax breaks to prop up orad's projects was not happy to have to eat his optimistic words today's decision by orad to abandon its commitment to New Jersey is outrageous and calls into question the company's credibility and competence he said in a statement today adding that the state will actively pursue legal options to collect a $300 million guarantee from the company so what does happen next the first impact could be felt next week at the polls Republicans were against the project all along calling it a nightmare for the shore and blaming it for the death of Wales and dolphins despite dubious evidence today they were ready to spike the football and were adding questions just when did the governor learn that oread was pulling out and when did my colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle in leadership learn uh that oread was pulling out and I'm wondering if they were trying to keep this quiet until after the election Democrats like Vin goal in Mammoth County stuck between the Rock and the hard place of this issue reiterated that he was a no on tax breaks he says he wants the Attorney General to sue orad to the administration backed a bad deal he said it's not a good look for them the bill was a bad Bill it's a bad look for them uh and you can't we can't rush into things like this and we can't let corporations hijack that's why I voted against the bill that's why I wish more people would have voted against it it'll only pass by a single vote it should teach a very valuable lesson to the state of New Jersey for doing businesses with with companies like orad in the future and the losers New Jersey is going to miss out on benefits that were right around the corner um including good local jobs that would have been created in this new industry reductions in air pollution and improvements to People's Health reduction in asthma and cancer rates as well as uh economic and energy security provided by the Homegrown energy off our shore orad's decision doesn't mean that offshore wind is dead the Murphy Administration says there's lots of interest in similar projects out to bid right now with the economics of wind projects at least now more certain taxpayers didn't lose a dollar and with $300 million still out there to collect it's not a total loss it just feels like one I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight NJ Spotlight [Music]