Time For Turbines 4, Jan. 26 & 27

Media Contacts

Environment New Jersey

Time for Turbines 4: Tuesday, January 26, 2021
DAY ONE VIRTUAL AGENDA

9:00      Welcome 

9:05     Tim Sullivan, CEO, New Jersey Economic Development Authority 

9:15      Jim Bennett, US DOI/BOEM, Program Manager, Renewable Energy Program 

9:30     Panel 1: Offshore Wind Supply Chain: An Economic Engine That Can Deliver 

Building a regional supply chain for offshore wind manufacturing is key to ensuring quality, long-term jobs in wind. In 2020, NJ broke national ground on this front with the launch of the country’s first purpose-built wind port and largest offshore wind factory. Hear from labor leaders on what we can expect from these projects, next steps to regionalize every level of the supply chain, and what commitments workers need to fully deliver on the jobs promise of wind.

  • Debra Coyle McFadden, Executive Director, WEC, Moderator
  • Hillary Bright, Director of Special Projects, Blue Green Alliance
  • Del Vitale, Director, District 4, United Steelworkers
  • Olaf Olsen, Lead Representative, New Jersey Carpenters 

10:20   Coffee Break/Tech Break

10:30   Panel 2: Project Visions, Timelines, and Local Supplier Updates 

Hear from the world’s leading offshore wind energy developers, including Orsted, Equinor and Atlantic Shores, on their current and planned projects in New Jersey. They will cover their project timelines, activities and progress in developing an offshore wind supply chain and workforce development programs. Economic development, interconnection to the land-based grid, local commitments and job creation will also be discussed in this session.

  • Bill O’Hearn, Executive VP, External Affairs, Offshore Power LLC, Moderator
  • Vince Maione, Ørsted, Director, NJ Market Affairs
  • Jessica Dealy, External Affairs Lead, EDF Renewables 
  • Julia Bovey, Equinor, Director, External Affairs  

11:30 Keynote Addresses

  • Governor Phil Murphy (Invited)
  • NJBPU President Joseph Fiordaliso

11:45 Lunch/Tech Break

11:55 Panel 3: Training an Equitable OSW Workforce:

How can offshore wind serve as an engine to address climate change and reverse inequality? NJ is making historic investments in a new industry at a time when thousands of New Jerseyans have lost their jobs. How do we seize this opportunity to put people back to work — and ensure jobs go to communities often excluded from the green economy? This panel will take a look at what New Jersey is doing and what we have left to do to remove structural barriers to good jobs in offshore wind.

  • Hugh Bailey, Deputy Commissioner, NJ Department of Labor, Moderator
  • Crystal Pruitt, Deputy Director for Clean Energy Equity, NJBPU
  • Todd Vachon, Rutgers University, Labor Studies Professor
  • Lara Skinner, Executive Director, The Worker Institute, Chair of Labor Leading on Climate Initiative 

12:45 NJ Offshore Wind Ports Update

  • Jonathan Kennedy, Director, Transportation & Logistics, NJEDA
  • Lee Laurendeau, CEO, EEW

1:00 Wrap Up

Please join us for virtual networking from 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.

Time for Turbines 4: Wednesday, January 27, 2021
DAY TWO VIRTUAL AGENDA

9:00      Welcome 

9:05     Senator Cory Booker (Invited)

9:15     Jamie Henn, Fossil Free Media  

9:25     Acting NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette

9:30      Panel 1: New Jersey State Government Resources to Support Offshore Wind 

The promise of offshore wind was left to lay fallow for most of the last decade. But since the early days of the Murphy Administration, the industry has been turbocharged, from expanding goals (now 7,500 MW by 2035), to a second solicitation, to investment in offshore wind ports. What opportunities could open up under a more favorable federal administration, and what challenges are still ahead?

  • Jeanne Fox, Former NJBPU President, Moderator
  • Jane Rosenblatt, Deputy Chief of Staff, NJ Department of Environmental Protection
  • Brian Sabina, NJEDA Senior Vice President, Economic Transformation 
  • Jane Cohen, Senior Policy Advisor, Environment, Gov. Murphy
  • Kelly Mooij, Office of Clean Energy Director, NJBPU

10:20   Coffee Break/Tech Break

10:30    Panel 2: Addressing Fishing & Environmental Concerns 

Key environmental considerations for offshore wind include the impact of placing “steel in the water,”      subsequent impacts from cable placement and interconnections, and ecological effects on fisheries and threatened species. New Jersey’s process has been methodical and data-driven; this panel will explore the best mitigation strategies and the regulatory and scientific approach guiding this process.

  • Catherine Bowes, National Wildlife Federation, Program Director, Offshore Wind Energy, Moderator
  • Megan Brunetti, Acting Director, Office of Permitting, NJDEP
  • Dr. Joseph Brodie, Director of Atmospherics, RU COOL Labs
  • Captain Paul Eidman, Recreational fisherman/Charter fishing boat owner

11:20   Keynote Address 

  • Senate President Steve Sweeney (Invited)

11:40  Lunch Break/Tech Break

11:50 a.m. Panel 3: Greening the Grid 

Offshore wind will be key to achieving New Jersey’s renewable portfolio standard of 50% by 2030. Our       electric grid, however, is part of the massive PJM regional grid that stretches into the Midwest. Especially with a historic agreement to enter the transmission planning process through a competitive solicitation, offshore wind will change the way states and regulators approach the electric grid.

  • Rich Heidorn, Editor & Co-Publisher, RTO Insider 
  • Michael Borgatti, VP, RTO Services, Gabel & Associates Inc.
  • Helaine Barr, Bureau of Climate Change & Clean Energy, NJDEP
  • Janice Fuller, Anbaric, President, New Jersey OceanGrid 

12:40 Regional & National Speakers

  • Adrienne Downey, Principal Engineer, Offshore Wind, NYSERDA 
  • Walt Musiel, Chief Engineer & Offshore Wind Manager, US DOE/NREL

1 p.m. Conference Wrap Up 

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