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The Danish wind energy company Orsted has put up a $100 million guarantee that it will build New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm.

But it will lose that money if the project is not operating by Dec. 2025 — a year after the deadline approved by state utility regulators.

New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities approved an agreement Wednesday with Orsted under which the company would forfeit the money if the project is not up and running within 12 months of a series of deadlines previously ordered by the board.

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Those deadlines call for the project to reach commercial operation in stages by May 1, Sept. 1 and Dec. 1, 2024. But it would forfeit the guarantee money if the project is not operational by December 2025.

The money put up on Oct. 4 by Orsted and placed in an escrow account was required under the terms of a law Gov. Phil Murphy signed in July allowing Orsted to keep federal tax credits that it otherwise would have had to return to New Jersey ratepayers.

The Democratic governor, who wants to make New Jersey the East Coast hub of the nascent offshore wind industry, said the tax break was needed. He said it would help Orsted complete the project in the face of financial challenges buffeting the industry. which also faces substantial political opposition, mostly from Republican legislators and their supporters.

As an example, on Thursday, New York regulators rejected a request from companies for larger subsidies to complete large-scale wind, solar and offshore wind projects, saying the expected the companies to abide by the terms of their deals with the state.

Orsted said in a statement that Wednesday’s approval by the New Jersey utilities board “continues the process of complying with the statutory requirements outlined in legislation signed by Governor Murphy earlier this year.”

But it did not address its own timetable for completing the first of two offshore wind projects it plans to build off the New Jersey coast.

In August, Orsted said the project would be delayed until 2026 due to supply chain issues, higher interest rates, and a failure so far to garner enough tax credits from the federal government.

The company said during an earnings conference call that it could be forced to write off about $2.3 billion on U.S. projects that are worth less than they had been. It also said it had considered simply abandoning the Ocean Wind I project off the southern New Jersey coast, but decided for the time being to stick with it.

The company did not respond to repeated requests Wednesday and Thursday for clarification of its timetable for the project. Its website says only, “The project is scheduled to become operational in 2025, with final commissioning in 2026.”

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An affidavit filed with the board last month by David Hardy, CEO of Boston-based Orsted North America, committed the company to carrying out the project once the board approved the guarantee, which was done on Wednesday.

“I can affirm that Ocean Wind I shall complete and operate the Ocean Wind I approximate 1,100-megawatt qualified offshore wind project,” he wrote.

Orsted has federal approval for the Ocean Wind I project, and has state approval for a second New Jersey project, Ocean Wind II. Under Wednesday’s agreement, the company would get its $100 million back if it does not receive all the government approvals it needs to build and operate the first project.

If Orsted forfeits the money, it could be returned to New Jersey utility ratepayers.

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Opponents of a natural gas-fired power plant planned for an already polluted low-income area in New Jersey celebrated Thursday after hearing the company that proposed the project no longer plans to build it, citing low energy prices.

Competitive Power Ventures wanted to build a second plant beside one it already operates in Woodbridge, about 20 miles south of Newark. The company previously said the expansion is needed because of growing demand for energy, pitching it as a reliable backup source for solar and wind energy when those types of power are not available.

But in a statement Wednesday night, the Silver Spring, Maryland-based CPV said market conditions have deteriorated to the point where the project is no longer feasible.

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Company spokesman Matthew Litchfield said CPV’s agreement with PJM Interconnection, a regional power transmission organization, required it to either begin construction or terminate the agreement by Sept. 30.

“In light of current PJM market conditions that do not support construction of the project at this time, CPV had to withdraw from the interconnection agreement,” he said.

Litchfield said market prices for energy were too low, and that unlike many other types of generation projects, including offshore wind and nuclear power, the natural gas plant wouldn’t be subsidized by the state.

“These prices currently do not support the construction of the project,” he said.

The company will continue to operate its existing plant, he added. It’s evaluating uses for the adjacent land where the second power plant had been proposed.

A wide coalition of residents from Woodbridge and surrounding low-income communities, environmental and social justice groups opposed the project, saying it would have placed an unacceptably high health burden in an area that already deals with serious pollution.

In public hearings regarding the proposal, area residents said their children developed chronic breathing problems, including some so severe that the children had to be rushed to hospitals.

The American Lung Association gives Middlesex County, which includes Woodbridge, a grade of “F” for ground-level ozone pollution. That type of pollution is caused by car exhaust, the burning of natural gas, and other human activities, according to the EPA. It’s known to exacerbate lung problems.

New Jersey’s environmental justice law is designed to prevent overburdened communities from having to accept additional sources of pollution. Signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2020, it did not apply to the CPV proposal, which completed its air quality permit application in 2017, before the law took effect.

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“The CPV power plant scheme would have dumped air pollution into already overburdened communities, and undermined the Murphy administration’s climate goals,” said Charlie Kratovil, an organizer for Food & Water Watch. “The inspiring grassroots movement to stop this plant won a major victory for clean air, environmental justice, and our climate.”

He noted that two other gas-fired power plants remain under consideration in the state, both proposed by government agencies in Newark and Kearny, and called on the governor “to back up his rhetoric with decisive action to stop all fossil fuel expansion projects.”

Anjuli Ramos Busot, director of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter, said the project would have pumped over 2 million metric tons of additional planet-warming greenhouse gases into the environment, increasing the state’s output by 2%.

“The people won against the polluters in New Jersey,” she said. “Our state does not need more natural gas. “This is a massive victory for our communities, environmental justice, and in the fight against climate change.”

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Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader on Thursday urged the Parliament speaker to reinstate 15 of his party’s lawmakers, saying they were removed from their positions because of a fraudulent letter.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said the lawmakers’ removal was part of an attempt by the ruling ZANU-PF party “to silence us.”

The issue has added to the political tension in the southern African nation since President Emmerson Mnangagwa won a second term and ZANU-PF retained its parliamentary majority in disputed elections in August. Chamisa rejected the results of the elections as a “blatant and gigantic fraud.”

ZIMBABWE’S OPPOSITION CALLS FOR INTERNATIONALLY-SUPERVISED REDO OF CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION

The lawmakers from Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change party were removed Tuesday after a man claiming to be the secretary-general of the CCC sent a letter to Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda saying they were being withdrawn.

Chamisa told Mudenda the man who sent the letter had no authority in his party and was an impostor, and his letter should be disregarded. But Mudenda, an official from ZANU-PF, still removed the lawmakers and declared their seats vacant. That led to a protest in Parliament by other CCC lawmakers, who were ejected by police.

ZIMBABWE ARRESTS 41 POLL MONITORS, ACCUSES THEM OF TRYING TO RIG VOTE COUNT FOR OPPOSITION

The CCC has said it will boycott parliamentary business until the 15 are reinstated, widening the post-election political cracks. Chamisa has also accused Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF of post-election intimidation and violence.

Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi denied government or ruling party collusion in the removal of the opposition lawmakers and said others would lose their positions if they missed 21 consecutive Parliament sittings.

Although ZANU-PF retained its control of Parliament, it did not get a two-thirds majority that would give it the votes to change the constitution and possibly allow Mnangagwa, 81, to remain as leader beyond two terms, which is currently the limit. Mnangagwa has said this is his last term, though some in his party have called for him to stay on.

Mnangagwa replaced long-ruling autocrat Robert Mugabe after a coup in 2017 with promises of democratic reforms. Mnangagwa won his first term in another disputed election in 2018 and is now being accused of being as repressive as his predecessor.

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Kansas’ Republican attorney general asked the state’s highest court to reward the GOP-controlled Legislature for following through on a decade’s worth of court-mandated education funding increases by making it harder for local school districts to force higher spending in the future.

Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office wants the Kansas Supreme Court to close a lawsuit that four school districts filed against the state in 2010. The request was filed Wednesday by Tony Powell, a former state Court of Appeals judge who now serves as Kobach’s solicitor general.

The state Supreme Court issued seven rulings from 2013 through 2019 requiring the Legislature to increase funding for public schools and to make its formula for distributing its funds fairer to poorer areas of the state. The justices said in 2019 that the Legislature had complied with their directives, but they kept the case open to ensure that lawmakers fulfilled their promises.

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The state expects to provide $4.9 billion in aid to its 286 local school districts during the current school year, which would be about 39% more than the $3.5 billion it provided for the 2013-14 school year. Powell noted that the court approved a plan four years ago to phase in a series of funding increases through the previous school year.

“The phased-in remedy has been completed,” Kobach said in a statement Thursday. “It’s normal to close a case at this time.”

Kansas has been in and out of school funding lawsuits for several decades, with lawmakers promising increases in spending and then backing off when the economy soured and state revenues became tight.

Kobach said his office’s request won’t affect current funding levels.

“Kansas is governed by elected representatives who will make decisions on how the state spends taxpayer money,” he said.

KANSAS GOV. KELLY ANNOUNCES JUNETEENTH WILL BECOME STATE HOLIDAY

With the lawsuit still open and in the state Supreme Court’s hands, the school districts can go directly to the justices each year if they don’t believe lawmakers have provided enough money. If the case were closed, districts would have to file a new lawsuit in district court that likely would take several years to reach the state Supreme Court.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly opposes Kobach’s request. Spokesperson Brianna Johnson described it as an “attempt to allow the Legislature to remove funding from our public schools.” She also noted that it came the same week that state education officials reported improvements in scores on standardized exams, including the best math scores since 2017.

She said, “It makes no sense to undo all the progress.”

The state constitution says lawmakers “shall make suitable provision for finance” of the state’s “educational interests.” The state Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the language requires legislators to provide enough money and distribute it fairly enough to finance a suitable education for every child.

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Rosemarie Myrdal, the second woman to serve as North Dakota’s lieutenant governor, has died. She was 94.

Myrdal died Wednesday night in Grafton due to old age, said state Sen. Janne Myrdal, her daughter-in-law. Funeral and burial services are planned for Monday at Pioneer Church in Gardar.

“She had her garden, and she ate healthy, and she ground her own wheat from the farm, and she lived the North Dakota way,” Janne Myrdal, a Republican, told The Associated Press. “I think this is going to reverberate throughout the state because she was one of a kind, for sure, of a public servant.”

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Rosemarie Myrdal was lieutenant governor to former Gov. Ed Schafer. The two Republicans served from 1992-2000. Myrdal had previously served in the state House of Representatives from 1985-92. She was a teacher and a mother of five.

As lieutenant governor, Myrdal presided over the state Senate and was first in the line of succession for the governor’s seat. Her daughter-in-law said Myrdal was respected by Democrats and Republicans alike.

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Schafer and Myrdal did not seek re-election in 2000.

Schafer described Myrdal as “a really good public servant” and “a wonderful human being” who was a great personal friend and political colleague.

“She just was that ultimate kind, honest, compassionate person that we were all joyful at being able to work with and interact with,” Schafer told the AP.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum in a statement called Myrdal “a tireless advocate for the citizens of our state and a champion for children, education and agriculture.” He praised her past school board service and involvement in organizations supporting heritage preservation, conservation and other causes.

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