Offshore wind battle continues with law firm hired In Ocean City

Ocean City plans to appeal the Board of Public Utilities' decision to allow Ocean Wind 1 to run transmission lines under the beach.

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Signaling the next step in the fight against offshore wind in Ocean City, the City Council Thursday approved the hiring of a law firm to appeal the decision.

As part of the consent agenda, part of the meeting considered routine and not individually discussed, the Council voted to hire Cooper Levenson to represent Ocean City in appealing the Board of Public Utilities' decision to allow the offshore project Ocean Wind 1 to run transmission cables under Ocean City's streets and coming up at the beach lots at 35th Street. The property is protected by the state's Green Acres program.

The BPU's decision came as surprise to officials, as it happened the night before a meeting was scheduled between the BPU and Ocean City/Cape May County officials.

Ocean City officials have said previously that they believe the better decision to be running the cables through the Great Egg Harbor Inlet, which they say would be less harmful.

Cooper Levenson will be paid $350 an hour, not exceeding $40,000, to appeal the decision, according to agenda documents.

The consent agenda was nearly unanimously approved, except for Councilman Tom Rotondi, who voted no.

Residents can still share their thoughts about the cables running through Green Acres areas in a public hearing that was rescheduled for Nov. 14.