Delaware needs offshore wind energy

In December, Sussex County Council faced a momentous decision: approve a permit that would allow clean, renewable energy from offshore wind to flow across our power grid and meet the rapidly increasing demand for electricity, or deny the permit and, in doing so, deny Delawareans several great benefits.

Council, wrongly, denied the permit, showing it had no consideration for public opinion, the state or the region at a critical juncture in our energy future. 

A bill pending in the legislature would reverse that decision. Senate Bill 159, sponsored by Sen. Stephanie Hansen with Reps. Claire Snyder-Hall and Frank Burns, would require the permitting of electric substations for renewable energy as an allowed use in heavy industrial zones for projects of 250 MWs or more. 

Delaware needs that law.

Demand for electricity, driven by big users such as data centers and other factors, is increasing rapidly across the country. PJM Interconnection, the transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity from Michigan to West Virginia, including Delaware, estimates that peak demand on its system will grow 2% in summer and 3.2% in winter each year through 2045. 

PJM needs to add capacity to increase the flow of electricity. Projects like the substation that council denied represent an ideal solution. 

Developer US Wind needs the substation on Indian River for its 1,700 MW project off the coast of Ocean City, Md. That substation would be built next to an existing substation that serves a now-decommissioned coal-burning power plant. 

US Wind’s project is fully approved by the federal government and permitted by the State of Delaware. It needs only a conditional-use permit from Sussex County to begin construction.

US Wind will pay the entire $400 million cost of the substation. New energy transmitted on the PJM grid would help increase supply over demand, resulting in a price decrease – a $253 million savings, according to one estimate. The project would increase the reliability of the power supply in Sussex and beyond, and construction would provide good local jobs, especially for union electrical workers.

Council had no legal authority to deny the permit. The zoning allows for the use, which was emphasized by the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission when it recommended approval weeks before council’s decision.

Yet in justifying their votes, several council members said they saw no benefit to Sussex. Only Council President Michael Vincent – the lone vote to approve – expressed an understanding of the limits on council’s authority over land use: Council controls only the land, not the projects associated with the zoning. And he was the only member to see a broader issue, expressing concern that council would set a precedent that could backfire on Delaware: facing similar decisions, would jurisdictions beyond our state lines deny us similar benefits?

This is not a local problem. Delaware imports almost all its energy from out of state, and almost all of it is generated by burning fossil fuels.

In voting no, council proved what developers of clean, renewable energy claim is the biggest barrier to getting their much-needed projects online: decisions by local governments. In cases where benefits transcend local boundaries, local governments should not get the final word. 

One element unique to Delaware is our position as an attractive place to bring wind power onshore. It is feasible for projects off Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey to tie into the grid here. The Energy Solutions for Delaware Act passed last summer allows for interstate cooperation on development of offshore wind projects.

Onshoring in Delaware would spare developers from going through a laborious, contentious permitting process in other states by bypassing local decisions. The faster process equals a less-expensive process and provides economies of scale that could lower pricing. It also gives Delaware leverage in negotiating community benefits with prospective developers in the future.

What’s more, Delaware’s Climate Changes Solutions Act sets a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. No other renewable energy technology has the potential of offshore wind to get us near that mark. And Delawareans want it – 77% of us, according to independent polling.

It will be years before the federal government designates new wind energy areas. We can’t afford to send the wrong signals to developers that would do business with us now. And at no level of government can we afford the kind of mistake Sussex County Council made.

Ask your representatives to support SB 159.