I am writing in response to Peter Kleppinger McLean's excellent letter of June 3, "SB 159 embraces what’s already been approved."
Democracy requires that people affected by government decisions have a say over those decisions. That was the idea behind the founders’ refusal to accept taxation without representation in 1776, and it’s the idea behind Senate Bill 159 today.
The bill under consideration in the Delaware General Assembly would retroactively approve an electrical substation crucial to US Wind’s offshore wind project, reversing four Sussex County councilmen’s decision to block it last year.
It’s a question of fairness. The US Wind project off the coast of Delmarva would affect more than 65 million people by supplying 1,710 MWs of power to the regional electrical grid each year.
In addition to powering about 600,000 homes, this energy would help stabilize prices and improve reliability for residents of 13 states, including Delawareans in all three counties.
The vast number of stakeholders means the decision to halt the project should not be left to the county government. The decision should be made by the General Assembly, whose members represent all of the state’s 1 million residents.
Look at it this way: As one of the people who might pay more for electricity if the US Wind project fails, don’t you want everyone in harm’s way to have a say? I do.
Some Republican lawmakers have complained that SB 159 violates local control, forgetting that Sussex County, like all cities and counties in Delaware, is a constitutional subdivision of the state.
In other words, the Delaware Constitution authorizes local governments to address truly local issues. However, the state government exists, by design, to address matters that affect Delawareans beyond the jurisdiction of local governments.
And the electrical grid and power prices clearly affect Delawareans beyond the jurisdiction of Sussex County.
This means the General Assembly is the appropriate venue for this decision.
I urge its members to set aside misinformed talking points and pass SB 159 for the benefit of all the state’s residents.
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