State court stays wind farm request for review
A request by a wind farm company for the court to review county denial of a substation project was stayed Dec. 1 by a Superior Court judge.
Renewable Redevelopment LLC, a subsidiary of US Wind, which seeks to build offshore wind turbines along the Fenwick Island coastline and bring power to a substation at the Indian River Power Plant, filed a Writ of Certiorari Sept. 11 after Sussex County Council had denied them a permit to build the substation near Millsboro.
Soon after, the Delaware Legislature passed a bill, which was signed by Gov. Matt Meyer, effectively overriding the local decision in favor of the wind power project.
“Based on the research, it appears that the General Assembly possesses such power,” wrote Judge Mark Connor in his opinion.
However, he wrote that the writ is stayed until it is determined whether the writ is moot as of February 2026.
Still, an upstate senator who sponsored legislation supporting the wind power project took the opinion as a win.
“This is the result we wanted, marking a key step in our efforts to increase Delaware’s energy supply and ensure energy reliability for all ratepayers in our state,” said Sen. Stephanie Hansen, D-Middletown, in a press release. “After Sussex County Council denied a permit US Wind needed to construct an electric substation for the Delaware-Maryland offshore wind project, it became clear the General Assembly had to step in to ensure the project could move forward. The order makes it clear that the General Assembly does indeed have the power to reverse a local body’s administrative decision.”
Complaints against the wind project remain in U.S. District Court for Delaware filed by a citizen and a Maryland case filed by Ocean City’s mayor and city council. The U.S. Department of Interior, defendants in both cases, had informed the Maryland court that a vacatur motion is “being held in abeyance until the administrative record is lodged and cross-motions for summary judgment decided” in that matter, according to court records.
Melissa Steele is a staff writer covering the state Legislature, government and police. Her newspaper career spans more than 30 years and includes working for the Delaware State News, Burlington County Times, The News Journal, Dover Post and Milford Beacon before coming to the Cape Gazette in 2012. Her work has received numerous awards, most notably a Pulitzer Prize-adjudicated investigative piece, and a runner-up for the MDDC James S. Keat Freedom of Information Award.
