Offshore wind: Delaware wants public to weigh in at workshops

Two public workshops are being held to discuss bringing offshore wind power to Delaware, and its potential benefits.

The meetings are organized by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Division of Energy and Climate, along with Delaware's Offshore Wind Working Group.

"The risks are worth the potential benefits from becoming a national leader in offshore wind energy generation," said Ted Spickler, of Dagsboro, in public comment forum on DNREC's website, "leadership that folks from all over the country will come to see and marvel at."

The first meeting was held at the Appoquinimink Training Center in Odessa on Nov. 27.

For beach residents, the second meeting is closer to home and will be held at the Lewes Public Library on Dec. 5. The meetings will feature a briefing of the status of the Offshore Wind Working Group, which was established by Gov. John Carney's Executive Order 13 in August.

Executive Order 13 created a task force to examine how Delaware can possibly participate in developing offshore wind, its economic impact and make a recommendation as to the direction Delaware should take for offshore wind projects in the future.

In Carney's executive order, the group needs to consider and review pertinent laws and regulations that control the development of offshore wind project and recommend possible changes to laws and regulations, review the environmental and economic benefits of developing offshore wind in Delaware, and identify the barriers and opportunities involved in developing offshore wind.

The group began meeting in October, and a report  is due to Carney by Dec. 15 on both short-term and long-term strategies to develop wind power in Delaware as well as to plans to develop job opportunities.

BACKGROUND: Bloom Energy struggles loom over offshore wind talks

One problem the group will face is whether Delaware would be better served with its own, full-scale project or if the state should piggyback off a pair of offshore wind farms recently approved off Ocean City.

U.S. Wind, a subsidiary of an Italian construction firm, plans to build 62 turbines 17 miles off the coast, while Skipjack Offshore Energy is looking to add another 15. The two projects are expected to generate 368 megawatts of energy to Maryland customers.

Bonnie Ram, a senior researcher at University of Delaware, said there needs to be more public input into the project, according to her comments in the forum online.

She said Delaware's commitment to solar energy is paying off, and offshore wind will contribute "significantly" to a new energy economy along the Atlantic coast.

"But it is clear that the calculations of dollars and cents in the traditional manner today — with no accounting for reduction of (greenhouse gases) or regard for public health or demonstrating any leadership in the clean energy transition — is disregarding the voices of many Delawareans," she said.

READ MORE: Ocean City offshore wind project won't deter tourists, developer says

Others are concerned about the impact the project might have on their property value.

Geoffry Pohanka, who has owned a home in Bethany Beach since the late 1970s, said online he is concerned the turbines will be visible from the beach and will negatively impact the local economy.

"The primary industry along the shore is tourism," he said in public comment. "Most vacationers as well as property owners do not want to look out over the horizon and view 600-foot tall wind turbines. Does one need to destroy nature to try and save it?"

But supporters say the project say the project will be economically beneficial.

Kit Zak, of Lewes and the Citizens for Clean Power, said in the public comment forum the proposed wind farms have the ability to generate an economic base.

"We desperately need a new industry in Delaware, and these jobs would be high-paying jobs, not retail's low-paying jobs," Zak said.

Information from The News Journal was used in this report.

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