DELAWARE - US Wind Inc. has begun discussions with Delaware’s Coastal Towns to evaluate the potential benefits of offshore wind to the communities.
Those Coastal Towns include Henlopen Acres, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, and South Bethany. US Wind says they have formally presented a package listing the benefits to those communities as they begin to evaluate US Wind’s offer through public meetings.
US Wind says they control an 80,000 acre lease area off the coast of Delmarva which can support about 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is expected to approve or disapprove of US Wind’s plans to mitigate the potential impacts from developing that lease area, with the decision expected by the 4th Quarter of 2024, according to US Wind.
US Wind says two contracted projects - MarWin and Momentum Wind - are planned for the area, leaving space for a third and as-of-yet undefined project.
US Wind says the community benefits package presented to the Coastal Towns includes annual payments over twenty years worth $2 million to each town. The energy company says those payments would begin if and when construction begins on MarWin, their first slated project. US Wind says the projects would lower regional energy prices and invest more than $200 million in transmission system upgrades.
Henlopen Acres Mayor Joni Reich says it will be discussed by their town commissioners – but the extra funds would be a big help,
“For our town, it would represent a 10% increment to our annual revenues, so it’s very considerable, and I think our commissioners will give it every bit of consideration.” said Reich.
“We expect to deliver clean offshore wind power to the Delmarva region for a long time ,” said Jeffrey Grybowski, US Wind CEO. “As a member of this community, we believe it’s important to do what we can to help it thrive. These coastal towns are important to the state of Delaware and beloved by those who enjoy them. US Wind is committed to contributing to their continued health and resilience.”
Missing from the list of Coastal Towns is Fenwick Island, it's Mayor Natalie Magdeburger wrote:
"Fenwick declined to be involved with hiring a consultant to negotiate a community benefits package. We believed as advocates for our community we need to be able to speak freely, openly and without restriction to question the wisdom of moving forward with wind farms off our coast."
She added that the primary three concerns still revolve around the environmental impact, economic and property value damage, and public safety.
But critics of offshore wind like David Stevenson from The Caesar Rodney Institute for Energy and Environment say the benefits don’t outweigh the costs In a multi page report sent to Governor Carney – he says the turbines will lead to a loss of tourism and lower property values – that just losing 1% of tourism would cost twice as much as the benefits.
“Maryland should be bringing this power ashore in Maryland and leaving Delaware out of it, there is no way we are gonna get enough benefits to ever cover the lost tourism," said Stevenson
WBOC previously reported US Winds ongoing negotiations with Delaware, including plans for an underground power cable landing in Delaware Seashore State Park.
