Senator Carozza opposes state's okay for U.S. Wind OC Pier

 

(Portion of press release)

November 20, 2024

 BPW Votes to Approve US Wind’s Wetlands Application Hurts Local Fishing Industry

 Annapolis, MD – Senator Mary Beth Carozza (R-District 38) today urged the Maryland Board of Public Works to postpone or deny US Wind’s Tidal Wetlands License Application to build a large pier and bulkhead structure in the West Ocean City Harbor. 

The Maryland Board of Public Works voted to approve Wetlands License No. 23-0813 to construct a 353 foot long by 30 foot wide concrete pier with associated timber fenders and to construct 383 linear feet of replacement steel bulkhead as part of US Wind’s Operation and Maintenance Facility (O&M) in the West Ocean City Harbor.

“It is premature to make a decision today that will permanently damage our local commercial fishing industry and harm our fishing families who have lived and worked here for generations and are an important part of our Shore way of life,” testified Carozza who held up a petition in opposition to US Wind’s application during her presentation. “Many of the people who signed this petition of opposition did so during this year’s annual Harbor Day at the Docks held last month in the West Ocean City Harbor.“

I am both disappointed and frustrated with the Board of Public Works’ decision to approve US Wind’s application which would create a major negative economic impact on our commercial fishing industry.

Eastern Shore State Senators: NO TO WIND ENERGY BILL

 

Wind energy company out but its OC wind farm still in says Baltimore Sun.

 

Offshore wind company Orsted withdrew Thursday from an arrangement with Maryland regulators governing how much it can charge for the power it would generate at its planned Skipjack wind farms.

The company said in its notice to Maryland regulators that it is not ceasing development on its wind farm, which is planned off the coast of northern Ocean City.

(View news article:)

Wind company pulls out of power deal with Maryland, but plans to keep developing its Ocean City farm (yahoo.com)

Senator Carozza: No to offshore wind energy.

 

Congressman Andy Harris (MD-1) Chairs Offshore Wind Energy Hearing with Senator Carozza (R-District 18) and her District Representative Pat Schrawder making comments for the record.

Pat Schrawder, District Representative to Senator Carozza, former marine electronics business owner, Shoreline Commission Chair and lifetime Marlin Club member testified as a community advocate. Next to her is expert witness Travis Fisher with the CATO Institue who testified to the high cost of offshore wind policy.

Senator Carozza (R-District 38) testified that the documented negative effects of offshore wind industrialization as presented by the hearing experts threaten Maryland's Coast.

Google Inc. To Invest In Wind Farms

Google Inc. has agreed to invest in a transmission network project that would harvest electricity from wind farms off the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Google will buy a 37.5 percent stake in the development stage of the Atlantic Wind Connection project, Rick Needham, director of green business operations at the Mountain View, Calif.-based company, said on Google's blog. The project will cost about $5 billion and Google's initial investment will likely be about $200 million, according to project leader Trans-Elect Development Co. of Chevy Chase.

The network, running from New Jersey to Virginia, would tie into the electrical grid that serves 13 states and Washington D.C. It would carry enough electricity to power hundreds of thousands of homes.

The transmission network is likely to spur the development of wind farms, including one planned off the coast of Ocean City, which could produce 1 gigawatt of electricity, according to the Maryland Energy Administration. Ian Hines, spokesman for the agency, said the network would make offshore wind farms more affordable.

Hines compared the transmission line to a power-strip that homeowners would use to connect many appliances. Instead of each wind farm sending electricity back to shore, "you've got a big power strip, a 350-mile power strip that these wind farms can plug right into, and that will direct the energy right onto the land. The point is that if there are four places where that energy is coming onto the land rather than 14, that makes it much more cost-effective for everybody."

The network and Google's involvement will help spur the wind energy industry in the U.S., which has lagged behind China in installing turbines, said Charlie Hodges, a wind industry analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London. Wind-power investment may reach $202 billion within two decades, according to estimates at industry group Global Wind Energy Council.

"The North American wind industry hasn't had any players involved with the motivation and financial heft to really move this market forward," Hodges said. "Google could play that role."

Google and Good Energies, an investor in renewable-energy projects, agreed to each buy 37.5 percent of the equity portion of the project. Japan's Marubeni Corp. will own a 10 percent stake and a group led by Trans-Elect will own the remaining 10 percent, said Trans-Elect CEO Robert L. Mitchell.

The transmission network will span 350 miles and will be able to connect to 6,000 megawatts of power from wind turbines, according to the companies.

The group will conduct a feasibility study by 2013 and plans to start the first phase in 2016, Marubeni spokesman Yo Nomura said, declining to comment on the cost of the project.

Mitchell says the first phase will run 150 miles in federal waters from New Jersey to Delaware and will be complete by early 2016. It would be capable of delivering 2,000 megawatts of wind energy, enough to power about 500,000 homes.

Hines said that while the Maryland Energy Administration had not been involved with this specific proposal, it has worked with Trans-Elect in the past year and a half to encourage the federal government to consider state priorities when deciding energy regulations.

Trans-Elect, formed in 1999, owns and manages more than 12,600 miles of transmission lines in North America, according to its Web site. Over the years, the company expanded its business to develop and build new transmission projects.

In 2004, Trans-Elect partnered with Pacific Gas and Electric and the U.S. Department of Energy's Western Area Power Administration to build a $250 million power line in California to address transmission deficiencies that contributed to the rolling blackouts a few years earlier.

Google made its first direct investment in clean energy in May, buying a $38.8 million stake in two North Dakota wind farms.

"We believe in investing in projects that make good business sense and further the development of renewable energy," Needham wrote in a blog post Monday. "We're willing to take calculated risks on early stage ideas and projects that can have dramatic impacts while offering attractive returns."

Google has also been trying to rely on renewable energy sources for its data centers, whose demands for power are increasing as the company sets up more computers in its bid to index all of the world's online data.

www.baltimoresun.com

Report Boasts Benefits of Offshore Wind Energy, Calls for Ban of Offshore Drilling

Offshore wind power in Atlantic waters could supply nearly half the current electricity generation of the East Coast and create up to 200,000 jobs or more, an environmental group concludes in a study released Tuesday.

The study by Oceana, an environmental group focused on oceanic issues, predicts winds along the East Coast have the potential to deliver 30 percent more electricity than "economically recoverable" offshore oil and gas in the same region.

The study also estimates that the emerging offshore wind industry would create between 133,000 and 212,000 jobs annually in the U.S. -- more than three times the estimated future job creation through expanded offshore oil and gas drilling.

The authors of "Untapped Wealth: The Potential of Offshore Energy to Deliver Clean, Affordable Energy and Jobs" said they studied potential offshore wind tracts 3 to 24 miles off the East Coast in depths of 30 meters (98 feet) or fewer and used conservative estimates to arrive at their conclusions.

Many of the assumptions, such as job generation, are based on experience in Europe, which has a far-advanced offshore wind industry.

The U.S. has approved only one offshore wind farm, off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

"The technology exists. We just need to have the will to do it," said Simon Mahan, one of the Oceana study authors and is now with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Among the study's other findings:

-- Delaware, Massachusetts and North Carolina could exceed all their current energy needs through offshore winds, while New Jersey, Virginia and South Carolina could achieve 64 percent or more of their energy needs.

Much of a state's ability to generate offshore winds hinges on its location and length of its coastline. Georgia, for instance, is located farther south, which has lighter winds, and a smaller coastline. Its potential for offshore energy is in the single digits.

-- U.S. offshore wind generation capacity on the Atlantic Coast is at least 127 gigawatts. That is approximately equal to European projections for offshore wind energy on that continent in less than 20 years.

More than 24,000 wind turbines would have to be scattered in East Coast waters to achieve that level of generation.

East Coast states have been giving offshore winds a closer look following the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. President Barack Obama suspended planned exploratory gas and oil drilling off Virginia's coast shortly after the April spill. The state was first in line to begin drilling.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has reached agreement with 10 East Coast governors to work together to develop windmills in the Atlantic.

The jobs would be created for a nearly nonexistent U.S. industry to fabricate giant turbines, as well as ships needed to build and service them and related industries.

Oceana also recommended the elimination of federal subsidies for fossil fuels; a permanent ban on new oil and gas development in the Atlantic; and other measures to encourage offshore wind development.

www.shoredailynews.com

Virginia Joins States Developing Wind Energy

The governors of 10 East Coast states have joined federal authorities to form a consortium that will promote the development of offshore wind energy.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday the establishment of the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium will promote safe and environmentally responsible development, enhance the nation's energy security, and create jobs.

Salazar says a regional renewable energy office has been set up to coordinate and expedite the development of wind, solar and other renewable energy resources off the Atlantic coast. Salazar in April authorized the nation's first offshore wind farm off Cape Cod.

The states are Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.

www.shoredailynews.com