Ocean City officials, worried about the economic impact of the turbines, have threatened to sue
The federal government announced Thursday that it has given final approval to a proposed wind energy development off the coast of Maryland — a significant milestone in a process that has dragged on for more than a decade.
US Wind’s Maryland offshore wind project, as approved, is expected to generate over 2 gigawatts of renewable energy for the Delmarva Peninsula, enough to power more than 718,000 homes. The federal government has estimated that the development and construction phases of the project could support almost 2,680 jobs annually over the next seven years, which is when the wind installation is expected to be fully operational.
The lease area is approximately 8.7 nautical miles off the coast of Ocean City and approximately 9 nautical miles from Sussex County, Delaware, at its closest points to shore.
The Maryland Offshore Wind Project consists of three planned phases, which include the proposed installation of up to 114 wind turbine generators, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four offshore export cable corridors. Two phases, known as MarWin and Momentum Wind, already have offshore renewable energy certificates from the state.
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has now approved 10 offshore leases in the Atlantic, and they are slowly coming online.
“Today’s milestone marks another giant leap toward our ambitious goal of unleashing 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030,” Acting Interior Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis said in a statement. “Our work to approve the nation’s first 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects is the result of the tenacious public servants at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to expedite the federal permitting process.”
The process has been anything but swift, however, and it could still encounter last-minute snags. Ocean City officials have long fretted about the proximity of the wind turbines to the shore, fearing it could hurt the town’s lucrative tourist and real estate economies, and have threatened to sue the federal government once the final approval is made public.
Federal officials said the “Notice of Availability of a Joint Record of Decision for US Wind Inc.’s Proposed Maryland Offshore Wind Project” will be published in the Federal Register in the coming days.
Let’s revisit – the windmills will not be visible from the beach – only a small part of the windmills will be seen – now they will be just eight miles off shore and will be fully visible – A full environmental impact study was conducted – these windmills will provide power for three quarters of a million homes – these windmills will provide affordable and more reliable electricity for the future.
Lies! All lies. They lied from the very beginning and are continuing to lie to you now. Affordable my $$$. Has anybody ever seen your electricity bill go down? Reliable my $$$. Do You believe that all those huge metal electric poles are being installed to make delivery more reliable for you. They aren’t. This project was planned many years ago and was designed to make billions for certain investors, not you the end user. Notice the paths of these huge poles and you will see that they follow old railroad and current old dated power poles. It’s cheaper for them to follow these already established right of ways. Bigger returns for the investors. Notice that they all lead to a certain area by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. This is where all lines will go underground to provide power to the mid-western grid (not you) and big cities and lets not miss their biggest buyer “Al”.
How about that environmental impact study. When the underwater currents are changed because of this huge 300-500 foot pier and sand starts building up rapidly at the inlet, guess who will be paying for all the increases in dredging? You got it. Tax payers not investors.
I could go on and on but just remember, someone made promises to voters this last election and those promises have to be kept. A lawsuit has to be put forward so that it can go through the process of going to the United States Supreme Court, not the Maryland courts. Peoples rights are being trampled on by big corporations and that has to be stopped. The agencies approving these measures are not elected and act only on the approval of one person. Jon E. Jerr.
And Moore taxpayer money to be wasted on lawyers!
Like I said before, and several time over, those turbines are going in no matter what, maybe just maybe you can fight where they are placed or seen, but I wouldn’t bank on that either! But remember I am just some basement dwelling conspiracy theorist who is always 100% right, so really the joke is on all of you.
Not me Jack, I’ve been saying the same thing for several years. Some people will profit immensely off the electricity users backs
Jack, Are you back?
Missed ya buddy.
US Wind’s Maryland offshore wind project, as approved, is expected to generate over 2 gigawatts of renewable energy for the Delmarva Peninsula, enough to power more than 718,000 homes.
But at what cost to the end user ? How much will my bill increase due to this renewable / free energy ?
Free isn’t free if you are going to charge me for it.