Why Should Delaware Care?
One final obstacle in the construction of a massive wind farm off the coast of Ocean City, Md., is getting approval to build and direct energy from the windmills to a substation next to the Indian River Power Plant in Dagsboro. A vote Tuesday will determine whether Sussex County Council will step on a legal landmine to quell public outcry.
As an offshore wind farm looks to start construction 15 miles off the Atlantic coast, there isn’t much left for US Wind, a Maryland energy company owned in part by an Italian infrastructure firm, to get approved.
The federal government approved the plan back in September, and just last week, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) approved multiple permits for underwater and on-land construction.
All that remains is a vote from Sussex County Council to allow US Wind to build a substation that intakes high-voltage cables from the offshore wind farm to the mainland. Whichever way the Tuesday vote goes, it will either fuel or delay one of the region’s most ambitious energy projects in decades.
But with three council members on their way out of office, they could make bold votes and save face in the wake of significant local opposition to the project.
What will the vote do?
Sussex County Council is set to vote on whether US Wind can use a piece of land it bought to build a new electrical substation that will intake the energy from the offshore wind farm.
That substation is planned for an undeveloped parcel of land right next to the Indian River Power Plant, which sits in between Millsboro and the mouth of the Indian River, nearly 10 miles from the beach that will accept cables from the Atlantic Ocean.
In 2023, Renewable Development, a subsidiary of US Wind, bought the parcel for $20 million, according to county records.
The plan was already recommended for full council approval by the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission, and doesn’t require any rezoning to open such a substation. In short, if the county rejects the application, it opens the county up to a lawsuit from US Wind.
This is not the first time the council has been in front of this permit. At the end of July, council members deferred a vote just a month prior to a heated primary election that saw two of the current council members lose their seats. A third lost in the November general election.
While it’s unclear how the council may choose to vote this time, there is a majority that has nothing to lose should they reject the permit and save face in the wake of overwhelming public opposition.
When contacted by Spotlight Delaware, members of the county council would not comment on their stances ahead of the upcoming vote, citing advice from their legal team.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced its approval of the project back in early September, and approved its construction on Dec. 3.
DNREC also announced another key approval last week to allow for construction under the 3Rs beach, just south of the Indian River Inlet. Once those cables reach the mainland, US Wind is looking to send them through the heart of the Indian River Bay.
Outside lobbying efforts, local pushback
Prior to the vote, a new website appeared online looking to lobby citizens away from the permit. Stop Offshore Wind is an incorporated organization formed Dec. 5 by a lawyer with ties to a massive lobbying firm.
The website posted all of the emails and phone numbers of county council members, looking to rally the public to oppose the project at county council.
“Tell the Sussex County Council to DENY this permit,” the website reads.
While it’s unclear who developed the website or how it came to be, it raises questions about outside interest in renewable energy.
The Florida lawyer who signed an incorporation document for Stop Offshore Wind, Andrew Asher, could not be reached over the phone.
But according to his LinkedIn, he’s the former general counsel to the BGR Group, a lobbying firm with ties to multiple oil and gas companies and foreign nations. He still frequently reposts BGR Group posts on LinkedIn.
There’s also been a massive local public outcry in regard to the project. Two lawsuits have already been filed in opposition to the wind farm, challenging the permitting status of the projects and the environmental review, as reported by Delaware Public Media.
Additionally, the Caesar Rodney Institute, a conservative Delaware public policy think tank, has spent a lot of time advocating against the offshore wind farm. David Stevenson, the institute’s director, said the council vote on Tuesday will be one last push to get the council to deny the permit.
Stevenson argued the wind farm will harm tourism, devalue surrounding properties, harm marine life and interfere with different military operations off the coast.
In a July letter he sent to the county in opposition of the project, he implored the council to deny the application.
“The consequences of the proposed use to support offshore wind development does not promote the prosperity, or welfare of present or future inhabitants of Sussex County,” he wrote.
Conversely, Mark Nardone, the director of the Delaware Nature Society, argued the investment by US Wind into Delaware’s power grid will fill a growing energy demand in the state.
Nardone also said Delaware is not a state that produces much energy, and it’s often bidding and buying its energy from surrounding states. But new offshore wind could limit the emissions other states produce.
Additionally, he said Delaware set emissions goals itself for in 2023 to be “net zero” emissions by 2050.
“We can’t meet the sort of cleaner, safer climate future that we need without bringing clean renewables online,” Nardone said.
Make Your Voice Heard
Sussex County Council will meet at 10 a.m. on Dec. 17 online and in person at the Sussex County Administrative Office Building. Read the agenda here.
