Smart Energy Solutions In the News

While O'Malley did not explicitly endorse wind turbines off the Maryland coast, his comments reflected a willingness to consider such a proposal. His top energy adviser confirmed that building a field of turbines off Ocean City was one of several options under consideration.

O'Malley said he had talked with Delaware's Lt. Gov. John Carney at a National Governors' Association conference over the weekend and expressed his willingness to have Maryland participate in the Bluewater Wind project off the Delaware coast.

By encouraging Maryland utilities to purchase electricity generated by offshore turbines, the state could help the project achieve the economies of scale it needs to be viable, officials familiar with the proposal say.

The Bluewater Wind project has been the subject of discussion for years, but the proposed wind farm of about 60 turbines cleared important regulatory and legislative hurdles in Delaware only within the past month.

If it receives federal environmental approval, the project could be up and running by 2012.

Carney, a Democrat who is running for governor, said he sought out O'Malley at the governors meeting to discuss the project. "He was very positive and very excited about the opportunity," Carney said.

The Delaware official said the wind energy project makes the most sense as a regional endeavor.

"It would be a big deal for both Maryland and Delaware if the folks in Maryland decide to piggyback on our project," Carney said.

Visibility issues

Bluewater Wind representatives briefed Ocean City officials yesterday on the Delaware proposal and the possibility of turbines off the Maryland resort.

"We're interested, but we're concerned what the horizon will look like," Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said afterward.

Proponents of the turbines say the towers would be barely visible from shore.

John Hughes, Delaware's secretary of natural resources and environmental control, said the Rehoboth Beach project has elicited little opposition from waterfront resort owners or the public.

"We consider the towers and the blades graceful - they are no taller than your thumbnail on a clear day," Hughes said. "On a muggy summer day, they won't be visible at all."

Currently, there are no offshore wind projects in America, but ocean-based turbines are generating electricity in Denmark and England.

Proposals for wind farms off the coast of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts have run into fierce opposition from property owners and vacationers.

Offshore wind turbines can be more expensive to build than those on land, but the wind is often more consistent and stronger at sea, said Frank Maisano, a spokesman for Bluewater Wind and a dozen other wind developers in the Mid-Atlantic region.