From Citizens for Clean Power’s PAT GEARITY Jan 18, 2008
Dear supporters of clean air,
I'm very pleased to say that, because of the unprecedented, huge outcry by the public, 28 Representatives and Senators have signed on to a "Concurrent Resolution" to approve the Bluewater Wind contract."..." Thank you, Robert Valihura, Pete Schwartzkopf, John Kowalko, Liane Sorenson, and Sen. Sokola, all of whom worked very hard on this resolution!
Are your state Representative and Senator co-sponsors? If so, please call and tell them how much you appreciate their support.
If not, please let them know you are disappointed they have not signed on, and you hope they'll consider the merits of the contract and vote yes to the resolution.
We are in a struggle over Delaware's future. Who wants to keep us in the past? A few powerful Senators and one House Committee Chair.
We still have a way to go.
But your voices are making the difference!
Together, we will bring offshore wind energy to Delaware.
And the nation will thank you.
More info at: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080118/BUSINESS/801180328/1003
An informal survey -- WHICH DE LEGISLATORS ARE FOR OFFSHORE WIND POWER—WHICH ONES ARE AGAINST?
UPDATED LIST: January 12, 2008
F Gary Simpson - District 18 (R) ***********************FOR BLUEWATER
Margaret Rose Henry - District 2 (D) *******************FOR BLUEWATER
V. George Carey - District 36 (R) **********************FOR BLUEWATER
J. Benjamin Ewing, Jr. - District 35 (R) *****************FOR BLUEWATER
Pamela S. Maier District 21 (R) ************************FOR BLUEWATER
Senator Harris B. McDowell III, Chair *****************Opposes Bluewater
Senator Patricia Blevins ******************************** Opposes Bluewater?
Senator Charles Copeland*******************************Opposes Bluewater
Representative Pamela Thornburg ***********************Opposes Bluewater
Council supports wind power
…”The [Wilmington City] Council also discussed urging the Delaware Assembly to encourage wind power use in Delaware.
Resolution Sponsor Cam Hay feels wind energy will be a plus for the state by providing cheaper energy and provide a healthier environment for Delawareans.
Hay says that Bluewater Wind will cover the cost of installing the windmills.
A copy of the resolution can be accessed at
http://www.ci.wilmington.de.us/legislation/resolutions/2008/2901.pdf
”...
Some legislators want all-new hearings; others say project not dead
By AARON NATHANS, The News Journal, Posted Sunday, January 6, 2008
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Unintended Consequences
Perhaps the opponents of wind power thought the whole thing would just go away, buried in a bureaucratic maze deep inside the four state agencies tasked with finding a new source of power here in Delaware.
Maria Evans of WGMD serves up a blistering account of why wind power is stalled, and offers an interview with Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, who neatly summarizes the meaning of price stability:
“They can tell you on day one and they can tell you on day 3005 what you’re going to pay for power.”
By the way, there is no other source of electric power that can offer that kind of guarantee. The Wall Street wizards who figured out how to transform subprime mortgages into AAA securities would laugh if you asked them to find a way to guarantee energy prices 25 years down the road.
The News Journal editorial board is no kinder to those who hope the proposal would simply disappear from view:
Almost two years ago the General Assembly came up with a piece of legislation that some of its members now view with horror. They had hoped it would soften the criticism they were receiving for a huge increase in the price of deregulated electricity.
The face-saving legislation launched a search for a renewable energy source. But the Legislature never expected what it eventually got: a plan for an offshore wind farm that also is wildly popular with many voters. The members also didn't expect that the proposal from Bluewater Wind would make its way through a variety of regulatory obstacles as well as the determined opposition of Delmarva Power. As the Bluewater proposal came closer to fruition, some members of the Legislature, answering to who knows which special interests, did what they always do: They got the whole thing tabled, in hopes that it would die a quiet death.
Talk about unintended consequences: We might actually get what the law calls for. How did that happen? Instead of casting about for a way to avoid doing what the law calls for, legislators could start by reviewing precisely how the agreement to build the wind farm meets the requirements of the law they passed nearly two years ago.
posted by TommyWonk at 7:40 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the TOMMYWONK BLOG, Sunday, January 06, 2008
http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/2008/01/please-somebody-else-somewhere-else-do.html
The opponents of offshore wind power in Delaware are scrambling to make it look like they're actually in favor of renewable energy. The News Journal reports that they've hit on a diversionary tactic to make it look like they might actually consider doing something:
On Friday, [Sen. Harris] McDowell announced that three senators had asked him to schedule hearings to look at all of the state's options for "affordable, environmentally friendly energy," including on-shore wind. Those senators were [Thurman] Adams, Majority Leader Anthony DeLuca, D-Newark East, and Majority Whip Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere.
So what do you do if you're a legislator who fervently opposes the Bluewater Wind agreement, but still wants to look like a proponent of renewable energy? You hold hearings about somebody else, somewhere else, doing something else, some other time.
To be fair, most members of the General Assembly, including Senators DeLuca and Blevins, probably haven't had a chance to make up their minds. Rep. Dick Cathcart sounds like he hasn't:
House Majority Leader Richard C. Cathcart, R-Middletown, said the majority of the discussion at the leadership meeting was what the wind farm would cost, and that remains uppermost in legislators' minds today. The PSC staff report came out too soon before the vote, he said.
Cathcart said legislators are more cautious given their experience with deregulation and the big rate increase that followed. They don't want to get bitten twice, he said.
"A lot of us are gun-shy," Cathcart said. "I'm a big believer in wind as an alternative source of energy. It's something we should pursue aggressively. I think it's something that we should be proud of being the first state to do it. I think that we need to make sure that we've explored every option we have in order to reduce the ultimate cost to the consumer while we're getting there."
Here's a thought: Instead of holding hearings about doing anything but what the Public Service Commission (PSC) staff report recommended, how about holding a hearing reviewing the findings of the PSC staff, and then acting on those findings?
POSTED BY TOMMYWONK AT 5:00 PM
From delmarvanow.com , article published Dec 27, 2007
Lead or get out of the way
NEWS JOURNAL Editorial
A lot can go wrong when businesses that have no incentive to be nice and play fair get a green light from governments to operate without any oversight. (See Blackwater's great Iraq adventure for the most current test case.) But the chutes-and-ladders cadence of the regulatory ragtime between Bluewater Wind, Delmarva Power and the state of Delaware is enough to drive one mad -- or even (gasp!) libertarian. The messy details make it obvious why deregulation of the industry was so appealing several years ago that the state gave it a try.
Consider The News Journal's Dec. 19 report, "Del. puts wind power deal on hold." It told readers that several state representatives had decided to prevent Bluewater Wind, a company that generates power, and Delmarva Power, a company that transmits electricity to homes and businesses, from signing contracts with each other to allow Delmarva Power to distribute Bluewater's turbine-created energy.
Go back to first principles, and ask yourself: Why is the state in the middle of business negotiations between two companies? Answer: Because when Delmarva Power was left to its own devices, it tended to seek power from companies that created a good deal of pollution along with the power. That's not in the interests of the people who elected the legislators; so the legislators directed Delmarva Power to play nice with other energy suppliers, like Bluewater.
Fine, right, okay. But now, how to explain why state officials are putting the brakes on a deal they encouraged the dealmakers to make? The Dec. 19 story says House Speaker Terry Spence "said he was concerned about the cost of the project, $1 billion." Cost to whom? Taxpayers, surely, since Spence only has a hand in how taxpayer money gets spent? Well, no; the $1 billion would be a capital expense incurred by Bluewater. But Spence is worried about a hazy "huge expense down the road." Oddly enough, he may be right to worry -- since in other cases, governments have indeed given infusions of cash or credit to foundering utilities so as not to see them fail. Now Bluewater finds itself lobbying individual legislators for permission to spend $1 billion if its own money on the turbine project.
As we noted at the start, zeroing out government scrutiny of power utilities isn't going to solve anything. But this nitpicking over how Delaware will turn on its lights makes deregulation oh-so-tempting. Plenty of Delawareans are obviously willing to pay a bit more each month if it gets these windmills built. Will they ever get the chance to put those checks in the mail?
12/29/07 NEWS JOURNAL Letters to the Editor:
Anonymous back room dealing halted wind plans
Several months ago when negotiations between DP&L and Bluewater proved inadequate in the Public Service Commission staff's estimation, thousands of citizens, Gov. Minner, former Gov. Russell Peterson, and every gubernatorial candidate, urged negotiations be extended in the hope that something could yet be worked out to benefit public health, the environment and the long-term price stability of Delaware's energy supply.
Last week, the new terms Bluewater agreed to meet PSC staff approval, earned the overt support of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the apparent support of the Office of Management and Budget -- three of the four agencies voting to finalize a deal. But without identifying themselves or debating their objections before the public, a small number of apparently influential legislators directed their representative to try to kill the agreement at the very last minute. Pulling winning cards from one's sleeve in this manner is no way to govern.
Will companies risk sinking millions of dollars to compete for business here if these are the rules we play by? How will we ever instill trust?
These legislators should come forward, name themselves, their objections and concerns for public scrutiny and supervision of the PSC process the legislature itself mandated. The size of the project is necessary to bring the cost of wind power down for the benefit of consumers and its admittedly sizable upfront costs for construction will be borne exclusively by Bluewater, not the state or its citizens.
I am furious. So should every citizen be who cares about good government.
Watch The News Journal in coming days for large ads that will outline how you can join other supporters of open government and wind development for Delaware in getting this process back on track.
William Zak, Lewes
CAPE GAZETTE Letters to the Editor
Let’s get started
I have been reading about the various tactics Delmarva Power is using to stall or sabotage the wind farm. Enough is enough. The wind farm has been chosen as the new power source for Delaware. It has the support of the public and the vote of the commission. We want the building to begin.
No more delays.
No more sabotage.
No more “instructions.”
Let’s get started. We all know it is the right choice.
Constance Peterson, Lewes
Oct. 11, 2007, NEWS JOURNAL LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071012/OPINION10/71011069/1111/OPINION
Wind farm is reasonably priced, proven technology
Delaware’s Public Service Commission is scheduled to make its evaluation of proposals by Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind at the end of October. Some legislators are already second-guessing the report. The most important criticism is that offshore wind power is too expensive.
Willett Kempton of the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies has estimated that the average residential electric bill would only go up about $5 per month. Compare that to Delmarva’s plan to charge an extra $6 a month for 15 years for “smart meters.” The only thing these meters would do is save Delmarva money on meter readers.
The other criticism suggests that offshore wind turbines are untested and experimental. The fact is that offshore wind turbines have been in operation for almost 20 years, and there are 27 wind farms in operation off the coast of Europe.
Delaware has the opportunity to introduce this industry to the United States, if it has the courage and wisdom to do so.
David Jaeger, Selbyville
From Citizens for Clean Power’s PAT GEARITY Jan 18, 2008
Dear supporters of clean air,
I'm very pleased to say that, because of the unprecedented, huge outcry by the public, 28 Representatives and Senators have signed on to a "Concurrent Resolution" to approve the Bluewater Wind contract."..." Thank you, Robert Valihura, Pete Schwartzkopf, John Kowalko, Liane Sorenson, and Sen. Sokola, all of whom worked very hard on this resolution!
Are your state Representative and Senator co-sponsors? If so, please call and tell them how much you appreciate their support.
If not, please let them know you are disappointed they have not signed on, and you hope they'll consider the merits of the contract and vote yes to the resolution.
We are in a struggle over Delaware's future. Who wants to keep us in the past? A few powerful Senators and one House Committee Chair.
We still have a way to go.
But your voices are making the difference!
Together, we will bring offshore wind energy to Delaware.
And the nation will thank you.
More info at: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080118/BUSINESS/801180328/1003
Jan 18, 2008
Dear supporters of clean air,
I'm very pleased to say that, because of the unprecedented, huge outcry by the public, 28 Representatives and Senators have signed on to a "Concurrent Resolution" to approve the Bluewater Wind contract."..." Thank you, Robert Valihura, Pete Schwartzkopf, John Kowalko, Liane Sorenson, and Sen. Sokola, all of whom worked very hard on this resolution!
Are your state Representative and Senator co-sponsors? If so, please call and tell them how much you appreciate their support.
If not, please let them know you are disappointed they have not signed on, and you hope they'll consider the merits of the contract and vote yes to the resolution.
We are in a struggle over Delaware's future. Who wants to keep us in the past? A few powerful Senators and one House Committee Chair.
We still have a way to go.
But your voices are making the difference!
Together, we will bring offshore wind energy to Delaware.
And the nation will thank you.
More info at: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080118/BUSINESS/801180328/1003
An informal survey -- WHICH DE LEGISLATORS ARE FOR OFFSHORE WIND POWER—WHICH ONES ARE AGAINST?
UPDATED LIST: January 12, 2008
F Gary Simpson - District 18 (R) ***********************FOR BLUEWATER
Margaret Rose Henry - District 2 (D) *******************FOR BLUEWATER
V. George Carey - District 36 (R) **********************FOR BLUEWATER
J. Benjamin Ewing, Jr. - District 35 (R) *****************FOR BLUEWATER
Pamela S. Maier District 21 (R) ************************FOR BLUEWATER
Senator Harris B. McDowell III, Chair *****************Opposes Bluewater
Senator Patricia Blevins ******************************** Opposes Bluewater?
Senator Charles Copeland*******************************Opposes Bluewater
Representative Pamela Thornburg ***********************Opposes Bluewater …”The [Wilmington City] Council also discussed urging the Delaware Assembly to encourage wind power use in Delaware. Resolution Sponsor Cam Hay feels wind energy will be a plus for the state by providing cheaper energy and provide a healthier environment for Delawareans. Hay says that Bluewater Wind will cover the cost of installing the windmills. A copy of the resolution can be accessed at http://www.ci.wilmington.de.us/legislation/resolutions/2008/2901.pdf ”...
Council supports wind power
Some legislators want all-new hearings; others say project not dead
By AARON NATHANS, The News Journal, Posted Sunday, January 6, 2008
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Unintended Consequences
Perhaps the opponents of wind power thought the whole thing would just go away, buried in a bureaucratic maze deep inside the four state agencies tasked with finding a new source of power here in Delaware.
Maria Evans of WGMD serves up a blistering account of why wind power is stalled, and offers an interview with Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, who neatly summarizes the meaning of price stability:
“They can tell you on day one and they can tell you on day 3005 what you’re going to pay for power.”
By the way, there is no other source of electric power that can offer that kind of guarantee. The Wall Street wizards who figured out how to transform subprime mortgages into AAA securities would laugh if you asked them to find a way to guarantee energy prices 25 years down the road.
The News Journal editorial board is no kinder to those who hope the proposal would simply disappear from view:
Almost two years ago the General Assembly came up with a piece of legislation that some of its members now view with horror. They had hoped it would soften the criticism they were receiving for a huge increase in the price of deregulated electricity.
The face-saving legislation launched a search for a renewable energy source. But the Legislature never expected what it eventually got: a plan for an offshore wind farm that also is wildly popular with many voters. The members also didn't expect that the proposal from Bluewater Wind would make its way through a variety of regulatory obstacles as well as the determined opposition of Delmarva Power. As the Bluewater proposal came closer to fruition, some members of the Legislature, answering to who knows which special interests, did what they always do: They got the whole thing tabled, in hopes that it would die a quiet death.
Talk about unintended consequences: We might actually get what the law calls for. How did that happen? Instead of casting about for a way to avoid doing what the law calls for, legislators could start by reviewing precisely how the agreement to build the wind farm meets the requirements of the law they passed nearly two years ago.
posted by TommyWonk at 7:40 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the TOMMYWONK BLOG, Sunday, January 06, 2008
http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/2008/01/please-somebody-else-somewhere-else-do.html
The opponents of offshore wind power in Delaware are scrambling to make it look like they're actually in favor of renewable energy. The News Journal reports that they've hit on a diversionary tactic to make it look like they might actually consider doing something:
House Majority Leader Richard C. Cathcart, R-Middletown, said the majority of the discussion at the leadership meeting was what the wind farm would cost, and that remains uppermost in legislators' minds today. The PSC staff report came out too soon before the vote, he said.
POSTED BY TOMMYWONK AT 5:00 PM
From delmarvanow.com , article published Dec 27, 2007
Lead or get out of the way
NEWS JOURNAL Editorial
A lot can go wrong when businesses that have no incentive to be nice and play fair get a green light from governments to operate without any oversight. (See Blackwater's great Iraq adventure for the most current test case.) But the chutes-and-ladders cadence of the regulatory ragtime between Bluewater Wind, Delmarva Power and the state of Delaware is enough to drive one mad -- or even (gasp!) libertarian. The messy details make it obvious why deregulation of the industry was so appealing several years ago that the state gave it a try.
Consider The News Journal's Dec. 19 report, "Del. puts wind power deal on hold." It told readers that several state representatives had decided to prevent Bluewater Wind, a company that generates power, and Delmarva Power, a company that transmits electricity to homes and businesses, from signing contracts with each other to allow Delmarva Power to distribute Bluewater's turbine-created energy.
Fine, right, okay. But now, how to explain why state officials are putting the brakes on a deal they encouraged the dealmakers to make? The Dec. 19 story says House Speaker Terry Spence "said he was concerned about the cost of the project, $1 billion." Cost to whom? Taxpayers, surely, since Spence only has a hand in how taxpayer money gets spent? Well, no; the $1 billion would be a capital expense incurred by Bluewater. But Spence is worried about a hazy "huge expense down the road." Oddly enough, he may be right to worry -- since in other cases, governments have indeed given infusions of cash or credit to foundering utilities so as not to see them fail. Now Bluewater finds itself lobbying individual legislators for permission to spend $1 billion if its own money on the turbine project.
As we noted at the start, zeroing out government scrutiny of power utilities isn't going to solve anything. But this nitpicking over how Delaware will turn on its lights makes deregulation oh-so-tempting. Plenty of Delawareans are obviously willing to pay a bit more each month if it gets these windmills built. Will they ever get the chance to put those checks in the mail?
12/29/07 NEWS JOURNAL Letters to the Editor:
Anonymous back room dealing halted wind plans
Several months ago when negotiations between DP&L and Bluewater proved inadequate in the Public Service Commission staff's estimation, thousands of citizens, Gov. Minner, former Gov. Russell Peterson, and every gubernatorial candidate, urged negotiations be extended in the hope that something could yet be worked out to benefit public health, the environment and the long-term price stability of Delaware's energy supply.
Last week, the new terms Bluewater agreed to meet PSC staff approval, earned the overt support of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the apparent support of the Office of Management and Budget -- three of the four agencies voting to finalize a deal. But without identifying themselves or debating their objections before the public, a small number of apparently influential legislators directed their representative to try to kill the agreement at the very last minute. Pulling winning cards from one's sleeve in this manner is no way to govern.
Will companies risk sinking millions of dollars to compete for business here if these are the rules we play by? How will we ever instill trust?
These legislators should come forward, name themselves, their objections and concerns for public scrutiny and supervision of the PSC process the legislature itself mandated. The size of the project is necessary to bring the cost of wind power down for the benefit of consumers and its admittedly sizable upfront costs for construction will be borne exclusively by Bluewater, not the state or its citizens.
I am furious. So should every citizen be who cares about good government.
Watch The News Journal in coming days for large ads that will outline how you can join other supporters of open government and wind development for Delaware in getting this process back on track.
William Zak, Lewes
CAPE GAZETTE Letters to the Editor
Let’s get started
I have been reading about the various tactics Delmarva Power is using to stall or sabotage the wind farm. Enough is enough. The wind farm has been chosen as the new power source for Delaware. It has the support of the public and the vote of the commission. We want the building to begin.
No more delays.
No more sabotage.
No more “instructions.”
Let’s get started. We all know it is the right choice.
Constance Peterson, Lewes
Oct. 11, 2007, NEWS JOURNAL LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071012/OPINION10/71011069/1111/OPINION
Wind farm is reasonably priced, proven technology
Delaware’s Public Service Commission is scheduled to make its evaluation of proposals by Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind at the end of October. Some legislators are already second-guessing the report. The most important criticism is that offshore wind power is too expensive.
Willett Kempton of the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies has estimated that the average residential electric bill would only go up about $5 per month. Compare that to Delmarva’s plan to charge an extra $6 a month for 15 years for “smart meters.” The only thing these meters would do is save Delmarva money on meter readers.
The other criticism suggests that offshore wind turbines are untested and experimental. The fact is that offshore wind turbines have been in operation for almost 20 years, and there are 27 wind farms in operation off the coast of Europe.
Delaware has the opportunity to introduce this industry to the United States, if it has the courage and wisdom to do so.
David Jaeger, Selbyville