NEWS
October 12, 2010
The forecast for the East Coast is windy with a chance of 6,000 megawatts — or enough electricity to power 1.9 million homes. That's what a $5 billion offshore transmission line proposal unveiled yesterday could make possible along the Atlantic Coast, and it's an exciting prospect for the nation's energy future. Atlantic Wind Connection, the planned 350-mile underwater line located 15 to 20 miles off the coast, would provide a connection for multiple offshore wind power projects including Delaware's proposed Bluewater Wind.
FEATURES
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun | November 23, 2010
Obama administration officials announced Tuesday they are taking steps to speed development of wind energy projects along the Atlantic coast, and hope to be able to issue federal leases for putting huge power-generating turbines off Ocean City within the next year. Speaking at a news conference at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unveiled a "Smart from the Start" initiative aimed at shortening the years-long federal approval process for offshore wind projects that now seem to be proceeding at a snail's pace.
FEATURES
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun | December 17, 2013
Federal officials announced plans Tuesday to auction the rights to build industrial wind turbines off Maryland's Atlantic coast - a move hailed by many environmentalists and some businesses as the first step toward a new green industry but criticized as a drain on household budgets by the state's lone Republican congressman. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell joined Gov. Martin O'Malley at Baltimore's harbor to declare that her department intends to offer leases for wind energy development on nearly 80,000 acres of the Outer Continental Shelf at least 10 nautical miles off Ocean City . "It's a big step forward," said Jewell of the Obama administration's goal of having 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy permitted by the end of the decade.
BUSINESS
Jay Hancock | January 23, 2012
In its most important respects, Gov. Martin O'Malley's new proposal to build a wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean isn't different from the old one. Developers must still pay hundreds of millions of dollars to build wind turbines off Maryland's coast. And Maryland electricity customers still have to pay for them. Everything else is detail. That's why the project, proposed Monday by the governor for the second year in a row, still faces very long odds. Fiddling with the financing mechanics, as O'Malley has suggested, may win the legislature's approval this time.
FEATURES
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun | July 2, 2014
Continuing the Obama administration's effort to launch a U.S. offshore wind energy industry, federal officials announced Wednesday that they will auction off the rights next month to build huge turbines off Maryland's coast. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it would take bids Aug. 19 to lease nearly 80,000 acres of Atlantic Ocean about 12 miles off Ocean City for up to two wind projects. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called the move to lease turbine sites off Maryland "another milestone as we strengthen our nation's foothold in the new energy frontier.
NEWS
March 31, 2011
As a long-of-tooth energy engineer and consultant, I believe Jay Hancock 's offshore wind column is nearsighted ( "Stop O'Malley's offshore wind folly now, not later," March 27). Yes, natural gas currently is abundant and cheap, particularly compared to oil-based fuels, but it won't stay so. Natural gas is too flexible and easy to use, which translates into fuel switching for major users and new uses for compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and so forth.