An ally of the effort since 2013, rendering likened to ‘visual pollution’ on shore
The view of waters off Ocean City remains clear, while the possibility of electricity-generating wind turbines jutting up from the horizon is somewhat less so, as local government continued its effort either to kill the idea or push the turbines farther offshore and out of sight.
Ocean City government made an abrupt about face during a late March public comment session held at Stephen Decatur Middle School with the Public Service Commission when Mayor Rick Meehan, after viewing a new rendering of what the turbines could look like from the shore, came out against the development.
Previously, Ocean City had been an ally of the effort.
In 2013, the General Assembly passed the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act, which would create an 80,000-acre wind energy area between 10 to 30 miles off Ocean City’s coast. The wind energy area is divided into two lease areas, one closer to Delaware and the other near Ocean City.
US Wind’s first proposal put the first line of 187 turbines 12 miles off the beach to generate 750 megawatts of power. The turbines would be approximately 480 feet tall and would have two red lights that would blink at night.
Deepwater Wind, the other candidate, proposed 15 wind turbines offering 120 megawatts that would be off the coast near 145th Street.
“I do support the initiative,” Meehan said. “I met with both US Wind and Skipjack to talk about their companies and the project, but I hadn’t seen the renderings.”
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6 comments:
The rendering is no longer accurate as Maryland Department of the Environment confirmed that the 8MW turbines now being considered are significantly taller.
Senator James Mathias is sacrificing Ocean City's Coastal view and investors property values for wind turbines that will last less than 10 years and raise all Marylanders electricity rates.
What exactly is a Coastal View ? The Ocean and the horizon ? These windmills were so off coast that all these blind retirees couldn't even see them and progress does not care about your property values and nostalgic notions. OC was blighted years ago with all the ugly coastal development and condos along with all our other coastal points. Your gonna bitch about windmills really are you even local ?
1221 you wont be able to see them from the shoreline (where the vacationers - our revenue generator sit). Now what is more important...me me me for the few remaining years on earth or the revenue from vacationers that keep my taxes down? Hmmmmmmm.....
Reality over nice to have always wins!
Why were they off?
Maybe the bureaucrats have read the writing on the wall and looked at Europe to see that these wind turbines DO NOT WORK.
Wind turbines lead to electric grid instability, they are expensive to build and more expensive to maintain and will never pay for themselves in their 10 year lifespan.
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