Senators Mary Beth Carozza (R-District 38), Johnny Mautz (R-District 37), Stephen Hershey (R-District 36), and Jason Gallion (R-District 35) are calling on Gov. Wes Moore to veto House Bill 1296 – Electricity – Offshore Wind Projects – Alterations. The House bill has been cross-filed with SB1161.
According to an email from Carozza’s office, “this legislation was introduced following the Jan. 25 decision by Ørsted to withdraw from the offshore wind energy industrialization project on Maryland’s Coast and would allow the sole remaining offshore wind development applicant, US Wind, to benefit from a renegotiated financing package that harms Maryland’s ratepayers.”
Here is a synopsis of House Bill 1296, from the official General Assembly website:
“Requiring the Public Service Commission to open a revised Round 2 proceeding on June 1, 2024, to evaluate certain offshore wind projects; prohibiting the Commission from approving an application for an offshore wind project unless the application includes commitments for in-State expenditures and investments; requiring the Commission to develop a certain plan to include a schedule of offshore wind energy procurements and proposed amounts of offshore wind energy for procurement through 2031; etc.”
Why Carozza, others are urging Gov. Moore to veto wind energy bill
In their April 23 letter to the governor, the senators wrote: “H.B. 1296 provides three methods to increase the subsidies that benefit the offshore wind energy developer and harm the ratepayers and taxpayers … all three methods allow US Wind to sell more of the higher-priced electricity and less of the lower-priced electricity, further burdening the ratepayer.”
According to the senators, “offshore wind energy projects in other states have revealed that the offshore wind energy developers’ business models fall well short of projections and these developers are either halting construction or asking the government for additional subsidies. HB 1296 may be only the start of future actions to make Maryland’s offshore wind projects financially feasible, and it’s at the expense of Maryland residents, taxpayers, and energy consumers.”
More from the letter from state senators to Gov. Moore on wind energy
According to the senators, “HB 1296 provides three methods to increase the subsidies that benefit the offshore wind energy developer and harm the ratepayer and taxpayer,” including:
- allowing the Offshore Renewable Energy Credit – OREC 2 pricing to be changed up or down;
- allowing the OREC 2 size to be reduced and OREC 1 size to be increased;
- and setting the ratepayer cap for OREC 1 at $1.50 more per month and the ratepayer cap for OREC 2 at $0.88 more per month.
The senators state US Wind’s sale price for OREC 1 credits is $131.93, per OREC, and its price for OREC 2 credits is $54.17, per OREC. Therefore, “all three methods allow US Wind to sell more of the higher-priced electricity and less of the lower-priced electricity, further burdening the ratepayer.”‘
The senators also noted the mixed success of wind energy projects in other states:
“Additionally, results from other offshore wind projects have revealed that the business model for these projects has fallen well short of projections to the degree that those wind energy developers are either halting construction or asking the government for additional subsidies to make up for projected cost increases. HB 1296 may be only the start of future actions to make Maryland’s offshore wind projects financially feasible for the offshore wind energy developers but at the expense of Maryland residents, taxpayers and energy consumers.”
Senators also cite potential harm to marine life, size of turbines
The senator’s letter continued: “Since the passage of Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013, the project plans and business model for offshore wind energy development have met with multiple challenges and questions about the detrimental impact on the local economy and tourism, the damaging effect on marine life, fishing and the military, and the high costs for ratepayers and taxpayers. The project plans have had major changes with the size of the turbines growing to four times the height of the tallest building in Ocean City to the placement of the gigantic turbines as close as 11 miles from the Shore.
