After reading a recent post by blogger Maria Evans on The Talk of Delmarva website regarding the pending Delmarva Power-Bluewater Wind contract, I feel I need to clarify a few things. First, I support the construction of wind power in the First State. According to the University of Delaware, our state has a huge untapped wind power potential, most of which is in our off-shore waters.

House Bill 6, which was enacted two years ago and has produced the proposed Delmarva Power-Bluewater Wind mandate, was never intended to be a referendum on wind power or renewable energy.  Its goal was to help stabilize the rates paid by Delmarva Power’s Standard Offer Service (SOS) customers. 

Admittedly, I misinterpreted HB 6 when it was debated in the House.  In my own defense, questions that I and other legislators posed that would have revealed this error were incorrectly answered.

HB 6 does require Delmarva to enter into a long-term contract with an in-state producer of electricity.  The Bluewater Wind proposal to build a 150-turbine wind farm off the coast of Sussex County is the plan that has emerged from that process.

I have several deep concerns about the path on which we’ve place ourselves.  Ms. Evans correctly noted in her posting that SOS customers constitute the numerical bulk of Delmarva’s customer base.  About 95 percent of Delmarva’s 312,000 total distribution customers fall into the SOS category. 

However, Ms. Evans is apparently unaware that SOS customers buy only 28-percent of the power distributed by the utility.  Thus, HB 6 places 100-percent of the cost of the wind farm project on the backs of Delmarva customers who purchase less than a third of the company’s electricity.  That does not strike me as an equitable arrangement.

I also believe it is an intrusive abuse of state power to force one private company into a long-term contract with another private company. I’m unaware of whether such a state mandate has ever been enacted, but I would argue that it is an improper use of that authority, regardless of its good intentions.

Additionally, Delmarva Power has a pending lawsuit challenging the HB 6 mandate.  Should this process move forward that lawsuit will likely be reactivated, leading to two possible outcomes:  Delmarva wins its case, derailing the wind project; or Delmarva is forced into the contract, but only after years of delay.

I think there is another way to accomplish the establishment of wind power in the First State that would protect consumers; reduce costs; and speed completion.

Instead of forcing the parties together I think we should create an environment in Delaware that makes wind power not only viable, but attractive.  We can do this through regulatory and tax code changes that will encourage private investors to utilize our natural wind resource and sell this power on the open market.

Regardless of who wins the White House in the upcoming election, the handwriting is already on the wall.  Carbon taxes and other changes expected on the federal level will increase the demand for renewable, environmentally-friendly sources of electricity generation.  Bluewater Wind, which has already done a lot of pre-development planning as a result of HB 6, would be well-positioned to take advantage of this new environment and would have a considerable head start on any potential competitors.

Given these facts, I think it is fool-hardy to mandate a project that could potentially lock thousands of Delaware families into paying higher electricity bills for many years to come.  The General Assembly already made one mistake in the way in which it implemented electricity deregulation.  We’re poised to make another by mandating a deal I believe will hurt Delmarva’s residential and small business customers.

It’s time for legislators to stop meddling and instead take steps to encourage the private market to tap our vast wind potential.

Sincerely,

State Rep. Gerald Hocker

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 10:05 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.