Delaware lawmakers consider legislation to overturn offshore wind project permit denial

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Legislation overruling a Delaware county’s zoning decision impacting a controversial $128 million offshore wind project was hotly debated during a rare Monday committee hearing.

US Wind, a Baltimore-based subsidiary of an Italian energy company, has planned two projects off the Delmarva Peninsula that would provide Maryland with renewable power.

The Sussex County Council voted 4-1 late last year to reject the permit application for US Wind subsidiary Renewable Development’s substation at the Indian River Power plant, a former coal burning station, in Dagsboro.

US Wind has appealed the county’s denial in Delaware Superior Court, but lawmakers could approve legislation before the end of June that could fast track the construction process for the MarWin project.

US Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said Monday that waiting for the courts could delay the project further.

“We secured the lease from the federal government in 2014, and we’ve not been sitting on our hands,” he said. “We’ve been going through our permitting process.”

Grybowski said the company has all of the federal and state permits necessary to start construction in 2027, except for the substation. He said they anticipate being operational by 2029.

The Senate Environment, Energy and Transportation Committee debated a bill Monday afternoon that would require the permitting of an electric substation as a conditional use in a heavy industrial zone, including for a proposed renewable energy generation project of at least 250 megawatts. It is retroactive so that if a county previously denied a permit meeting these conditions on or after August 8 2023, the permit would automatically be approved if the legislation was signed into law.

While the legislation doesn’t specifically mention Sussex County and its decision on the substation permit, bill sponsor state Sen. Stephanie Hansen, D-Middletown, said during the committee hearing that the bill is meant to address the denial, saying the issue is of statewide interest.

Hansen, who chairs the energy committee, said the state’s regional power grid operator, PJM Interconnection, has been warning that there’s more demand for electricity than supply because of the closing or “decommissioning,” of coal, oil or natural gas power plants.

“PJM has been highlighting a supply and demand imbalance in the grid that has not only driven up the price of electricity, but now is threatening our ability to meet our electricity demands here in Delaware,” she said. “Due in part to the inability to bring on new resources quickly enough.”

Downstate members of the committee said they were opposed to the bill because it overrode local control. Hansen and state Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, disagreed over whether the legislation was about zoning or energy. He said it was a slippery slope.

“It’s going to affect local zoning decisions for a long time to come because we’re casting the mold right now that if the state doesn’t like what a county does, or it could be a town later on as well, then we’re just going to go ahead and pass a piece of legislation to override it,” Pettyjohn said. “And that is not the way things should work here in Delaware.”

The company plans to run power transmission cables from its proposed wind farm three miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean to 3Rs Beach at Delaware Seashore State Park. The cables would run beneath Delaware-regulated wetlands, state waters and the Indian River Bay and connect to the proposed substation.

Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson said the county was joining Kent and New Castle counties in passing a resolution asking the state to honor local control.

“We ask that you respect the separation of power, the rule of law and not move forward with this bill at this time,” he said.

A news release Monday night said the bill had been released from committee and was expected to be voted on when lawmakers come back into session next week.

Many Delawareans who have opposed the project have said they are concerned the turbines and the cables will hurt tourism, wildlife in the bay and the fishing industry.

The ongoing Delaware debate is happening in the shadows of a larger federal fight over wind energy projects. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing approvals, permits and loans for all wind energy projects both onshore and offshore.

A spokesperson for Senate Democrats said they were not aware of any action from the Trump administration related to this particular permit or project.

Last month, a coalition of states including Delaware and Maryland sued to block that order, claiming the White House doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally shut down the permitting process.

This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.