Offshore-wind contracts up and down the East Coast are coming in with prices that are sometimes very close to the prices we’re paying for energy from fossil fuels. That’s what the peer-reviewed report of the University of Delaware’s Special Initiative on Offshore Wind says. This philanthropically funded organization seems to have no ax to grind; they’re just telling it like it is.
Massachusetts has three offshore-wind contracts that range from $55.70 to $75.60/megawatt-hour. Lower wind speeds and contractual emphases on economic development put Maryland’s offshore-wind prices a little higher, with a range of $64.70-$85.60/MWh. In contrast, Delmarva, for the years 2015-21, paid a range of $53-$82/MWh for its largely fossil fuel-powered electricity.
To compare electricity cost of fossil fuel power sources with wind power, you could add on to the fossil fuel-powered energy costs the health care costs caused by the pollutants that accompany carbon dioxide emissions. You would need to add another $41/MWh to fossil fuel-generated electricity prices. You’d have to add an additional $40/MWh if you also wanted to account for the negative effects to the climate caused by the harmful emissions of fossil fuel-generated electricity. If you don’t add those, wind is about the same as our power today.
So the price is right, the technology is now proven, all our neighboring states are already signing offshore-wind contracts, and developers are starting to build. Now is the time for Delaware to start this process. Further delay has risks: A Delaware project could lose a substantial federal tax bonus, and delay will make us less competitive, as manufacturing, workforce training and port facilities are built for this industry. Every coastal state from Massachusetts to North Carolina has some kind of offshore-wind contract or agreement, except for Delaware.
Let’s get going, Delaware.
Peggy Schultz
Newark
