Marissa McClenton of the Sierra Club’s Delaware chapter and Mark Nardone of the Delaware Nature Society are co-facilitators of People for Offshore Energy Resources-Delaware.
Buffeted by storms on all sides, the advancement of offshore wind energy has not had smooth sailing these past couple years. As we celebrate Global Wind Day on Monday, June 15, however, we can look back on one recent storm that makes a strong case for its benefits.
Winter Storm Fern sent Delaware and much of the country into a deep freeze in January and February, taxing electrical grid systems in the Northeast as they struggled to keep up with the high demand for energy to heat homes and businesses. In New England, that required temporarily reactivating dormant fossil plants within its regional electric grid.
All the while, the new turbines of South Fork Wind, off the coast of Long Island, and Vineyard Wind, off Massachusetts, kept spinning, producing clean, reliable energy at low cost. The Oceantic Network found that, during the winter storm, offshore wind performed better than coal-fired facilities and just as well as gas plants, which are considered baseload power.
It is worth noting that both South Fork and Vineyard generated half to three-quarters of the energy they are capable of. Once construction is complete, Vineyard Wind will deliver power at a projected $84.23 per megawatt-hour — significantly less than spikes in wholesale energy prices during Fern, which peaked at more than $870 per MWh.
That shows that wind energy can be a significant moderator of electricity prices. Imagine the potential for cost savings to consumers when South Fork, Vineyard and projects like them operate at full capacity, not to mention progress that could be made toward a cleaner, healthier, more energy-independent future.
One reason for the low cost of offshore wind energy: Wind itself is free. The cost of fossil sources fluctuates with global economic conditions. When fuel costs rise, we see it in our electric bills. In contrast, the prices of electricity from offshore wind are set in long-term contracts with the purchasers, keeping them stable.
Free fuel and stable rates from offshore wind mean grid operators can expect the price of electricity to be lower in winter, especially during periods of unusually high demand, compared to power from fossil sources, according to the Center for American Progress. During Fern, for example, the price of natural gas rose by 17%. We all felt that in significantly higher utility bills.
Yet, as the cold persisted, the federal government continued to halt new permits for offshore wind, to cancel existing permits and to order an end to the construction of projects already underway. If these efforts were to succeed in stopping five utility-scale offshore wind projects on the East Coast, the total cost to ratepayers would be $45 billion over the next 10 years, according to CAP.
Fortunately, federal courts have effectively checked many anti-wind efforts, and in early June, the Delaware Supreme Court did the same, in local suits against the state and US Wind. The developer plans to land cables in Delaware and build an electric substation in Dagsboro for its wind project, off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. Including the substation, US Wind will invest $400 million in upgrades to the local grid, strengthening it at no cost to local ratepayers, while providing good construction jobs to electrical workers.
No wonder a majority of Delaware voters across political party lines favor offshore wind, according to new polling commissioned by the clean energy advocacy group Turn Forward. Government should listen to the people it serves; we can’t afford to wait.
Whether cooling us at the beach this summer or giving us free, clean power, ocean breezes are a reason to celebrate Global Wind Day.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
