Mary Stewart Douglas of Lewes is a retired environmental attorney and the chair of natural resources for the League of Women Voters of Delaware. Tom Brett of Millsboro is a member of the Delaware branch of People for Offshore Wind Energy Resources, as well as a veteran and a business leader.
Next week, Sussex County Council has an opportunity that doesn’t come along every day — a chance to secure $200 million in free investment for upgrading our electric grid, while growing our economy and creating a more affordable, reliable energy system for our region.
All these benefits and more come with a new electric substation that’s proposed on a perfectly suited heavy industry-zoned site in Dagsboro, right next to an existing substation and far from residential areas.
What’s not to like? Council members have no excuse not to seize this moment to shore up our infrastructure, lower our energy costs and help build the sustainable future Delaware deserves.
Council is slated to vote Tuesday on a conditional use permit for this proposed substation, which would sit on a small portion of a 140-acre parcel near the Indian River coal power plant. US Wind, the company proposing this project, will pay for the substation entirely and invest an additional $200 million in improving the local power grid, making our energy system more dependable and lowering our energy bills at no cost to residents.
Earlier this year, the county Planning & Zoning Commission recommended that council approve this permit, simply because there is no legal reason to reject it. The zoning of the substation site specifically encourages both industrial reuse and renewable energy development, and this project will do just that — bringing power from future offshore wind projects onto the regional grid, where the power will be used by the entire Delmarva Peninsula.
The wind project that will deliver power to this substation is bankrolled by Maryland’s climate goals, but electrons don’t know the difference. Delaware families will get to use this clean energy — enough to power more than 718,000 homes in the Delmarva region — and will see cost savings as projects like this substation let us replace expensive, unreliable fossil fuels with increasingly cheap renewable energy. The increase in local energy supply alone will deliver an estimated $253 million in savings for Delaware electric customers over 20 years.
Building out the local grid — and building offshore wind in our region — will create a major influx of good-paying local, union jobs, starting with work for the electricians who will build the substation. Across Sussex County and the Delmarva Peninsula, this new industry will have hugely positive economic ripple effects, driving demand for local goods, labor and services.
This won’t be the last time our local leaders have the chance to welcome investment in a stronger, cleaner, more affordable grid. In voting on this substation permit, Sussex County holds the key to improving the energy system for everyone in our region. Baselessly rejecting the proposed Dagsboro substation would set a terrible precedent, sending the wrong message to our neighbors throughout the region.
In years to come, our region will need more projects like this to meet surging demand from data centers, artificial intelligence and other power-hungry developments. Every year we delay in making these grid upgrades is another year of reliance on polluting fossil fuels, which are driving the extreme weather and flooding events that are already harming Delaware.
We’re in a climate and energy crisis, and we stand to bring home enormous local benefits by addressing it now: a cheaper, more reliable energy system; a safer, healthier climate; new jobs and economic growth. Sussex County must not wait to be part of the solution. Council members should vote yes on the conditional use permit for the Dagsboro substation Tuesday.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
