Rehoboth, Henlopen Acres talk US Wind payment proposal
Story Location:
Henlopen Acres Town Hall
104 Tidewaters
Henlopen Acres, DE 19971
United States
In the final days of 2023, Baltimore-based wind power company US Wind announced it was working with area coastal towns on a package of proposed community benefits that includes annual payments of $100,000 over 20 years for each town.
Over the course of the past week, officials from Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres got their first chance to discuss the topic.
US Wind controls the rights to an 80,000-acre offshore wind lease area due east of Ocean City, Md. The company has proposed the use of up to 121 turbines, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower and up to four offshore export cable corridors with landfall occurring within Delaware Seashore State Park at 3R’s Beach, just south of Indian River Inlet. The company’s preferred cable path goes under Indian River Bay before coming out at the Delmarva Power substation at the Indian River power plant near Dagsboro.
Rehoboth Beach Mayor Stan Mills introduced the topic during a commissioner workshop Jan. 8.
Mike Dunmyer, US Wind Delaware development manager, said his company has been working with mayors from the Delaware-based Association of Coastal Towns to develop a proposed community benefits package. US Wind expects to be a part of the local community for decades to come, and as part of that, the company wants to contribute what it can, he said.
The payments would go straight to the towns and they can spend it however they want, said Dunmyer. In return, he said, the towns would agree to not exercise discretionary authority to obstruct or delay development of the projects.
If a town chooses to terminate its individual participation in the agreement, it would return two years’ worth of payments back to US Wind, said Dunmyer, adding the reason for the payback clause is because US Wind doesn’t want to be funding its opposition.
Shortly before the announcement about the proposed community agreement, the state said it had begun working with US Wind on a memorandum of understanding that has the potential to bring hundreds of millions of dollars of investment into the state.
Dunmyer said the offer to the communities is completely separate from the agreement the company is working on with the state.
Fenwick Island and Lewes are also a part of the Association of Coastal Towns, but as of now are not participating in the community agreement discussion. Officials from Ocean City, Md., which is not part of the association, have also declined to work on an agreement with US Wind.
At Lewes council’s Jan. 8 meeting, Mayor Andrew Williams said his city has not made a decision on whether to participate in the process.
"I think there's a perception that Lewes has said no to this,” Williams said. “But really what we've said is we have not discussed it as a council. We haven't had an opportunity to hear from the public. We assume they may support wind energy because we have a turbine here on land, but they may have concerns. We haven't gone through that process. So, I felt as our representative, before we have that process, we're not ready to say yes. It's not a yes or a no."
Williams said with the possibility of more wind farm leases awarded, this is an appropriate time to discuss the issue as a community.
He also said he wants to hear from the wind energy companies about the money they are giving out to coastal towns.
"These community benefits. Are they really an impact fee?” he said. “There's an accusation that they are a bribe of some sort. But I want to hear from the companies why they traditionally give these out to communities and how they are using them?"
Williams said he hopes council will put wind energy on its agenda later this year.
In Rehoboth, Commissioner Edward Chrzanowski wanted to know what would happen if Lewes and Fenwick Island agreed to participate, but only after the payments were increased.
Dunmyer said the agreement already includes language saying all the communities would be paid the same, so the original five communities would also get a better agreement if one is struck with Lewes or Fenwick Island.
Following Dunmyer’s presentation and commissioner discussion, Mills opened the floor to public comment.
Dave Stevenson, director of Caesar Rodney Institute’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, voiced his opposition to the project as a whole for a number of reasons, but specifically described $100,000 for 20 years as a pittance.
A few days later, Jan. 12, Dunmyer attended a Henlopen Acres commissioner meeting to make the same presentation.
There wasn’t much discussion. The main topic was wondering why Fenwick Island and Ocean City have declined to participate. Dunmyer said he didn’t have an answer to that question, but encouraged Henlopen Acres officials to find out.
Ultimately, neither Rehoboth or Henlopen Acres made a decision on the agreement. Instead, both treated the presentation as an introduction to the topic.
Rehoboth Beach commissioners are expected to continue discussion during their monthly voting meeting Friday, Jan. 19.
Henlopen Acres officials reached a consensus to get more information on the project, specifically to find out why certain communities are not participating.
Henlopen Acres commissioners meet quarterly. Commissioners wanted to know how long the offer from US Wind was on the table.
Dunmyer said the company meets quarterly to discuss finances, so things could change. However, he said, he was fairly certain the agreement would still be on the table months from now when Henlopen Acres meets again.
Reporter Bill Shull contributed to this story.
