Virginia is about to get a massive new offshore wind farm with 170 turbines. Opinions are divided about how to go about making that happen.
The Clean Economy Act calls for more than five gigawatts of power generated by offshore wind by 2034. But who should own those dozens of turbines? Harry Godfrey at Advanced Energy United says the governor recently proposed an amendment to a bill that would’ve made a significant change.
"Right now, under the law, the utility would certainly own and operate that and would likely go about developing that as well," Godfrey explains. "The governor's amendment expands who could bid on that, own and operate it. So not necessarily the utility but a third-party provider, and they would undertake the financial risk of doing that."
The amendment had lots of support, including from groups that don't often agree with each other. But members of the General Assembly rejected it without a vote. That was a mistake says Stephen Haner at the Thomas Jefferson Institute.
"It is the only one in the entire United States which will be owned directly by the utility. The pattern everywhere else is that a third-party company, a third-party developer builds the turbines and owns the facility," Haner says. "Dominion’s the only utility that’s gonna own one of these things directly, and that is very dangerous for consumers because that means all the risk is on Dominion's customers."
Supporters of the governor's amendment say this idea is likely to make a comeback next year when members of the next General Assembly gavel into session after the election.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
