WILMINGTON, N.C. -- North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia have formally agreed to collaborate on advancing offshore wind projects and jobs in a memorandum of understanding signed by Governors Roy Cooper, Larry Hogan and Ralph Northam.
Dominion Energy currently operates the only federally approved offshore wind farm off the Virginia coast, but the industry is expanding, and neighboring states want a piece of the pie.
Larry Lombardi, economic development director for Currituck County, said offshore wind is another strategy for creating sustainable jobs in the region.
"Particularly along the coast," Lombardi explained. "That's already been proven in Europe, in the type of jobs that are involved with ongoing maintenance and operation. Our community colleges will need to revamp the way they educate children. Those are going to be the things that we need to put in place today."
The three states are slated to form a leadership team that will work to streamline industry regulations, encourage the manufacturing of wind-turbine parts and build regional offshore wind infrastructure such as deepwater ports.
Gov. Cooper said offshore wind development combined with strong solar capacity will bring more high-paying, clean-energy jobs to the state and fight against climate change.
John Hardin executive director for the Office of Science, Technology and Innovation at the North Carolina Department of Commerce said the memorandum sends a coordinated message the region will work together to move the industry forward, and ensures any activity occurring off North Carolina's coasts will benefit residents.
"If we can share information, then the opportunities are going to be greater and the potential to develop more offshore wind farms off the coast of North Carolina will also be greater," Hardin contended. "To the extent that we can present ourselves as a region that collaborates, we'll be able to attract more of that activity to our Southeastern region."
Katharine Kollins, president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, said the U.S. is poised to generate enough electricity to power millions of homes through offshore wind over the next decade.
"Environmentalists are proponents of offshore wind, business is a proponent of offshore wind," Kollins explained. "So there are a lot of advantages to development offshore wind that we just don't have with other technologies."
Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states are increasingly on the radar of offshore wind developers and global supply-chain companies for their economic potential.
One report found North Carolina already is home to nearly thirty manufacturers of wind-turbine components, from blades and towers to raw components such as fiberglass and steel.
Disclosure: Southeastern Wind Coalition contributes to our fund for reporting on Energy Policy and Environment. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
click here.
get more stories like this via email
A round of public testimony wrapped up this week as part of renewed efforts by a company seeking permit approval in North Dakota for an underground pipeline carrying carbon emissions. Economic benefits were again touted but the plan still has opponents.
Last year, North Dakota's Public Service Commission denied a permit request from Summit Carbon Solutions, which wants to build a maze of pipelines in several Midwestern states. Emissions from ethanol plants would be captured for underground storage in North Dakota.
Skott Skokos, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, said they remain unconvinced it would be a worthwhile project.
"It felt like déjà vu," Skokos observed. "I don't think Summit did anything to relax the concerns of the public."
Company officials have submitted a new application with a revised route as they try to ease concerns about safety and landowner rights. During comment periods, Summit leaders and other speakers discussed how the project would provide economic boosts, including corn prices. However, skeptics restated their concerns about potential ruptures and lasting negative effects on the landscape.
Skokos pointed out large carbon-capture projects like these have yet to prove themselves, noting smaller initiatives are not as likely to rile up opponents. He pointed to the Red Trail ethanol plant in North Dakota.
"They're storing it, basically, almost on-site, next to the facility and they're not affecting a bunch of landowners in the process," Skokos emphasized.
The Summit regulatory case has two upcoming public hearings in North Dakota, one scheduled for May 24 and the other on June 4. The company has run into similar opposition and permitting headwinds in other states, including South Dakota.
Disclosure: The Dakota Resource Council contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environment, and Rural/Farming. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
click here.
get more stories like this via email
Leaders concerned about pollution and climate change are raising awareness about a ballot measure this fall on whether the state should mandate buffer zones around new oil and gas wells.
Voters will be asked to uphold or revoke Senate Bill 1173, which would require a 3,200-foot setback around any new well near schools, neighborhoods and hospitals.
Meghan Sahli-Wells, former mayor of Culver City and a leader with the group Elected Officials to Protect America, fought to phase out the Inglewood oil field and said no community should be a sacrifice zone.
"A study from Harvard found that in California, 34,000 people died in 2018, prematurely, from fossil fuel air pollution," Sahli-Wells pointed out. "These figures are three times higher than other studies."
The Stop the Energy Shutdown campaign, supported by the California Independent Petroleum Association, opposes the setback rule, arguing it could constrict local supply and cost jobs in the industry. A court put the bill on hold pending the outcome of the November election. A "yes" vote would keep the setbacks. A "no" vote would rescind them.
Clean energy advocates are also speaking out against companies operating older low-producing wells rather than pay to shut them down and seal them up properly.
Ahmad Zahra, a city council member in Fullerton, said Assembly Bill 2716 would incentivize their closure by charging companies $10,000 a day to operate so-called "stripper wells."
"We have over 40,000 oil wells currently sitting orphaned or idle, leaking methane and volatile organic compounds into the air, water and soil," Zahra emphasized.
Other states are following California's lead. Rep. Debbie Sariñana, D-Albuquerque, New Mexico, is sponsoring a bill to require setbacks near sensitive locations since more than 32,000 children in the state attend school within a mile of an oil and gas extraction site.
"Over 80 schools in northwestern New Mexico - the San Juan Basin and southeastern New Mexico, the Permian Basin - are within one mile of an oil and gas well," Sariñana noted. "Some schools are surrounded by dozens and even hundreds of wells within a single mile."
Disclosure: Pacific Environment contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, and Oceans. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
click here.
get more stories like this via email
The construction of more solar farms in the U.S. has been contentious but a new survey shows their size makes a difference in whether solar projects are favored by neighbors.
South Dakota's largest solar installation, the Wild Springs project in New Underwood, began operations in March and covers more than 1.5 square miles. The survey showed projects under 100 megawatts are generally favored by neighbors, while larger ones like Wild Springs are unpopular.
Kristi Pritzkau, finance officer for the City of New Underwood, said the construction traffic was tough on the town of just over 600 but the project's builder, National Grid Renewables, is giving back to the community.
"They had to use our well, so they paid for the water, and they paid for a new pump for it, too," Pritzkau pointed out. "They've been really great with the city."
Prtizkau noted the company donated to the town's pool and Lions Club and has created a school scholarship program, all part of the more than $500,000 of charitable giving it has promised in the project's first 20 years of operation. It is also expected to bring in $12 million of tax revenue to the county in the same time frame.
Sioux Falls-based Missouri River Energy Services has plans to build a new solar project near Brookings and build a transmission line from South Dakota into Minnesota.
Tim Blodgett, vice president of member services and communications for the company, said federal grant programs and tax credits provide incentives and South Dakota produces more energy than it can use.
"With the development of more wind, the development of solar, there's a lot planned right now to get these resources out of this area," Blodgett explained. "Into Minneapolis and other places where there's larger demand for the energy."
Currently, more than half the state's power generation comes from wind, followed by hydropower.
get more stories like this via email