Four state agencies are expected to meet in Dover today to begin the final phase of state approvals for an offshore wind farm contract. ...The contract between Bluewater and Delmarva still needs the approval of the Office of Management and Budget, the legislative Controller General, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Public Service Commission.

The average residential Delmarva Power customer could end up paying just 70 cents a month more over the next 25 years for Bluewater Wind's power than they would have paid for fossil-fuel generated electricity, a team of state consultants said Thursday. The projection is significantly lower than the $6.46 a month "wind power premium" the consultants projected in a December analysis of the previous proposed contract between Bluewater and Delmarva, which would have had Delmarva buy twice as much wind power. ...Under the new, smaller contract, Sheingold estimates the average monthly additional cost on a residential customer, averaged over 25 years, will be 70 cents. In the early years, those additional costs will be an estimated $1.79 a month over market, and over time, will turn into a savings as fossil fuels get more expensive.

Delaware lawmakers took an $800 million step toward a cleaner energy future last week, endorsing a 200-megawatt offshore wind farm likely to spin off more noise than light -- at least for now. The Bluewater Wind venture on average would power only one out of 15 light bulbs in Delaware's homes and small businesses when it begins operation in 2013. That 6.7 percent share of nonindustrial power sales would pose no threat to coal as king of overall electric supply in Delaware and would barely register on regional and national power grids dominated by coal and nuclear. ..."I don't think business decisions should be legislated like that. The wind farm is a good, positive thing, but they've rammed it down somebody's throat and they're making people pay for it," Blanchies said. "When the state is trying to promote something, they should provide grants and do other things to promote it, not take money away from the ratepayers."

According to a June 25 legislative press release, lawmakers approved changes to laws controlling Delaware's renewable energy credit program and imposing a "non-bypassable surcharge" on all Delmarva Power customers to help spread out and lower the individual cost of the plan to build a wind farm about 11 miles off Delaware's Atlantic shoreline. Senate Bill 328 creates a 350% offshore wind renewable energy credit multiplier, makes the 350% renewable energy credit multiplier available for the life of offshore wind contracts, and spreads the cost and benefits of offshore wind power contracts executed by Delmarva Power to the company's entire customer base.

Compromise terms for an offshore wind farm no longer require a separate onshore backup generating plant in Sussex County, a Delmarva Power official said Monday. ...Under the original proposal, NRG Energy and Conectiv Energy Services Inc. offered to build natural-gas-fired plants to supply Delmarva when production lagged from Bluewater Wind LLC's proposed 300-megawatt wind farm east of Rehoboth Beach. The Public Service Commission ordered Delmarva to seek offers for up to 300 megawatts of backup power in 2007, citing concerns that Bluewater would be unable to meet its full advertised output during parts of the year. But the fact that Delmarva would be buying less power would mean it would have less to replace during periods of reduced wind.

Delmarva Power signed a landmark offshore wind power deal with Bluewater Wind on Monday, agreeing to buy enough power to light 50,000 homes in Delaware for the next 25 years. The long-awaited, $800 million deal could make Delaware the first state in the nation to build a wind farm off its shores. An array of as many as 70 towering windmills would rise in a tract east of Rehoboth Beach by 2012. ...Both parties agreed the contract will cost average residential customers about $5 a month more -- over the 25 years -- than they would have paid for electricity without offshore wind power. With volatile fossil fuel prices, no one can predict how much additional cost -- or savings -- customers may see over the life of the contract.

After more than a year of back-and-forth between Bluewater Wind and Delmarva Power over a proposed offshore wind farm, the stage appears set for the final act. Neither side spoke publicly this weekend about the status of negotiations, which Senate Majority Leader Anthony DeLuca, D-Varlano, said last week were near completion. As of Friday, just one matter in a hundred-plus-page contract remained to be negotiated. Two people who have been informed about the status of negotiations said on Sunday that the last matter has been resolved. But as of Sunday night, the parties had not yet finalized the paperwork.

For Greg Menoche, the low hum coming from his backyard is like money in the bank. The Dagsboro-area man is one of a growing number of Delaware residents turning to small-scale wind power to generate electricity for their homes. ... Businessman Louis Thibault, who lives in a rural area near Millsboro, has won county approval for two windmills, but said he's still sorting through his options to pick the right turbine for his home. "I'm still not totally satisfied with what I've found," he said. "I'm not going to spend $20,000 on a wind generator and when I get it, it doesn't work." Flexera's Light said only a few reputable manufacturers are on the market now, and consumers need to be careful. "The vast majority are frauds," he said. "When there's a buck to be made, you end up having a lot of fly-by-nights out there. ... We research and sometimes get burned ourselves."

Bluewater Wind has no power-purchase deal with Delmarva Power yet, but a Bluewater official urged supporters of an offshore wind farm to keep the faith. ...Both sides, as well as Senate Majority Leader Anthony DeLuca, have expressed optimism in recent days that a deal can be reached, even as the end of the Legislative session on June 30 draws near. ...The negotiators must craft a complex, unprecedented document. There are currently no wind farms off the coast of the United States, and as such, no contracts to buy power from one of those wind farms.

Bluewater Wind and Delmarva Power continued to chisel away at a wind farm compromise Tuesday. No deal was announced, but even Delmarva officials sounded optimistic a deal could be done, despite the company's long-expressed strong reservations about a state-arbitrated wind power contract. "We're working with Tony," said Delmarva President Gary Stockbridge, referring to Senate Majority Leader Anthony J. DeLuca. "At best, we're encouraged."

The financial troubles of Bluewater Wind's parent company will likely not have an impact on the project being debated in Delaware, observers said. But one analyst said the Bluewater project has other issues that make it far from a sure thing, even if they sign a contract with Delmarva Power. ...In Delaware, despite indications on Friday that Bluewater and Delmarva were close to an agreement, no announcement was made Monday. Senate Majority Leader Anthony DeLuca said last week the parties had until early this week to reach agreement, or the Senate would consider its next steps.

A vote on a proposed contract between Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind was tabled in December, but efforts to reach agreement on a contract have recently regained strength. "We are making a lot of progress through the leadership of Lt. Gov. John Carney and the Senate majority leader," said Bluewater Wind spokesman Jim Lanard. ...Lanard said part of the solution might be changing the framework of the deal. He said parties were considering Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation (DMEC) purchasing more power from the project while Delmarva Power would purchase less than originally planned, reducing the contract for Delmarva Power.

Bluewater Wind and Delmarva Power will work through the weekend to try to forge an agreement on a long-term offshore power deal, with the talks boosted by Bluewater's agreement this week to move forward with a smaller power-purchase guarantee. Senate Majority Leader Anthony J. DeLuca, D-Newark East, said he is hopeful a compromise can be reached by next week, when time will essentially run out for negotiations he has been coordinating. ...Delmarva has said that's too much power at too high a price, and could sue if ordered to sign. The talks were bolstered this week by Bluewater's willingness to accept a smaller purchase commitment as a basis for getting the offshore wind farm project going.

Bluewater Wind, Delmarva Power and municipal utilities are edging closer to a deal that could end a yearlong battle over building a $1.6 billion offshore wind farm. Senate Democrats are pushing for a compromise that could be reached within a matter of days, according to those close to the talks. But they temper such optimism with the fact that Delmarva has walked away from earlier talks. ...The utility says it's unfair to make its customers pay more for so much power from an expensive new technology.

Though two Synergics wind turbine projects in Garrett County have not yet been filed with the Maryland Public Service Commission, the energy expected to be produced by them has already been put under contract. ...The contracts signed are for a proposed Synergics project on Roth Rock bordering Mettiki Coal Co. on Backbone Mountain, according to Frank Maisano, wind-power industry spokesman. This project is expected to begin delivering 40 megawatts of power in September 2009. The second Synergics project will likely be on Four Mile Ridge near Avilton, where Synergics has meteorological towers situated to study the wind potential there, Maisano said. This project is expected to produce 60 megawatts of power by December 2010.

It's been all quiet on the wind front in Delaware, as the state's budget woes dominate discussion in the Legislature. For now, debate by elected officials of a proposed offshore wind farm has been moved to the back burner in Dover. But offshore wind farm supporters continue to lobby lawmakers to approve the project, the fate of which has been in limbo since December, when representatives of four state agencies tabled a vote on a proposed contract between Bluewater Wind and Delmarva Power.

In a pre-emptive strike against a proposed Bluewater Wind contract, Delmarva Power has signed contracts with a land-based wind farm provider for up to 100 megawatts of power at any given time. Delmarva announced today it had signed the contract with Annapolis, Md.-based Synergics Wind Energy for up to 100 megawatts of energy and renewable energy credits from wind farms in western Maryland.

A surcharge on electric bills in Delaware and surrounding states that was designed to increase generating capacity hasn't delivered on its promise, four states are arguing in a complaint filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The states of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania filed the complaint late Friday, together with a coalition of electricity buyers and consumer advocates. They say the surcharge will overcharge electricity consumers in the 13-state territory in the PJM Interconnection grid by $12 billion between 2008 and 2011. As a share of that, Delmarva Power ratepayers in Delaware will overpay by about $125 million in "unjust and unreasonable" rates, the states claim.

Delaware's two big wind-power initiatives face an uncertain future as millions of dollars in federal subsidies are being held up in Congress. ...In the absence of an extension for the credit, Delmarva would likely have to wait out a delay in construction, or pay more for the power. The Bluewater project's timeline is longer, making it less susceptible to the short-term political stalemate. But the uneven history of the credit underscores a risk to the Bluewater project, observers say. ...Bluewater spokesman Jim Lanard said it was "unimaginable" that Congress would stop funding the tax credit, and that Bluewater was prepared to move forward with the project even if Congress elects to fund the tax credit on a year-by-year basis.

One crewman died Monday after gale force winds and giant waves damaged a specialized research ship launched in March to study Delaware's offshore wind power resources. ...The ship, dispatched by a New Jersey company working for wind power developer Bluewater Wind LLC, was left adrift and ran aground off Bethany Beach. It ran into trouble on a day when the Coast Guard reported five rescues and a series of distress calls as winds in excess of 50 mph battered the coast. Cangemi said the Coast Guard's Philadelphia office would investigate.