PSC sets schedule to examine onshore wind contracts

Onshore wind contracts to purchase energy for Delmarva Power's standard-offer service customers could be given the nod of approval by early October. Wind-power watchers are awaiting the Sept. 17 publication of the Public Service Commission staff report on the contracts.

The power company has said the total monthly impact of all three contracts to customers could be about $0.24 per month.

Delmarva Power has asked the Public Service Commission (PSC) for an expedited review of three onshore wind contracts, to ensure the power company can include the contracts in its renewable energy portfolio by 2009.

Gary Stockbridge, president of Delmarva Power, said, "We're very pleased with the strong support for thee land-based wind contracts. Our portfolio of offshore and land-based contracts makes Delmarva Power a leading utility in the nation for securing clean energy to meet Delaware's goals."

University of Delaware professor Jeremy Firestone said the question that arises from the onshore deals is whether Delmarva Power should buy more wind energy from Bluewater Wind or more from onshore sources, based on the price of energy in these contracts.

Delmarva Power is required by state law to acquire 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2019.

At the end of July, representatives of four state agencies approved a contract between Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind. Delmarva Power expects to purchase up to 200 megawatts of power from Bluewater Wind's planned offshore wind farm, to be built more than 11 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach.

As part of that contract, one megawatt hour of energy generated from offshore wind is now worth 3.5 credits. As a result, Delmarva Power has to buy less energy to generate the required renewable energy credits.

The Bluewater Wind project could be online as early as 2012, Bluewater Wind president Peter Mandelstam has said, if federal and state permitting processes go smoothly.

Bridget Shelton, Delmarva Power spokeswoman, said onshore wind farms can be built more quickly than offshore ones.

She also said that the company's onshore and offshore deals both contribute to renewable energy requirements, but the two contracts cannot be compared.

Shelton said onshore and offshore wind contracts are on different timelines and each is for a different amount of power. Onshore contracts will generate energy for standard-offer service customers, while the offshore deal will provide power for all Delmarva Power customers.

Firestone said the onshore contracts are cheaper than the one with Bluewater Wind, but that offshore wind is a more valuable resource because there is more wind offshore in the afternoon and more offshore in the summer. He also said there is less variability from offshore wind than onshore.

Firestone said another aspect of the contracts that makes a side-by-side comparison impractical is that a transmission fee to get the power to Delaware will apply to the onshore contracts.

The Public Service Commission has set a deadline of Friday, Sept. 12, for filing intervention petitions and one of Monday, Sept. 17, for written comments.