Senator Coons joined Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and a bipartisan group of original cosponsors in introducing the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act this week. This legislation would encourage the development of offshore wind projects by extending the current investment tax credit for offshore wind power beyond the current 2012 deadline.
Chris spoke highly of the burgeoning industry and its potential impact on the country: “An investment in offshore wind energy is an investment in our country’s economic future and national security,” Chris said. “I’ve seen the opportunities from the NRG Bluewater Wind project off Delaware’s coast and understand the hurdles this company and many other developers are facing to get their projects off the ground. However, I’m encouraged by this bipartisan legislation to expand offshore wind energy through targeted tax incentives. By tapping the offshore wind energy sector, we are further ensuring our country remains a leader in clean, renewable energy development that will create a wealth of new high-tech jobs in the region.”
Offshore wind offers enormous potential for producing clean domestic energy and quality, middle-class jobs in areas located close to population centers along Delaware’s coast. Our coastal waters contain a vast, untapped resource for clean, domestic power, as wind blows faster and more uniformly at sea than it does on land. According to the University of Delaware, wind off the Atlantic Coast has the potential to generate enough power to replace about 300 coal plants and to support the energy needs of nine states from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
In May 2007, NRG Bluewater Wind entered into an agreement with Delmarva Power to construct a wind park off the Delaware coast, making the state one of the pioneers in the nation in wind energy technology deployment. NRG Bluewater Wind has estimated it will create 1,200 jobs in Delaware during the design and construction phase and approximately 300 jobs for operation and maintenance throughout the life of the project. The company’s proposed offshore wind park would produce enough energy to power 100,000 homes across the state.
“Two hundred years ago the trade winds first brought commerce to this country,” Chris has said last November about the NRG Bluewater Wind project, “and today we’re harnessing those same trade winds to create green energy in Delaware and along the Atlantic Coast, an investment that will play a central role in our continuing economy recovery.”
For more information about Chris’ work on renewable energy, click here.