July 21, 2010
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
We applaud you for your tremendous leadership in clean energy and green job development. Supporting renewable energy, particularly offshore wind technologies, enhances our energy security and fuel diversity, reduces harmful pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, and encourages a vibrant, US clean energy industry. For these reasons, we must accelerate the development of offshore wind energy in the mid-Atlantic. To that end, we offer for your consideration an opportunity for a unique partnership between the federal government, Maryland and Delaware.
Development of one gigawatt (GW) of wind energy in the mid-Atlantic region could lead to the development of 15,000-20,000 clean energy jobs. The proximity of Washington, DC to the mid-Atlantic’s wind resources, and the number of federal agencies and military installations in and around the DC metropolitan region, creates a unique opportunity for a federal-state partnership for the development of a power purchase agreement for offshore wind-generated energy.
We respectfully ask you to consider directing the appropriate federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration, to join with Maryland and Delaware in offering a power purchase agreement for a gigawatt of offshore wind energy from the mid-Atlantic region to power federal facilities in the National Capital Region. The State of Maryland has already offered a long term contract to purchase 55 megawatts of offshore wind and Delaware’s Public Service Commission has authorized its utilities to enter into a similar long term contract for 200 megawatts. By combining our market power with that of the federal government, we can drive demand for over one GW of offshore wind energy in the mid-Atlantic. This would create the economies of scale necessary to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind development, attract manufacturers of offshore wind equipment and installation vessels, and develop high paying green jobs for our workers.
We also ask you to please continue to support legislative efforts that would remove barriers to such an opportunity. Specifically, we ask you to support allowing the General Services Administration to enter into power purchase agreements beyond ten years. Sen. Tom Carper’s “Improving Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Use by Federal Agencies Act” (S. 3251) would vastly enhance the federal government’s ability to reach its renewable portfolio goals, and to make a large offshore wind purchase feasible. Other legislative efforts such as increasing loan guarantees and extending the production tax credit are also critical to removing barriers that hinder development of offshore wind, as is streamlining the offshore wind permitting process.
Finally, we respectfully request that steps be taken to facilitate interagency coordination of issues relating to offshore wind energy among the appropriate interested agencies. Secretary Salazar has led the Department of Interior to strongly embrace offshore wind and his strong leadership has been paramount to the progress that is being made. Secretary Chu is also taking real and important steps to help offshore wind become a reality in the United States. Building on their efforts, and bringing in the Departments of Defense, Commerce (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the General Services Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency would address the array of interagency issues that have presented themselves.
<!–
–>