Offshore Wind bill to be signed by Governor Wes Moore, despite local opposition

OCEAN CITY,  Md- A bill to create a consolidated offshore wind infrastructure off the coast of Ocean City, complete with a centralized grid and electrical wiring running from the Town to the rest of the state now heads to Governor Wes Moore’s desk to be passed, despite pushback from members of the Eastern Shore Delegation.

However, Maryland State Senator Mary Beth Carozza says similar projects in Rhode Island have gone over budget and raised serious concerns over safety and rate hikes for taxpayers.
She says – while the bill promises a study of the area in Ocean City where the transmission lines are slated to be run before anything is done, it should have never been considered to begin with.

“You are getting ahead of yourself when we don’t have anything out there you are seeing problems in other states why wouldn’t you study that first before moving forward with a proposal to consolidate the transmission,” Senator Carozza said.

Carozza tells 47ABC that the Rhode Island project has already gone back to ratepayers, asking for 31 million dollars more to fix issues like lines being washed ashore, a fate she hopes to avoid for Ocean City.