Dive Summary:
- Early Tuesday morning, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed the Offshore Wind Energy Act into law.
- The law grants $1.7 billion in subsidies to developers of an offshore wind farm 30 miles from Ocean City.
- Residential electricity consumers will fund the subsidy with a monthly $1.50 surcharge on their utility bills; in turn, the bill requires 2.5% of Maryland's energy to come from offshore wind.
From the article:
“... 'Marylanders would be hired in part of the initial construction, and over 1000 businesses across Maryland believe that they have one of the 8,000 components of these offshore wind turbines,' said Jen Broack-Cancellieri, wind power advocate. ..."
