READER RESPONSE: OPINION: Delegate Boteler Opposes Tax Increase to Fund Wind Energy

Editor's Note: Reader Kathleen Stumpfel wrote the following response to an opinion editorial submitted by Republican Delegate Joe Boteler III. In , Boteler said that he planned to vote against the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act.

Critics of Gov. O’Malley’s offshore wind bill, such as Delegate Boteler, claim that this project will cost Maryland ratepayers too much. While I appreciate the delegate’s intent to protect us from high energy costs, I believe his criticism of offshore wind power is misplaced and runs contrary to his goals.

If he wants to save his constituents money, the delegate’s time would be much better spent by taking on fossil fuels. Utility companies enter into contracts to buy energy all the time. However, these contracts last only a few months to a few years, and due to fossil-fuel price volatility, this poses some big problems for consumers. Anyone who pays at the pump knows it just takes a civil war or a bombing in one oil-producing nation to send fuel costs through the roof. And because fossil fuels are a limited resource, the more we use them the more limited and expensive they become. So each time a contract ends, utilities set up a new contract, often setting a price higher than before. Maryland’s dependence on fossil fuels has caused rates-hikes of over 75 percent in the past decade.

The governor’s wind bill, on the other hand, already provides several safeguards for ratepayer costs in future years. By requiring utilities to enter into a 25-year contract with wind developers, the price that utilities pay for the wind is fixed—by contract —for the length of the contract. And as of yesterday, the governor introduced an
additional amendment that would force state regulators to reject any proposal that would raise the average ratepayer’s electricity bill by more than $2 a month when the turbines start generating power in 2016. Furthermore, as fossil fuel prices continue to rise, the cost of offshore wind to ratepayers would decrease over time and could even result in a rebate to ratepayers!

The truth is that offshore wind is the only utility-scale energy resource that can guarantee a fixed, stable price for more than two decades, and provide a hedge against inevitable rising fossil fuel prices. In today’s uncertain energy market, we should welcome such certainty.

Kathleen Stumpfel