Public Participation in Support of Offshore Wind
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UNDERLYING MOTIVATIONS FOR DELAWARE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN SUPPORT OF OFFSHORE WIND: IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE ENERGY POLICY by Jacqueline D Piero A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Marine Policy Winter 2010 Copyright 2010 Jacqueline D Piero All Rights Reserved UNDERLYING MOTIVATIONS FOR DELAWARE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN SUPPORT OF OFFSHORE WIND: IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE ENERGY POLICY by Jacqueline D Piero Approved: __________________________________________________________ Willett M. Kempton, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: __________________________________________________________ Charles E. Epifanio, Ph.D. Director of the School of Marine Science and Policy Approved: __________________________________________________________ Nancy M. Targett, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment Approved: __________________________________________________________ Debra Hess Norris, M.S. Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to Dr. Willett Kempton for his guidance, knowledge, patience, and enthusiasm throughout my time at the University of Delaware. His passion for his work is both contagious and inspiring. Thank you Dr. Kempton, for helping me find a purpose for my life. I can think of no greater gift. I would also like to thank Professor Jeremy Firestone for his insight into the policy process described in this work. His advice greatly contributed to the clarity and completeness of my analysis. I am also grateful to Dr. JoAnn Carmin for serving on my committee and contributing thoughtful comment on short notice. My friends in the Marine Policy are irreplaceable. I thank them for making this a good time in my life. Lastly, I must thanks my parents for their unconditional support, and for always acting interested when I call to babble about my research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 Origins of the Delaware Debate ......................................................................... 1 Delaware Energy Policy Decisions Leading to Request For New Generation ................................................................................................. 3 Offshore wind: a new option in the United States .............................................. 4 Citizen participation in the Delaware HB6 process ........................................... 5 Research Questions ............................................................................................ 8 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 10 Review of prior studies of offshore wind support and opposition in Delaware .................................................................................................. 20 3 RESEARCH METHODS AND MATERIALS ............................................... 22 Methods: ........................................................................................................... 23 Materials used: ........................................................................................ 23 Timeframe ............................................................................................... 26 Combining quantitative and qualitative analysis of public comments ..................................................................................... 28 4 THE PEOPLE, INSTITUTIONS, AND RULES THAT CONSTITUTED THIS PROCESS .................................................................. 36 Participants ....................................................................................................... 37 The Delaware State Legislature (The General Assembly) ...................... 37 Delaware Public Service Commission (PSC) ......................................... 38 The evaluating state agencies .................................................................. 39 iv Delaware Division of the Public Advocate (DPA) ................................. 40 Delmarva Power & Light (DP&L) .......................................................... 41 Bluewater Wind LLC .............................................................................. 41 NRG Energy Inc. ..................................................................................... 42 Conectiv Energy ...................................................................................... 42 NGOs and businesses .............................................................................. 43 Organizations in favor of the Bluewater Wind proposal ......................... 43 Organizations in favor of the NRG proposal........................................... 44 Organizations in favor of the Conectiv proposal .................................... 45 Organizations that did not take a position ............................................... 45 Legislative and Regulatory Background .......................................................... 45 The Hearings .................................................................................................... 48 Content Of The Public Comments ................................................................... 50 The final RFP, bid evaluation, and PPA ........................................................... 60 5 ANALYSIS OF COMMENT NUMBERS, ENERGY CHOICE AND ACTIVISM ....................................................................................................... 64 Types of Comments .......................................................................................... 65 How Many People Commented? ...................................................................... 70 Demographics ................................................................................................... 76 Gender ..................................................................................................... 76 County ..................................................................................................... 77 Energy Choice .................................................................................................. 79 Sources of major form letters and their expressed preferences ........................ 88 NGOs and Form Letters .......................................................................... 94 NGO Participation ............................................................................................ 97 Lay expertise and limitations of public participation ..................................... 102 6 ANALYSIS OF CONTENT OF COMMENTS: ISSUES, ARGUMENTS, AND PERCEPTIONS ......................................................... 107 Issues .............................................................................................................. 107 Price versus price stability ..................................................................... 107 Low Price .............................................................................................. 109 Price Stability ........................................................................................ 110 v Wind Price ............................................................................................. 110 Timeframes ............................................................................................ 111 Perceived risks ....................................................................................... 114 The Indian River Power Plant ............................................................... 119 Geographic scope .................................................................................. 120 Arguments ...................................................................................................... 121 Maturity of technology .......................................................................... 121 Environmental Benefits ......................................................................... 123 Reliability .............................................................................................. 123 Aesthetics .............................................................................................. 124 Wildlife Impacts .................................................................................... 124 Financing ............................................................................................... 125 Jobs ................................................................................................... 125 Health effects, environment health, climate change, pollution ............. 126 Carbon Tax ............................................................................................ 126 Perceptions ..................................................................................................... 126 Self perceptions of other participants .................................................... 126 Victim 127 Worker ................................................................................................... 127 Layman .................................................................................................