December 19, 2024 — In a dramatic move, members of Sussex County Council in Delaware rejected an application crucial to the completion of a new wind farm off the Atlantic coast. The proposal, which was rejected Tuesday in a 4-1 vote, was at the center of a monthslong debate in Sussex County.
If approved, it would have allowed Renewable Development, a subsidiary of US Wind, to connect high-voltage cables from the Indian River to a new substation adjacent to the Indian River Power Plant in Dagsboro.
US Wind, a Maryland energy company owned in part by an Italian infrastructure firm, said in a statement that it will appeal the decision.
Now with the future of the project uncertain, Sussex County taxpayers will likely be on the hook to fund the county’s opposition to US Wind’s appeal and a potential future lawsuit.
Even with the rejection, the US Wind project is not dead, but significantly hampered and likely looking at further delays. It can still find another way to bring its cables ashore if it should lose its appeal.