August 24, 2020 — The Maryland Public Service Commission on Thursday approved a power company’s request to build wind turbines off Ocean City that are more than 200 feet taller than had originally been permitted.
The decision came after Ocean City officials, including Mayor Rick Meehan, had testified that the new, larger turbine design chosen by Skipjack Offshore Energy for the wind projects would ruin views of the horizon from the beach, thus affecting the town’s crucial tourism industry.
They added that the new turbines, three times taller than the tallest building in Ocean City, would require aerial hazard navigation lights, which the previous turbines did not, and contended that values of beachfront properties would be adversely affected.
Town officials wanted the commission to order Skipjack to move the turbines 33 miles offshore, citing a wind farm development off Long Island, New York, that is that far out, and thus out of sight.