Maryland has just passed a bill that targets 8.5 gigawatts of offshore wind energy. But that target, splashy as it is, is just the headline feature of a bill that contains all sorts of clever mechanisms to fund and accelerate offshore wind. I talk with the bill's author and primary sponsor about all of its wonky policy Innovations.
Wow! Lorig Charkoudian Is obviously smart as a whip, persistent & competent. This interview is so very interesting in light of PG&E’s recent proposal to restructure utility bills in California to include fees based on customers’ ability to pay, ie their income. A utility monopoly idea that might go nowhere? So far, I haven’t heard about any of Lorig’s creative legislative ideas being proposed in CA, where some limited offshore leases have been awarded & massive offshore wind resources are yet to be exploited.
I loved Lorig Charkoudian's work in getting us past the start of implementing offshore wind power. I am amazed at the American company that is currently producing windmill blades that have a 300-foot diameter. Just one of those large windmills can power a small town. I also liked the idea that interconnections can be viewed as a long power strip like we use at home. It is great that Lorig knows all of the technical aspects of the whole wind system and put it in her bill.
Great stuff on so many levels. For these cases where renewables (and associated storage, transmission and backup) cost a bit extra (compared to what folks became accustomed to from ultra cheap gas), it's important to deal with those issues smartly. From the CO state perspective, nice to hear of detailed legislation. While we have the "trifecta," it seems our leg writes loose bills and assigns the details to commissions w/o much oversight. E.g. Co PUC quickly decided to use a low $50/ton CO2 for social cost of carbon, and neglect upstream methane effects, for evaluation of power generation and electrification alternatives.
As far as enviro and aesthetic impacts, first thing wind opponents do is portray turbines with a 300 mm zoom lens view. As far as other enviro and resource impacts, in all renewables a great deal is being improved, often voluntarily by the industries as they scale and have more resources. Since this was about offshore wind, one link to some nifty tech, with video:
Wow! Lorig Charkoudian Is obviously smart as a whip, persistent & competent. This interview is so very interesting in light of PG&E’s recent proposal to restructure utility bills in California to include fees based on customers’ ability to pay, ie their income. A utility monopoly idea that might go nowhere? So far, I haven’t heard about any of Lorig’s creative legislative ideas being proposed in CA, where some limited offshore leases have been awarded & massive offshore wind resources are yet to be exploited.
I loved Lorig Charkoudian's work in getting us past the start of implementing offshore wind power. I am amazed at the American company that is currently producing windmill blades that have a 300-foot diameter. Just one of those large windmills can power a small town. I also liked the idea that interconnections can be viewed as a long power strip like we use at home. It is great that Lorig knows all of the technical aspects of the whole wind system and put it in her bill.
Great stuff on so many levels. For these cases where renewables (and associated storage, transmission and backup) cost a bit extra (compared to what folks became accustomed to from ultra cheap gas), it's important to deal with those issues smartly. From the CO state perspective, nice to hear of detailed legislation. While we have the "trifecta," it seems our leg writes loose bills and assigns the details to commissions w/o much oversight. E.g. Co PUC quickly decided to use a low $50/ton CO2 for social cost of carbon, and neglect upstream methane effects, for evaluation of power generation and electrification alternatives.
As far as enviro and aesthetic impacts, first thing wind opponents do is portray turbines with a 300 mm zoom lens view. As far as other enviro and resource impacts, in all renewables a great deal is being improved, often voluntarily by the industries as they scale and have more resources. Since this was about offshore wind, one link to some nifty tech, with video:
https://electrek.co/2023/05/12/offshore-wind-bubble-curtain/
I'm not shedding any of those liberal tears about 99% of solar, wind or storage tech or projects.