DEMEC to Participate in Governor Carney’s Offshore Wind Working Group
On Monday, August 28, 2017, Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation (DEMEC) President & CEO, Patrick E. McCullar, joined Governor John Carney, Senator Tom Carper, and other state officials for the signing of Executive Order 13. This order creates an Offshore Wind Working Group to study how Delaware can participate in developing offshore wind. Mr. McCullar will represent DEMEC in this working group to provide input based on his experience in offshore wind and expert knowledge from decades of working in the areas of electric generation, transmission, and distribution.
In 2007, DEMEC signed an agreement with Bluewater Wind to be the first utility in the country to purchase power generated by an offshore wind turbine, proposed for Delaware’s coast. However, due to many obstacles that project did not move forward. Delaware has not progressed with any other offshore wind development since then.
The University of Delaware has one wind turbine in Lewes, DE of which the Lewes Board of Public Works contracted to purchase the excess energy it produces. To support offshore wind energy research, DEMEC partnered with the university to purchase the Renewable Energy Credits created by that wind turbine to fund several graduate student fellowships in that field.
DEMEC continues to seek opportunities to diversify its energy portfolio while maintaining low cost, reliable service to its nine members’ communities across the state. The Working Group must have a report to the Governor no later than December 15, 2017.