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By Dustyn Thompson, Director
July 1, 2025
Senate Bill 159 was admittedly filed late in the session as a way to help move offshore wind forward in the Delmarva Peninsula area. We could probably write an entire blog post on this bill alone and explain why it was needed, but instead, we will link to a few articles to provide some background. Here, here, here. In a nutshell, to bring offshore wind online, US Wind, the company building the project, requires a substation and the necessary permit to construct one. They wanted to build the substation on a parcel of land they had purchased adjacent to an existing substation used for the old coal plant located in Millsboro, Delaware; however, the Sussex County Council denied the permit. While US Wind is currently appealing that decision and is very likely to win, Senate Bill 159 would have overturned that decision and granted the permit, rendering the case moot.
It is unfortunate that, for the past six years, the Republicans in the House and, this year, the Senate have held up the Bond Bill as a negotiation tactic. As the Senate Republican Minority Leader said in a recent interview, they feel that is the only tool they have. Well, the tool works because they can obtain something from the Majority Party every year. We anticipate that until leadership truly stands up to this tactic, they will continue to use the tool. This year, they wanted to roll back two bills. One that we won't cover here, but will in our full legislative wrap-up post, was HB 222, and the other was SB 159.
Over the weekend before June 30th, Senator Hansen and Representative Snyder Hall attempted to reach a compromise regarding concerns about local control by adding an amendment to sunset the section of code drafted in SB 159 after two years. With the amendment, no other project would be able to use the bill as a means to propose another substation in Sussex County. That was supposed to be enough to get one Republican to vote for the Bond Bill. Still, negotiations fell apart, and the bill moved forward anyway. It was ultimately signed into law, only to be changed again with Senate Bill 199 about two hours later. This switchoff was, to our understanding, the fastest a law has ever changed after being passed and signed by the Governor. Senate Bill 199 did two things: first, it changed the effective date of Senate Bill 159 to January of the following year, instead of immediately upon the Governor's signing of the bill, and it removed the sunset provision entirely. Multiple parties, including Sussex County Council, the Senate and House Minority Party, the Senate Majority Party, US Wind, and the Governor's Office, were involved in the late-night negotiations.
While this last-minute deal was less than ideal, it still provides a significantly higher level of certainty for the project's developers, allowing them to move forward again with the contracts needed to bring the proposed offshore wind power onto the grid on schedule.
Under the new section of code, there are likely four or five different ways this can now play out. The court could decide that the legislature has weighed in and wants the permit granted. So they could sit on the case until January, when the bill takes effect, in which case the permit will be issued. If the court rules in US Wind's favor and grants the permit, then this bill will not be used, and the permit will be issued. If the county settles, the bill is not used, and the permit is issued. If the county wins, unless the GA passes a new bill next year, the bill will take effect, and the permit will be granted. If the county loses but appeals, that is likely to extend past the January deadline in the bill, in which case the bill takes effect, and the permit is issued. So, essentially, this has been delayed long enough for the court to take action; however, barring another bill in January, the US Wind project will move forward.
Senate Bill 159 became a top priority at the very end of the session. Still, due to the significant support offshore wind has in Delaware, we were able to mobilize hundreds of advocates from across the state, including over 130 in Sussex County alone. We delivered a sign-on letter that neighbors shared across Sussex County, garnering over 130 signatures and personal letters of support for SB 159 in under 48 hours. We sent over 2000 unique emails from constituents to legislators in support of the bill. Had dozens of advocates testify in support and online in both the House and the Senate, and held a rally to line the halls of Legislative Hall in Dover with supporters holding signs of support as legislators returned to the House Chamber on the last day of the session.
In the end, offshore wind will move forward off the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula, and our grid will be stronger for it.
Thank you to all those who came out, sent emails, and raised some good trouble to move our state and region forward!
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