(Thanks Ivy! - promoted by MattZ)
 We've come a long way. Just a year ago, the idea of an offshore wind farm in Virginia was dismissed as too expensive, too difficult, and too darn futuristic for the cautious decisionmakers of this staid commonwealth.
Now all those concerns are just so last year. Suddenly it seems everyone knows that offshore wind farms can produce electricity at a lower cost to the consumer than a new coal plant; that the technology is already in use in Europe and will be used in projects that have already been approved in Massachusetts, Delaware, Rhode Island and New Jersey; and that the clean energy future is actually here today.
Virginia, we've learned, has enough good wind resources off its coast to meet all of our energy needs someday. And for the near term, if we start aggressively building and installing wind turbines in the next few years, we can expect to provide up to 25% of our electricity from offshore wind farms by 2025.
The Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium (VCERC) has studied a site twelve miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Their research suggests we have one of the best locations on the east coast for a wind farm-and that taking advantage of it will mean not just clean, renewable energy at a competitive cost, but thousands of permanent, high-paying jobs for the commonwealth.
Residents of Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads area will have two opportunities to learn more about offshore wind energy in the coming days. First, the City of Virginia Beach will be holding a community meeting to discuss offshore wind development on Thursday, May 14 starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Westin Town Center, 4535 Commerce Street in Virginia Beach. The meeting will be free and open to the general public. Click here to RSVP.
Then, on Tuesday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m., NoVa residents are invited to the Crown Plaza Hotel at 901 North Fairfax, Alexandria, for a presentation by VCERC Director of Research George Hagerman on what offshore wind energy will mean for those who live and work in Northern Virginia. The meeting will be hosted by the North Old Town Independent Citizens Civic Association It, too, is free and open to the general public. Click here to RSVP.
Additional details are available online at www.VA4wind.com. |
