Maryland
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley told members of a reformulated state Senate committee that an offshore wind bill he is promoting for a third straight year could create hundreds of jobs.
O'Malley appeared Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee that has twice failed to pass the key part of his environmental agenda.
The senate's president has moved a member of the committee to another panel in order to get the votes needed to move the measure to the full Senate, where it has enough sponsors to pass this year. The bill would require utilities to buy offshore renewable energy credits.
A spokesman for a retail group said the measure will cost jobs because supermarkets will have to cut employees to offset higher electricity costs.
Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - An energy company developing the nation's first offshore wind project is among the growing number of companies with an interest in developing wind farms 27 miles off Virginia's coast.
Energy Management Inc. is the developer of the Cape Wind project in federal waters off Massachusetts' Cape Cod. Another energy company, Sea Breeze Power Corp., has also alerted the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that it might join the bidding later this year to develop wind energy in the 133-square-mile area off Virginia Beach.
They join Dominion Virginia Power and seven other energy companies.
The development area was carved out of the Atlantic after extended negotiations with the Navy, Coast Guard and port officials, among others, that make this section of the coast one of the busiest on the eastern seaboard.
