US Wind, Inc.
company · active attested 2021–2024
Also known as US Wind
One of the two developers awarded Offshore Renewable Energy Credits in the round Ocean City fought and lost. Its lease area would carry 77 turbines twelve to fifteen miles from the town — the nearer of the two projects, and the one the town's own consultants were hired to review. In July 2023 the council approved a contract not to exceed $175,500 with SLR International Corporation for peer and technical review of US Wind's Construction and Operations Plan, the City Manager recording that SLR had done a small job for Ørsted in the past but none for US Wind or any affiliated company.
In the record (4)
2021 · 2021-12-17
Maryland's PSC approves 1,654.5 MW of Round 2 offshore wind off the resort coast over Ocean City's objection to 853-foot turbines as close as 13 miles out.
On Dec. 17, 2021, the Maryland Public Service Commission approved with conditions the Round 2 offshore wind projects — Ørsted's Skipjack Wind Phase 2.1 and US Wind's Momentum Wind — totaling 1,654.5 MW, projected to create over 10,000 direct jobs and nearly $1 billion of in-state spending. The town spent 2021 fighting the projects' scale and proximity: its official position noted US Wind planned 'supersized 853-foot tall turbines' — roughly three and a half times taller than the town's tallest building — as close as 13 miles offshore, versus the 17 miles previously stated publicly. Mayor Rick Meehan: 'There is no question they will be visible from our shoreline especially when they are lit up at night... It is a threat to our environment, our property values, our economy, and the future of Ocean City.' The town demanded the turbines be moved farther east, a fight that continued into litigation in later years.
Source · checked 2026-08-05
2022 · 2022-01-12
A hundred and forty-six turbines, the nearest twelve miles out — and Ocean City's objection, that you will be able to see them, lost before the Public Service Commission despite "our visual expert"
"Assisting with offshore wind farm relocation efforts. US Wind and Ørsted have both submitted proposals for the new round of Offshore Renewable Energy Credits created in the 2019 Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act and despite our testimony and the testimony of our visual expert, the PSC has awarded credits to both firms that would result in an additional 60 turbines in the Skipjack lease area for a total of 69 turbines 20 miles from Ocean City, and an additional 55 turbines in the US Wind Lease Area for a total of 77 turbines 12–15 miles from Ocean City." The phrase that says what kind of town this is: "our visual expert." Read against the record the reversal is complete — in 1978 the Park Service told this town its jetties were eating Assateague and the council waited the objection out; in 2002 the town argued with data that it was the good environmental actor and the State was behind its own rules; in 2018 it opposed offshore oil and gas on behalf of the marlin. Here the State's clean energy programme puts a wind farm on its horizon and the town loses. The word used is not "opposition" but "relocation efforts": it is no longer arguing whether, only where.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2023 · 2023-07-17
Having lost before the Public Service Commission, Ocean City escalated to the federal level and bought the expertise: $175,500 for peer review of the US Wind construction and operations plan
The council approved a contract with SLR International Corporation, working with Smultea Environmental Sciences, Climate Arts & Science Experts and Chronicle Heritage. The City Manager's memo is careful about who his consultants have worked for: "I then had a series of meetings with SLR to refine their scope of work and make sure they had no conflicts of interest given the City's position on the US Wind project as it is currently proposed in the COP. SLR did do a small job for Ørsted in the past and they have done extensive work for wind farm developers in Europe but none for US Wind or any company affiliated with US Wind." And explicit about what is bought: "SLR will review each item in the COP that impacts either the Town of Ocean City or the location of the turbines including impacts on the Horseshoe Crap [sic], Right Whale, visual impacts, cultural and economic impacts and many others. This work is highly specialized and the cost reflects that. The fee will be based on actual time and expenses not to exceed $175,500."
The Commissioners of Ocean City
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2024 · 2024-08-05
On 5 August 2024 Mayor Meehan put the town's position on US Wind into the minutes as numbers - 114 turbines, each at least 938 feet tall, 10.7 miles out, the whole length of the island - and said the town would sue the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management if it approved the project
Under Comments from the Mayor and City Council at the Regular Meeting of 5 August 2024, the clerk recorded the Mayor's offshore wind update at unusual length: "The Town of Ocean City is against the project as proposed. The project consists of 114 turbines, each a minimum height of 938 feet, that are 10.7 miles off the coast and will run the entire length of the island. The Town has consistently advocated for the turbines to be located further offshore but to no avail. A majority of state and federal elected officials supports the project. If the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issues a favorable Record of Decision, the Town will file suit against BOEM. We have hired a law firm and co-plaintiffs are on board. The Town supports green energy. Nearly 50% of the energy supplied to Ocean City is via solar energy. We are good stewards of our environment; however, with no support to move the wind farm project further offshore, we have no choice but to oppose it. Resident, property owners and visitors are encouraged to write state elected officials." A month later, on 3 September, the council amended the 2024 Strategic Plan to "MOVE Anti-Offshore Wind Advocacy from Management Top Priority to Policy Top Priority," and the FY25 legal budget adopted in April had added $75,000 for "specialty counsel (wind farm, union contract negotiations and personnel issues)."
Source · checked 2026-09-11