OCEAN CITY, Md.- Hundreds of people came out to a meeting on a proposed wind farm off the coast of Ocean City Tuesday night.
The proposed wind farm would be around 10 miles off the coast, and would be visible all along the Delmarva coastline.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, is looking into the possibility of having up to 121 wind turbines on close to 80,000 acres of federally owned waters.Â
The turbines would be over 900 feet tall at their peak height, and have cables buried into the seafloor. BOEM says this project will power over 700,000 homes with clean, renewable energy across Delmarva.
"The project at its full buildout would produce 2.2 gigawatts of energy," said Lorena Edenfield with BOEM. "Two phases of that have already gotten renewable energy credits with Maryland."
Not every neighbor has been in favor of this possible change to the town's horizon.
Ocean City neighbor Ladd Layton has multiple concerns, from how it will impact the town's views of the sunrise, to its impact on the ocean's wildlife.
"America the beautiful- from sea to shining sea. Where is it going to be now, huh?" he said. "All we're going to have is pictures."
Ocean City's mayor, Rick Meehan, also told CoastTV that while he supports turbines and clean energy, he fears the current location could hurt the town.
"We're concerned about the view shed. We're very concerned about the sunrise off our coast and we're extremely concerned about how that's going to affect the economy in Ocean City.," he said.
BOEM did display alternatives that would address concerns with the environment, the concerns with the horizon and more. The project would also create close to 3,000 jobs.
There is another in-person meeting this coming Thursday on Oct. 26 at Indian River High School in Dagsboro. There is also a public comment period that is open until Nov. 20. You can submit comments here by searching BOEM-2023-0050 in the search bar and clicking "comment".