Progressive Democrats for Delaware Prepare For Lawsuit to Advance Offshore Wind

Dover, DE, March 31, 2008 — In an effort to ensure that Delaware’s proposed offshore wind power project, which was recommended by the Public Service Commission back in December, is not derailed and ultimately killed by backroom deal making, Progressive Democrats for Delaware announces the formation of a Litigation Advisory Committee to plan for future legal action against parties that have been acting in bad faith.

PDD spokesman Jason Scott said, “We hope it does not come to this, but there are a few people in the General Assembly who have shown through their actions that they are determined to frustrate the fair and open bid process that resulted in the selection of the offshore Blue Water Wind project.” Scott said that the efforts headed by State Senator Harris McDowell to force an outcome that kills the offshore wind power project are simply wrong.

“Delawareans will not stand for it,” Scott added. “Delaware is overwhelmingly in favor of this project, and it is not hyperbole to say that every man, woman, and child in Delaware is being negatively impacted by this obstructionism. If it comes down to filing a class action suit, we believe that we will have an extremely large class of litigants.”

Scott points to State Senator Harris McDowell’s hearings, which were described as an “inquisition” that “put the PSC on trial” as prima facie evidence that certain members of the General Assembly are not acting in good faith.

“Everyone knows that we have a significant open-government problem here in Delaware, and the way this wind project is being handled behind closed doors in secret breakfast meetings is a classic example,” said Scott. “Basically, we want to be prepared to take this to the courts if the General Assembly fails to do its job and allows a determined few to frustrate the will of the people of Delaware by killing this project.”

House Concurrent Resolution 38, which would get the deal done, has enough sponsors to pass in the House, but hasn’t yet come up for a vote.

On December 10, 2006, The Public Service Commission found that, “Bluewater’s project is a cost-effective mechanism that takes control of Delaware’s energy needs and provides a price hedge against the unpredictable and volatile movement of the PJM market.”

The Progressive Democrats for Delaware are currently evaluating law firms that specialize in public interest law and looking at the possibility of calling for the Attorney General’s office to investigate the malfeasance of state Senators connected to Delmarva Power.

About – Progressive Democrats for Delaware is a grassroots, volunteer organization that is recognized by Democracy For America and the Delaware Democratic Party.

 

The press release was sent today.

The talking points that back up the claims in the press release that McDowell (Deluca, Copeland and Delmarva Power) were acting in bad faith are:

> As of March 5th, there was no record of Randall Speck’s hiring. There was no contract and no purchase order while Speck was performing the work McDowell hired him for, both of which are required by the State’s purchasing laws.

> Since March 5th McDowell has had three versions of who hired Speck; the Energy Committee, the leadership of the Senate, and the Democratic Caucus.

>McDowell has hired a court reporter to transcribe the tapes from the hearings. At around $4 per page with hundreds of pages to transcribe this is another “off the books” expense.

The legal remedies being considered:

Ø Seeking a court order (writ of mandamus) to return the matter to the agencies basically ordering them to do what HB 6 instructed them to do.

Ø An appeal to the Attorney General’s office to undertake an investigation of McDowell and company.

Ø Class action. That being the least likely.

The bottom line is that if we could sue McDowell and Delmarva Power for being criminally stupid it would be a slam dunk. Unfortunately we can’t sue them for that.

Our desire is to keep the process moving forward. Nobody wants this to end up in the courts, but we want everyone to know that the Blue Water Project was selected by a fair and open process – and we will not go away quietly if that process is subverted by three State Senators who’s motives are suspect at best.