Fourth generation farm owners Mary Anne and Rick Peterman are among the residents of the Eastern Shore of Maryland who would profit from a proposed 50-turbine wind farm that could be the first built on the Delmarva Peninsula.
But the proposed $200 million Great Bay Wind Energy Center has been hit by a hurricane of political opposition. On the other side of the Bay, in Southern Maryland, elected officials complain that the whirling blades could interfere with radar at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and drive away defense contracting business.
Responding to these complaints, the Maryland General Assembly on Saturday put a 15 month hold on the construction of any large turbines in much of Maryland or the Chesapeake Bay.
