Developer scraps Md. turbine project, blames politics 

Source: By Timothy B. Wheeler, Baltimore Sun • Posted: Wednesday, April 8, 2015

A 25-turbine wind project planned for Maryland’s Somerset County has been scrapped, with developers blaming unforeseen political obstacles.

Officials in the Eastern Shore community had welcomed the project, saying it would bring jobs to the state’s poorest county, but state lawmakers had concerns that the wind farm would interfere with a nearby naval air station.

The Maryland General Assembly is now considering legislation to permanently ban wind turbines from most of the Eastern Shore as well as a bill to allow Kent County officials to bar tall turbines.

Pioneer Green Energy informed Somerset County that it was pulling the 150-megawatt project, citing “unanticipated hurdles and roadblocks.”

“We … are truly saddened we cannot bring new investment, jobs and tax base” to Somerset County, company Vice President Adam Cohen wrote to county officials.

The $200 million project had been expected to generate at least $2 million in local taxes annually. But state lawmakers were concerned that the turbines would interfere with a specialized radar system at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River that is designed to test the stealth capability of aircraft.