My Take: Playing to the crowd

It turns out that Delaware House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown was quick to register her opposition to the proposal after adjourning  a public meeting in her district.

The Speaker isn’t happy with the lack of details  on the  project near the Delaware City refinery, which is in its early stages in what could be a lengthy process.

Credit should go to the developer of the project,   knowing that he was stepping into the lion’s den. Delmarva Power was remiss in not sending a representative but knew it would face a tough crowd and in the whole scheme of things is a bit player.

The hastily called public meeting was tailor-made for opponents, who were not afraid to voice their objections, some on the shaky side. (Birds on migratory route striking a two- story data center in the shadow refinery towers is an example)

Based on the recent story from Spotlight Delaware, Minor-Brown was unaware of the New Castle County land use provision, which allows the first phase of the project to move forward if it meets other requirements. Laws can be changed was her response.

The  House Speaker, thanks to her position in government,  did not help combat  the  perception that the state is a difficult place to do business. Economic development officials in other states will put her comments on their bulletin board" as talking points.

Thankfully, other legislators are taking a more constructive route. Work is underway on legislation that recognizes Delaware's need to be part of the AI-driven  future, while protecting residential  ratepayers from subsidizing energy-guzzling projects. Other states are dealing with these issues, and the Speaker would be well served to monitor developments. 

Let's hope Minor-Brown's instant analysis can be replaced with a more studied approach. After all, she was able to complete  the "cat herding"  task of building consensus in a Delaware House populated by an increasing number of progressive legislators with varied agendas.  - Doug Rainey, chief content officer.