SENATOR COLLINS SUCCESSFULLY SECURES $5 MILLION FOR UMAINE OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY PROJECT

House and Senate negotiators of the Fiscal Year 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bill have agreed to include Senator Susan Collins' request for $5 million for the Maine Offshore Wind Initiative at the University of Maine in the final version of the spending bill. Senator Collins, a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, successfully secured the funding in the Senate version of the bill. While the House version of the bill did not include the funding, Senator Collins' provision prevailed during final conference negotiations.

"The University of Maine is on track to become a national leader in offshore wind technology. I am delighted that the funding that I requested for UMaine's Deep Offshore Wind project is included in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The University has already made great strides in this research which has the potential to diversify Maine's energy supply, reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and create thousands of new jobs," said Senator Collins.

Maine is the ideal location for deepwater offshore wind research because the state has some of the strongest and most consistent winds in the nation off our shore. Deep, offshore wind production, out-of-sight from land, could provide an affordable source of renewable electricity directly to the country's population centers on each coast. In addition, it would diversify Maine's energy supply so that people could switch from using home heating oil to heat pumps, and it would create thousands of new jobs.

The House of Representatives approved the conference report on Friday. It must now receive final approval from the Senate.