Vol. 5, No. 9, September 2008
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The Energy Experiment
Rising energy costs have caused an economic slowdown. Energy supplies must be increased, but due to political opposition, offshore drilling has no immediate future in New Jersey.
Atlantic City has jumped out in front as New Jersey’s leader in alternative energy. The only urban wind farm in the world is located at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority Wastewater Treatment Facility. In addition to the windmills, the ACUA is powered by 2,700 solar panels spread among five arrays, but they do not have the ability to sell excess electricity back to the power company’s grid.
Producing electricity from renewable means is good for everyone; it’s also good to diversify energy sources. Yet too often, taxpayers and consumers do not see a benefit from the projects they have to pay for.
The Board of Public Utilities is prepared to fund New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm—possibly off the Atlantic City coast—with your hard-earned money. The funds are skimmed from electric bills through hidden fees like the “societal benefit fee” and the “non-utility generation fee.” If this is such a great idea, why aren’t private developers paying for it?
At the Convention Center, Pepco Energy is installing a system to provide 26 percent of the center’s electricity. The solar array has the ability to sell unused energy back to the electric company for public use and will be the nation’s largest single-rooftop solar array. These solar and wind projects are run by county and state agencies.
Republican John McQueen is the only mayoral candidate campaigning on alternative fuels. What distinguishes McQueen is that he is friendly to the green in our wallets. He began studying alternative energy during the energy crisis of the 1970s. “If America had been committed to energy solutions since the ’70s,” he says, “we would not be paying $4 dollars a gallon. Atlantic City is only 48 blocks long. Why are there SUVs to transport a single government employee?”
The ACUA buys biodiesel fuel from Woodruff Energy in Bridgeton, which buys its supply from the West Coast. McQueen says local biodiesel production would generate up to $3 million for city coffers. The fuel would be used in government vehicles and sold to both neighboring communities and the county.
Geothermal power stations and harnessing ocean wave power are more alternatives that have not been explored. Alternative energy should be developed but citizens should not be forced to pay for it. Let developers like Pepco pay for these green technology projects and make money back from their own investments.
It was government that prevented the creation of new nuclear plants, oil refineries and drilling over the past 30 years. Government regulations got us into today’s energy shortage. And government energy policy is yet another example of political elites being out of touch with you and me.
So go green! Let innovation flourish and alternative energy solutions be explored. Just stop forcing taxpayers to fund these alternative energy experiments.
