Local officials took the lead role against a hike in energy costs Feb. 12 by meeting with a New Jersey Clean Energy Program representative.
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ENVIRONMENTAL MEETING STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• The next meeting Environmental Commission meeting will be Feb. 21 with Department of Public Work’s employee Kevin Terhune
• Energy efficiency walkthrough could cost between $3,000 to $5,000 says Board of Public Utilities
• About 20 municipalities statewide participate in the New Jersey Clean Energy Program
• Residents who receive their power from Rockland Electric can expect a rate increase of 17.3 percent
• Cresskill lawmakers met with clean energy representatives Feb. 12 following the BPU’s approval of the rate increase
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"Most importantly, [the goal] is to demonstrate to the community that resources are a valuable commodity and should not be wasted," said Council member Keith Brassel. "And in doing so, we can save tax dollars."
The meeting followed a Feb. 8 announcement from the Board of Public Utilities to increase the average energy cost per household by 17.3 percent. Residents serviced by Rockland Electric will pay an extra $18.02 a month as of June 1, 2008, according to BPU spokesman Doyal Siddell.
"Every homeowner is going to be hit in the pocket," said Environmental Commission member Harvey Meer, who attended the Feb. 12 presentation.
Representative Mark Loeser of the NJCEP delivered a general overview of NJCEP services, from offering basic energy-conserving tips to describing the alignment of solar panels. He also gave a laundry list of solar power programs available to municipalities: the Customer On-Site Renewable Energy Program, the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate Program and the CleanPower Choice Program.
Earlier in the year, Mayor Benedict Romeo indicated his interest to be "one of the first municipalities in the state to take advantage of some of their energy programs."
As many as 20 municipalities participate in the 5-year-old NJCEP, including Montclair, Princeton and Summit. Created by the BPU, the program promotes energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy by awarding financial incentives and programs to municipal, residential and commercial customers.
"When you think of what a community has to pay, the [Cresskill] community has pay over $88,000 a year for street lights," Brassel said.
Brassel said that he supports conducting an energy audit of all municipal buildings. First, the borough selects an outside vendor to perform an inventory of the municipality’s fuel and power operations. Once completed, he continued, the vendor then makes recommendations to reduce energy consumption.
The cost to the borough for a walkthrough level audit ranges from $3,000 to $5,000, confirmed the BPU spokesman.
Although NJCEP boasts an extensive list of solar programs, Brassel indicated that the idea might take a back seat until the state further develops its programs for municipalities. "It’s still in the development phase and ever changing," he said.
But in the meantime, Meer said that simple energy conservation practices "really gives you the most back to the buck."
"There are things that everyone can do easily like improving your insulation, changing fluorescent to incandescent light bulbs, putting in devices that would turn the lights off in the bathroom – things that don’t really don’t cost a lot of money," he said.
The next collaborative Environmental Commission is scheduled for Feb. 21 with Kevin Terhune of the Department of Public Works, Meer said.
"One of the collateral benefits [of the environmental effort] is that it can be a demonstration to regular homeowners to look into this themselves," the Environmental Commission member said.
Brassel agreed.
"We’re being a steward for the rest of people in the town."
E-mail: gonzalezso@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6711
