Nov 11, 2008 4:00 pm US/Eastern
EnergyWatch: Ocean City Goes Solar
OCEAN CITY, N.J. (CBS 3) ―
Everyone loves a sunny summer day on the Ocean City beach. Now the sun is saving Ocean City big money year-round, thanks to 2,000 new solar panels.
"I think the solar panel project is great," said resident Kathy Zeigenfus. "I just heard about the Pope putting them in at the Vatican."
And if saving the planet is good enough for the Pope, why not at the Jersey shore?
"The beauty of it is, it's not costing the city anything," said Jim Rutala, Ocean City's business administrator.
A grant from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, as well as tax credits from the company that installed the panels, financed the $4 million project. Now the library, fire headquarters, public works, and fleet maintenance buildings are converting the sun's rays into electricity.
"It allows us to rely less on foreign oil and be a leader in alternative energy," said Rutala.
The panels, which last 20 years, will save 900 barrels of oil annually. They'll save on electric bills, too. As Ocean City government buildings go solar, it could save the city $60,000 to $100,000 in electricity each year.
But city officials say boardwalk business and residents could soon find lower bills in the mailbox, if the nation's first offshore wind farm soon becomes a reality.
The proposed billion-dollar wind farm, with turbines barely visible 16 miles off New Jersey's coast, would provide electricity to every home in Atlantic County and some homes in Cape May County. The hundreds of jobs created could reenergize the local economy.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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