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Mayor Discusses Bringing Windmill Power To Brick
By Keith Hagarty
As fuel and energy costs continue to rise, the idea of utilizing wind power is an option Brick should not overlook, according to Mayor Stephen Acropolis.
"What's it going to take: $4 a gallon or $5 a gallon for fuel?" Acropolis posed. "At some point we're going to have to look at other sources of renewable energy, and this might be one of them."
The idea for a windmill tower came about after a local business owner approached township officials to discuss the idea of erecting a tower on his property, and what regulations the town has in place for such a structure.
The proposed 125-foot windmill tower is about the same height as the wireless monopoles located at the rear of the municipal
Windmill Power To Brick
building and Police Department headquarters on Chambers Bridge Road.
Each blade on the windmill would be about a maximum of 50 feet long.
"Other townships are also looking into it," Acropolis said, noting similar interest by area towns such as Stafford and Ocean Gate.
In addition, the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) recently gave approval to a pilot project to erect about 70 windmills between three to 20 miles off the state's shores. The proposed windmill project is expected to produce enough energy to power 125,000 homes.
"I know this township looked at solar energy a couple of years ago and moved forward with it," said Acropolis. "But wind energy is a lot less expensive than solar."
The average construction cost of a windmill tower is about $225,000 per unit to install, with an approximate 6- to 7-year repayment period.
The windmill idea is still very much in the rudimentary phase, as Acropolis noted a clear set of guidelines and series of hearings would still be needed before any plans could be enacted.
"I'm not suggesting that we have them in people's backyards," he said. "I think these would probably right now be on commercial type properties in certain areas because if you don't meet certain wind-generation requirements, the state will not give you tax credits for them."
The mayor recommended the council and other town officials take a trip down to Atlantic City, where they have similar towers already standing for information gathering purposes.
"The windmill towers they have down there are about 350 feet high, so those are much, much larger than the ones we would be looking at," said Acropolis. "The planner (Michael Fowler) had some issues still with the aesthetics, but one of the things we're going to look to do is try and have a mediator look at clean energy."
Windmill energy is being utilized more and more across the nation, said Acropolis.
"I've seen them around the country," said Acropolis. "Anybody who's been out to the Palm Desert, they're big out there, and Texas now is very big into wind farms."
Rising fuel and energy costs are felt by everyone, said Acropolis, and Brick should be at the forefront of finding viable cost-saving and environmentally-conscious solutions, according to the mayor.
"We are looking a little more outside the box now when it comes to that," he said.
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