Bruce MacLeod

CAPE MAY - Bruce MacLeod, the city's chief financial officer said the city is seriously looking at ways for wind turbines to power Cape May's desalination plant and wells which would save the city $225,000 per year or more.

The desal plant uses $215,000 to $225,000 in electricity while well pumps that feed the system use another $50,000 in power, he said.

MacLeod spoke to a May 16 Taxpayers Association of Cape May meeting. He said the city's Energy Committee has been researching solar and wind power for a year and a half.
MacLeod said when he first joined the committee he was trying to decide if environmental issues or energy costs would drive their work.

“The two are so closely related because one benefits the other and vice versa,” said MacLeod. “You are going to have to invest to get the environmental benefit and hopefully by doing that you also save money in the end.”
Another possible location for wind turbines is behind Cape May Elementary School, he said.

The city would hire a professional to determine how many wind turbines would be needed and how large the units should be to power the desal plant and wells, said MacLeod. Since wind does not blow every day, it would not supply 100 percent of power needs, he said.

As reported in last week's Herald, a 30-meter tall mast equipped with an anemometer to measure wind speeds will be constructed in the next two weeks in the city's Public Works Yard to test the site as a possible location for wind turbines.
City Manager Luciano V. Corea Jr. met with representatives of Fisherman's Energy of New Jersey L.L.C., (FERN) a developer of offshore wind turbines, which also advocates the use of wind turbines on land.
MacLeod said the U.S. Coast Guard base here has had a 350-foot tall tower in place measuring wind speeds since last July. He said the Coast Guard will share data with the city.

After a precise location and number of wind turbines needed for the city is determined, a bid process would begin.

The New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust has low interest loans available to municipalities for wind turbines for water/sewer operations, he said.

The city would need to determine if it should own wind turbines or sign a Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) and allow a private entity to construct the turbines which would give the desal plant a cheaper source of electricity.
If the city wishes to purchase, install and operate wind turbines, as an example, a 600-kilowatt turbine would produce a debt service of about $120,000 per year over 20 years. Operational costs would run $30,000 to $50,000 per year producing a total cost of $175,000 per year. said MacLeod.

“If we are currently paying $215,000, you can see there is the possibility for direct savings through an outright ownership position,” said MacLeod.

He said present regulations for developing wind and solar energy prevent building equipment that will produce more power than the project consumes. If three wind turbines were proposed for construction in the city's public works yard and it produced more than the desal plant consumed, it may not receive state approval, said MacLeod.

He said the city is also targeting lifeguard headquarters for solar panels to lower its electric bill that can run as high as $850 per month in summer.

Reading from an Atlantic City Electric bill, MacLeod noted the building consumed 4,818-kilowatt hours (KWH) at a cost of 18 cents per KWH. He said the city would hope to save 4 to 5 cents per KWH with solar energy.