Area towns look to go "green"

MARLBORO — The township's utilities authority is looking to go green with the $8.5 million solar farms it's planning on Tennent and Harbor Roads.

The Township Council and the authority have signed off on an agreement that would allow a land swap through which the Marlboro Township Municipal Utilities Authority would receive a 10-acre tract neighboring the Tennent Road pump station to build one of the farms.

The township will receive an MTMUA-owned, 1-acre tract on Church Road. Authority Executive Director Peter Wersinger said the Board of Commissioners is expected to vote on awarding a contract for the project by this month and to vote on authorizing bonding for the purchase by fall.

He expected proposals from five to seven bidders to be turned in last week.

The $8.5 million price tag will be supported by a $2.4 million rebate from the Board of Public Utilities' Clean Energy program, Wersinger said. Wersinger said the two farms will power the pump station at Tennent Road and the authority's treatment plant on Harbor Road.

The "farms" will consist of 3 acres of 3- to 8-foot-high solar panels at the Tennent Road site, and roughly 1.5 acres of panels on Harbor Road, he said. The treatment plant on Harbor Road produces up to 554 million gallons annually, and the Tennent Road station pumps about 1.2 billion gallons a year.

Power costs at the authority increased from $330,000 three years ago to $460,000 this year, Wersinger said. He said the farms should generate as much as 1.35 million kilowatt hours — about a third of the authority's energy requirements.

The panels are guaranteed for a minimum of 25 years, he said.

"This will help stabilize costs, and it will have tremendous environmental benefits," said Wersinger, who added the projects could generate $200,000 in savings annually on electric bills alone.

He said environmental benefits include cutting greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

"To me, every dollar you keep in the residents' pockets is a good thing," said Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik about the township's support of the authority's plans. "If the water authority can keep rates lower, and they needed our help by swapping land to do that, I'm fully supportive of that."

Alesha Williams Boyd: (732) 308-7756; AWilliams@app.com

Compiled for Shore11 by Jim Shaffer