Borough Council Discourages Renewable Energy   Council makes switch to pollutant-free energy difficult By JASON BODNAR Burlington County Times PEMBERTON BOROUGH - Ina Cabanas wants to install solar panels on her home. State government, via rebate offers, provides an incentive for her to switch to the renewable and pollutant-free energy method. The Borough Council, however, isn't making it easy. The council passed an ordinance last month requiring residents who want to generate electricity from the sun or other nonstandard sources to pay the borough $3,500 up front to cover expected engineering costs. "It can't possibly cost this much," Cabanas said. "I think it's an unfair burden on me as a taxpayer in this community." Mayor F. Lyman Simpkins said the ordinance is not meant to discourage residents from switching to solar energy, although he admitted he did not want residents to switch, because that would drive up the price of electricity for others in the borough. Pemberton Borough is one of only 10 municipally operated electricity providers in the state and the only one in Burlington County. It purchases electricity wholesale through the Public Power Association of New Jersey and bills residents directly. "We bid on x number of kilowatts a year," Simpkins said. "If your kilowatts are down, say, 500,000, it won't be the same price per kilowatt." Simpkins said it will cost the borough about $3,500 to inspect a solar-powered home and connect it to the borough electric system. If the cost is less than $3,500, residents would get the remainder of their money back. If it is more, they would be responsible for the additional cost. "Engineers don't come cheap, and there are switches we're going to have to put on poles," Simpkins said. "There's a lot to this, more than just people putting solar panels on their homes." Representatives from several New Jersey companies that install solar panels on homes said they could not imagine the costs to be close to $3,500. "I'm shocked at that fee," said Jerry Sorgento, owner of New Age Solar LLC in Clarksburg. Both the state Department of Community Affairs and the state Board of Public Utilities said they have little control over what solar-energy fees a municipality can charge. That might soon change, said Barry Cinnamon, president of Akeena Solar, a California-based company that has an office in Clifton. "New Jersey will have to, within the next few years, pass a law to not unreasonably restrict solar energy," Cinnamon said. The state has already passed laws to encourage it. Since 2001, the Board of Public Utilities has offered residents up to 70 percent of the cost to install solar panels on their homes. Cabanas said she simply wants what the state is pushing: a cheaper, cleaner, more efficient way to power her home. "Why are they making it so difficult?" she asked. December 10, 2004 8:04 AM ©2004 Copyright Calkins Media, Inc. All rights reserved