The Red Bank Environmental Commission is making a push to get residents to enroll in a statewide program aimed at promoting the development of alternative energy sources, including wind and solar power.
As an enticement, the commission is giving away compact fluorescent lightbulbs, which are significantly less power-consuming than conventional incandescent bulbs.
The group has set an initial target goal of 100 borough households for enrollment in the CleanPower Choice program run by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. [When redbankgreen tried accessing the CleanPower Choice links in this story this morning, we failed, but the site may have been down for maintenance.]
Lynne Kennedy of McLaren Street is in the program, which requires a bit of faith in the The Man. Participating consumers select from a short list of alternative energy sources and then pay somewhere between $5 and $12 extra per month, money that’s used to buy energy from the alternative suppliers.
Kennedy opted for a plan that directs 75 percent of her extra payment to wind power and the rest to hydropower.
“I’m willing to sacrifice a little to make it happen,” she says, adding that she’s “mostly confident” that First Energy, owner of local electricity provider Jersey Central Power & Light, “is doing what they’e supposed to do” with the money. Likewise, she’s hoping that the BPU is providing necessary oversight.
“You really have to trust and hope that they’re doing the right thing with the money that we’re ‘donating,’” she says.
In an email exchange with environmental commission member Boris Kofman, we asked about the rationale for the program.
Is this really the best way to foster clean energy — making the consumers pay extra to encourage clean alternatives rather than having the BPU simply require utilities to buy a percentage from the windfarms etc?
It’s a way. These are not mutually exclusive. Under the new regulations, 20 percent of New Jersey’s electricity must come from renewable sources by 2020.
Kennedy, who drives a Prius to her job at an insurance company near Trenton, also switched to CFLs about eight months ago, replacing all but one of the incandescents in her apartment. So far, she says, she hasn’t noticed a big difference in her electricity bill, but that’s because she uses utility company Jersey Central Power & Light’s equal-payment plan, which smooths out seasonal spikes and drops by averaging usage over the year.
“It’ll probably be a year before I notice a reduction,” she says.
But neither has she seen any of the diminution of candlepower that some people complain of. (In fact, Kennedy gave her parents a package of the bulbs at Christmas; they later gave them back, saying the light they gave off was too dim.)
There’s also a “tiny, tiny” delay before light is evident after a CFL is switched on, Kennedy says, an insignificant change that she quickly got used to.
The upside, though, is that the bulbs, though they cost more than incandescents, use only a fraction of the power and last vastly longer. They typically save $30 or more over their lifetimes compared to incandescents.
From a press announcement sent out by he commission:
First, the catch. It will cost you a little more, probably $5-$10 extra per month. If reducing global warming is worth the extra cost to you, then keep reading.
Enrolling in this program (officially called CleanPower Choice) is really easy: you just fill out an on-line form. Nothing changes except that JCP&L will be sending your money to the clean power supplier you picked rather than those “dirty” power plants. JCP&L is still going to deliver electricity to your home and send you one bill, and nothing needs to be changed in your house.
To see the suppliers, go to the NJ BPU’s CleanPower Web site, or to the site of one of the four participating suppliers:
Green Mountain Energy Company
Jersey Atlantic Wind, LLC
Sterling Planet, Inc.
Community Energy, Inc.You can get a better idea of how much each option will cost you by plugging in your average monthly usage into the spreadsheet.
Regarding the CFL conversion (and ultimately a conversion to LED "thread in" replacements):
11W provides ~65W of incandescent light. ..An 83% savings.
My home bill went from high $100's in 2001 to > The "pro's":
Huge $ savings. I adopted the technology VERY early–paying a premium for the bulbs. The return on investment was realized within *FIVE months*.
** Consider the self-funding option before a long-term commitment to JCPL.
Normal replacement cycle is VERY long. 100,000 steady state hours advertised.
Bulbs run thermally cool. Your lampshades are less prone to "yellowing", etc. Safer for kids.
(!) You're deferring the construction of a new power plant.
>> The "con's":
$2.50 - $7 per bulb, versus $0.79 per incandescent.
Lights that are constantly switched–the CFL starters will fail sooner. Lights that are on a "motion sensor," for example will fail before the 100,000 hour rating.
Start up time is slow. Colder weather exacerbates the warm-up time. (..As said in the article).
You CANNOT use these on a SCR-switched dimmer. You will damage the starter and transformer.
They're physically larger. Some lamps–such as Tiffany-style — are a little challenging to find an incandescent replacement. So, lighting snobs (me) need consider this..
There will be a day–I hope soon–where incandescent lamps will be legislative phased-out.
Ken,
It was announced Wednesday that GE, Philips (two biggest bulb makers) and other producers have agreed to phase out conventional bulbs in the next 7 years.
It should appear in next month's energy bill when Congress submits it to the President.
If you sign up for the program or have any questions, please contact the Env. Commission at redbankec@gmail.com
Boris Kofman
Ken,
I'm not sure I totally understand your statement, "Consider the self-funding option before a long-term commitment to JCPL."
If you're comparing replacing incandescents vs. signing up for CleanPower Choice, those are not mutually exclusive options. CFLs are mostly about energy conservation (and saving $$ is a nice side benefit). On the other hand, by switching to a clean power supplier, you're reducing our dependence on the polluting power plants. Both actions are very important in dealing with the climate crisis.
Boris
my question here is where do you dispose of these bulbs once they eventually wear out? They should not be tossed into ordinary household trash since they do contain a tiny bit of mercury.
This is one of the downsides of compact fluorescent lightbulbs - the only place to dispose of them properly in Monmouth County is at the Hazardous Waste Facility in Tinton Falls.
Check this link for address and hours:
http://www.cook.rutgers.edu/~wastemgmt/countylist.html#monmouth
Here's what the EPA says:
http://energystar.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/energystar.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2573&p_created=1148316587&p_sid=mp37iKLi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NDUmcF9wcm9kcz0zMTUmcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PTEuMzE1JnBfY3Y9JnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1
Fortunately, disposing of your CFLs shouldn't be an issue for many years, and by that time there should be more places.
The Environmental Commission is happy to announce that we will be giving a free energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb to the first 200 households that pledge to replace at least 5 of your incandescent bulbs. All you have to do is sign a pledge card. We will have them available before and after the Candidates Forum, which takes place tomorrow night, Oct. 10, 7pm, at the River St. Commons. We hope to be at other events in the near future as well.
You can also sign the pledge online at http://energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.pledgeForm
Under "Which organization referred you here", select Red Bank Environmental Commission.
Then send email to RedBankEC@gmail.com, and we'll get the free bulb to you.
The bulbs were provided by NJ's Clean Energy Program. Red Bank is a CleanPower Community Partner. You'll find additional information about the program, including the list of retailers that are offering discounts here - http://www.njcleanenergy.com/misc/residential/change-light-2007
Remember that compact fluorescent lights contain mercury and need to be recycled properly. Most county recycling centers will take spent fluorescent lights.
Home Depot is stepping up to the plate! Now there's really no excuse not to recycle CFLs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/business/24recycling.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin