"The project will provide enormous environmental and economic benefits," says Susan Bass Levin, chairman of the NJMC and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. "It will also set a precedent for the state's commitment to renewable energy. The Meadowlands has the infrastructure and history of regional cooperation to implement this."

To start things off, the NJMC will pursue construction of the 5 MW photovoltaic power system, or "solar energy farm." An internal report estimates that it will take 1.3 million sf of space to accommodate such a system, and NJMC officials say they are already scouting everything from existing roof space, parking lots and garages, to remediated landfills.

The commission also approved the creation of a Renewable Energy Task Force, which will spend the next year or so developing a master plan for the larger 20 MW plan. According to NJMC executive director Robert Ceberio, the task force will examine solar, tidal, wind, geothermal and other sources of energy. The NJMC already began, a number of years ago, to collect methane gas from the region's landfills, a portion of which has been fed into local utility pipelines or used as fuel to generate electricity.

Job creation is also part of the game plan. The initiative calls for the NJMC to work with other state agencies to attract related industries to the region--such as manufacturers of solar panels--or those involved in renewable energy R&D. "The economic benefits make our choice about bringing this industry to the Meadowlands an easy one," Bass Levin says.

Instant Insights /

UPDATE: Commission Launches Renewable Energy Initiative

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