Photo Credit: Jim Maland/Boonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik & Associates
Because the Morris County Park Commission in Morristown, N.J. has been forced to do more with less, the engineering department continues to look to the sun to help the operating budget and avoid cutting services.
Mennen Sports Arena
The commission identified the Mennen Sports Arena as its highest energy-user in the park system. The facility consists of three ice-skating rinks. Rink 1 was completed in 1974, Rink 2 in 1985 and Rink 3 in 2002. Many energy savings have been achieved with the completion of the energy-efficient Rink 3 contract, which included some retrofit equipment upgrades to the other two rinks as well. The total energy bill in 2003, with all three rinks operating, was about $500,000. This cost of energy was about the same as that in the previous year with only two rinks in operation due to the retrofit upgrades. With a total annual energy bill in 2009 of approximately $810,000 (the increase mostly due to rate increases, not consumption), it was obvious more needed to be done to curb escalating costs. The commission worked diligently with the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders to reduce energy consumption and the cost to buy energy.
An Innovative Agreement
In 2008, the Freeholders--through the Morris County Improvement Authority (MCIA)--hired consultants who developed a scope of work and a Request for Proposals to respond to and prepare public bids for a regional-power purchase agreement (PPA). The concept was the first successful renewable-energy, public-private partnership in the state, and also the state’s first successful regional (county-wide) renewable-energy program.
