With a cold winter ahead,should residents use alternative energy sources instead?

Sept. 21, 2006
By JOSEPH M. DELEON News-Post Staff
jdeleon @ fredericknewspost . com

FREDERICK— Ever since Jeff Gilbert was a child, he has been fascinated by the nature of energy.
     On a stinging winter day, he would climb into the family car and marvel over how warm it was behind the panels of glass.
     That experience led him to a career as a mechanical engineer working with alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power.
     “Many people in solar were sitting on their surf boards wait ing for the wave,” he said Wednesday, comparing the growing solar industry to riding a swell. “About 10 years ago, I had a strong feeling the wave was on its way and now we're really moving.”
     Winter will be colder than usual between January and February, but snowfall will be below average, according to the 209th edition of the Hagerstown Town and Country Almanack.
     Long-range AccuWeather forecasts agree: The El Niño weather pattern will lead to colder temperatures for the northeastern United States and Midwest, and a milder winter for the West Coast.
     While a growing number of people are looking to alternative energy sources to heat their homes, most Maryland residents still rely on natural gas, heating oil or electricity.
     Just over half of Marylanders, more than 1 million households, heat their homes with natural gas, the most common heating fuel in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
     About 700,000 households use heating oil, 200,000 use electricity and about 600 rely on solar heating.

High-demand heating
Allen Staggers, spokesman for Allegheny Energy, said the company will have no problem meeting demand for electricity this winter.
     “The demand in the summer is higher than in the winter,” he said. “It wasn't always like that, but the growth of the commercial sector, and with so many new homes having central (heating), we see a growing demand in the winter.”
     Mr. Staggers said the demand for winter electricity could one day surpass summer use, but he did not know how long it might take.
     The demand for heating oil won't peak for a couple of months, but L.S. Fuels in Brunswick prepared for winter the same way they do every year. Trucks were inspected, drivers trained and fuel stocked.
     The company may sell more heating oil during rough winters, but it doesn't always help the bottom line.
     “Snow and freezing weather is extremely harsh on personnel and equipment,” dispatcher Rick Agoris said Wednesday. “You have folks who are getting worn out and equipment that breaks down.”
     Last year, the price of heating oil was about $2.57 per gallon, up more than 30 percent over the previous year. This year, the price has dropped more than 10 percent to about $2.27 per gallon.
     “We'll all keep our fingers crossed and say a prayer to avoid any hurricanes this year,” he said. “Because that had a huge effect on oil prices last year.”
     Jimmy Shifflett has worked for L.S. Fuels for more than 18 years. He delivered heating oil to a house on Upper College Terrace on Wednesday.
     A holly bush pricked his arms and legs as he pumped fuel into the reservoir.
     “Seems like there's always a holly or rose bush in the way,” he said. “But, I don't like it when it's cold and raining, it's miserable — all you can do is dress appropriately and work fast.”

From fire to solar
Firewood also does poorly in wet or icy conditions.
     Few people rely on firewood exclusively for heating, but Stewart Parker has since 1978.
     “Since I cut the wood myself and have a lot of it, it's been convenient for me,” he said. “And, working with the wood stove entertains me in the winter.”
     Mr. Parker, a cattle farmer in Johnsville, grows most of the wood himself, including oak, cherry, locust, hickory and ash.
     He cuts trees down months in advance because wood takes a long time to season — about four months for the sap to dry.
     He sells about 30 cords of wood each year at $140 per cord, but usually runs out by early October. A cord is a stack of wood 4 feet wide, 4 feet tall and 8 feet deep — enough to fill two full-sized pick up trucks.
     “I like working in the woods, but it's not my bread and butter,” Mr. Parker said. “I have never found it to be a good paying proposition.”
     For Mr. Gilbert, a partner at Jessup-based Chesapeake Wind & Solar, LLC, working with solar energy is his passion.
     He said business was slow when he helped start the company more than seven years ago.
     “We'd just jump up and down when we'd get one client, which was about one every three months,” Mr. Gilbert said. “We lived off credit cards and had lots of time to think about business strategy.”
     Now the company sells about one system every week — the industry has grown about 30 percent every year for the past decade.
     “The solar electric systems we install slow down the electric meter, and at times, it spins backwards,” he said. “But when the sun's not out, the system goes to sleep.”
     He's excited about a state program called Net Metering which allows residents to feed solar power back into the power grid.
     “It's like using the power grid as a bank account — sometimes you make a deposit, sometimes you make a withdrawal,” he said. “But, if you produce more than you consume over a year, they'll just smile and say thank you — they'll never send you a check.”