Peter F. Boyce, Inventor     4416 Route 47, Delmont, NJ 08314     Peter@Giggawattz.com     609-501-3351

Testified March 2, 2010

To the State of New Jersey Office of Governor Chris Christie, Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno

and Red Tape Review Group Members: Senator Barbara Buono, Senator Steve Oroho, Assemblyman John Burzichelli, Assemblyman Scott Rumana, Acting DC Commissioner Lorri Grifa, and Acting DEP Commissioner Bob Martin

 

What is the Cost of Red Tape?

By N.J. Inventor Peter F Boyce

 

I am a member of OREC, Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition. and the inventor of an ocean wave power plant.  I began developing this technology as a result of the energy crisis of the 1970’s. In the 70s there was a popular grassroots mandate that America’s dependency on foreign energy was simply unacceptable. Legislation was passed on Federal, State and local levels encouraging the development of alternative energy resources. I embraced that mandate and committed all my hours and resources to inventing an efficient means of harnessing and converting the power of the ocean waves into electricity. After years of struggle and personal expense I was finally granted the patent on a wave energy power plant which:

             1) is capable of generating $1.3 Billion worth of clean renewable energy annually from modest waves along New Jersey’s 140 miles of coast.

             2) Pay for itself in 1 to 2 years.

             3) Reverse beach erosion / replenishing NJ’s beaches as a by-product of wave energy extraction thereby saving many millions of federal and state tax dollars annually spent on beach replenishment projects.

             4) Secure the tourism based economies of New Jersey’s coastal towns.

 

I was only 30 then and so naïve as to think the battle had been won. Little did I know that 30 years later I would still be treading water in an ocean of red tape. After 30 years of writing, meeting and presenting to:

 

a) The New Jersey Dept. of Energy (when there was one)

b) Every Governor since the Kean Admin.

c) Assemblymen, Senators and Congressmen

d) The Army Corps of Engineers

e) The Dept of Fish and Wildlife

f)  The DEP

g) The Bureau of Coastal Engineering Research and Development

h) The Dept. of Energy

i) City Councils, etc.

 

I’ve shown the Cape May City Energy Commission how their entire municipal budget of 13 million dollars can be carried by the wave energy along their 2.5 miles of coast, enabling them to eliminate property taxes in Cape May.  After 30 years I have still not yet even gotten permission to test the system on one of the many deserted stretches of beach along the Delaware Bay where towns used to exist that have long since been swallowed up by erosion.

 

What is the Cost of Red Tape to the people of New Jersey?

Answer:  What is 30 years x $1.3 Billion per Year?

Answer:  How many millions of tax dollars have been spent over the last 30 years on beach replenishment projects?

Answer: How many jobs would have been created not only by manufacturing the units for New Jersey but for export?

 

This is my story but I am only one inventor in New Jersey. There are others.  I dare say if Edison were alive today, he would be standing here telling you a similar story about some strange thing called a light bulb and years of struggle to get permission to set up an electrical grid.

 

We’ve heard about the problem; what is the solution?   On behalf of all the inventors who belong to OREC Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition, I plead with you:

 

There are presently 12 or 13 different agencies and departments claiming some jurisdiction over the use of the coastal waters. For such a new technology as wave energy conversion, this maze of beauracracy and apprehension over the unknown by those agencies amounts to an insurmountable obstacle for this technology. New Jersey, the home of Thomas Edison is being left behind Portugal, Australia, Ireland, Scotland and others. Our recommendation is to please: Streamline the process of getting permission to deploy these devices. Even if the State were to give no funding, at least don’t hamstring innovation. Please establish one department, perhaps even restore the New Jersey Department of Energy and give that Department the authority to cut through all this red tape when it comes to harnessing New Jersey’s’ wave energy. There is presently no comprehensive policy providing for harnessing of that $1.3 billion worth of wave energy. The inventors of New Jersey commend Governor Christi and this Red Tape Review Group.  We are counting on you to let us out of the box we have been in for far too long.