Community Relations
Fishermen's Energy is a private power distribution company that had the intentions to construct wind turbines miles off the coast of Atlantic City. As this company wanted to go through with their plans, they eventually failed because of many reasons. One of these several factors was their poor community relations. As of now, the development of this plan is currently not in effect.
Community relations is self explanatory: preserving the good relationship that a company has with the civilians in the areas it affects. As the construction may effect everyday life or even business of the area, community relations always has a strong impact on plans of construction.
As Fishermen's Energy decided to construct wind farms miles off the coast of Atlantic City, various issues arose. These issues consisted of needing approval of local residents to place the wind farm near their homes, needing the approval of fishermen who's fishing spots may be disrupted by the placement of the wind turbines, and the inability to keep a decent relationship with the community during every stage of the project.
There are several damaging issues to this plan, but the solutions to these problems are simple. All of the solutions relate to a better relationship between the company owners and the surrounding community. If these issues were to be resolved, there would be no issues under the general category of community relations. More information related to this general topic will be displayed explicitly throughout the webpage.
Notable Issues Facing Fishermen's Energy with Community Relations
- Approval from residents with view of the ocean is difficult because it could decrease the value of their properties.
- Many rich owners of beachfront properties highly value the ocean view from their homes.
- The placement of wind turbines near these properties could decrease the value of the properties.
- Disputes from fishermen who feel that the wind farm could disturb their fishing environment making their jobs harder and potentially less profitable.
- The placement of wind turbines in areas of high levels of fishing will hurt the fishing market.
- Trouble maintaining a good relationship with the community during the design, approval, and implementation stages of the project.
Potential Solutions to Notable Issues
- Build farm in location with less residency. Less people mean less complaints.
- Build farm in location where there is little/no fishing market.
- Disclose the most possible information with the community without compromising the project's progression.
- Address the concerns of the community and demonstrate/explain why those concerns are not to be worried about.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
The Fishermen's Energy offshore wind farm project is important to the community of Atlantic City and the community of New Jersey as a whole.
It has the potential to bring over 500 jobs to New Jersey. The areas of jobs could range from engineering jobs to steel manufacturing and even labor positions.
According to research by the Hughes Center at Stockton College, 76% of the community supported the offshore energy project in 2009. Over 75% of visitors said there would be no negative impact because of the farm, while 19% said they would come more often!
A panel conducted in August of 2010 showed that many of the civilians in the Atlantic City area support the development of wind power generation in the area. Dan Fatton, executive director of the Work Environment Council, is quoted saying “The science is clear. Climate change is real. Climate change is happening now, and we need to act now,” showing his support of wind energy.
DECREASE IN PROPERTY VALUE
Some residents disapprove of the construction of offshore wind turbines in Atlantic City because they believe turbine development will hinder their property value. According to Forbes, there is no correlation between offshore wind turbines and the value of beachfront properties. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the development of wind turbines may increase or decrease the value of a property, but wind energy has a long term effect on property owners by driving community economic development.
A study conducted by Hughes Center Stockton College on behalf of Fishermen's Energy, only 7% of the population disapproved of a wind farm being built 3 miles offshore of Atlantic City. This poll included residents and tourists of the area. It was also concluded from this poll that a vast majority of tourists said that it would make no difference to them whether they wanted to visit Atlantic City if there was an offshore wind farm present.
DEPLETION OF FISHERIES
There are more than 21,000 people employed by commercial fisheries in New Jersey and an annual economic impact on the State's economy of $590 million. Atlantic City is among the top 30 most important fishing ports in the United States. Many of these fisheries cut into the ocean floor which is in the vicinity of electric transmission cables. Many other fish like shellfish dredgers wouldn't be able to live in the vicinity of the wind farms because they could become entangled in the wind farm towers.
