In what has to be the clearest indication that the ‘Nasty 90s’ have given way to Age of Aquarius, in Beasley’s Point, New Jersey, not far from Atlantic City, the owners of a power plant want to take out a golf course and put in a solar farm.

The Age of Aquarius, in astrology, dominates electricity, computers, flight, democracy, freedom, and humanitarianism. The power plant in question, B.L. England, sits on 26 acres of land, part of which is currently devoted to a nine-hole golf course.

The B.L. England plant, 447 megawatts of coal-fired generation, was purchased by Rockland Capital Energy Investments, LLC, (through its affiliate, RC Cape May Holdings, LLC) from Atlantic City Electric Co. in February of 2007. At the time of purchase, the plant – which serves residents of central and southern New Jersey – was subject to pollution control standards through the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

B.L. England, a merchant plant rather than a public utility, serves the eastern PJM portion of the national grid. The PJM is a regional transmission organization, or RTO, which feeds into the Eastern Interconnection, which serves residents of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The B.L. England plant currently runs only during peak demand periods, and is scheduled for a $130-million upgrade which will add a sulfur dioxide scrubber on Unit 1 in 2012. In the meantime, with cap-and-trade looming, plant owners may be looking for an emissions offset. Of course, that’s not the story playing out in the news, but PR “greenspin” always plays out better than dirty coal stories.

The solar array, which would be one of New Jersey’s largest, would provide less than one percent of the plant’s generating capacity, or enough to power 4,000 homes, according to Cape May spokesman Stephen Ross, who describes the project as “leading the way on New Jersey green energy”.

The golf course, a favorite among the region’s golfers for its combination of long and short holes, is run by B.L. England employees, who enjoy discounts on greens fees. Most will be upset by its loss, and one – who says he likes the idea of solar power – still wishes Cape May would pick another location, proving that the NIMBY factor is still alive and well in America.

In addition to the solar farm, Cape May plans to add nature trails and a park-like setting, and invite schools to tour the facility, which would have been a series of wind turbines if wind were a more effective electrical generator and the towers not so obtrusive.

The solar array will stand about 10 feet off the ground on what are apparently single-axis trackers to allow even more solar radiation capture, and Cape May will plant a screen of trees around the array to protect it from view by drivers on Route 9 and those living close to the golf course.

According to Ross, the proposal still requires local and state approvals, including a coastal permit (the golf course sits less than a thousand feet from the Atlantic). Construction is anticipated in 2010.