I'm re-posting this from Monday. That morning, one of the busiest days in the Senate, the Democratic leadership granted Blue Jersey a significant amount of time for this interview. It was overshadowed by the tragic events that evening, but the remarks by Senators Sweeney and Weinberg set the stage for the new session, ahead.
This morning, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and incoming Majority Leader Senator Loretta Weinberg took time out of their busy day to give Blue Jersey readers an exclusive interview. They talked about the accomplishments of the last session, goals for the new session (which starts tomorrow), the new initiative for marriage equality, jobs, energy, and the recent controversies about residency requirements in the last legislative election.
"When you come to a fork in the road....Take it." - Montclair NJ native Yogi Berra
"We are the victim of our own success." - New Jersey Senator Bob Smith (D-Piscataway) testifying today before the Assembly Telecom & Utilities Committee supporting legislation on solar power
"[Today's proposed legislation] would have a devastating impact on the economy of the state." - Stephanie Brand - Director of the NJ Division of Rate Counsel
We have come to a fork in the road with regard to the deployment of solar energy in New Jersey. Today, Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset) and his Telecom & Utilities Committee took a big step in deciding which path to take.
More, including an interview with Assemblyman Chivukula, after the fold...
As reported by Tom Johnson of NJ Spotlight, Hal Bozarth, executive director of the Chemical Council of New Jersey and an opponent of offshore wind development recently said,
"Without big federal subsidies, you cannot make wind power affordable."
That's a lot of chutzpah from someone whose industry receives big federal subsidies.
His statement was in response to NRG Energy's withdrawal from the offshore wind business in New Jersey. NRG's rationale was the uncertain regulatory climate and the lack of subsidies for offshore wind developers.
How hypocritical that Bozarth is opposed to subsidies for this clean technology. After all, the oil and gas industries, on which Bozarth's members depend, have received government subsidies for decades. And the taxpayer has been repeatedly called upon to spend billions to clean up oil, gas, and chemical spills and to pay for health care due to chemical pollution of the atmosphere.
When the history books (or e-books) are written about the twentieth century, one of its legacies will be the impact that we inflicted on the air, water, and forests around the world. And when the history of the first decades of the twenty-first century is documented, it will either describe mankind's universal effort to stem the damage, or the irreversible downward slope that we embarked on that will fundamentally change life as we know it.
Protection of the environment has always been challenged - by "progress", by perceived job creation, and by luddites who refuse to believe established scientific facts.
New Jersey has within it a microcosm of these debates. Businesses that have investments in dirty technology downplay the environmental effects to maximize short term profits. Politicians who benefit from the contributions of these businesses contend that any regulation automatically means loss of jobs.
The New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club has been a voice in Trenton for protection of the environment. I spoke with their Director, Jeff Tittel, earlier today.
In the first part of the interview (below the fold), Tittel talks about some of the issues and challenges being debated in Trenton, including hydraulic fracturing, the Governor's abandonment of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, renewable energy such as solar and wind, and the impact of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant and other factors in the Barnegat Bay.
When we flip on a light switch in our homes, few of us think about the ramifications. Electricity is relatively cheap, so we don’t think of the cost. Most of the time it’s available on demand, so we don’t think about reliability or distribution, and since we don’t see the pollution that resulted from its production, we don’t usually think about the environment. We just flip on the switch, and there’s light.
But at times, we’re all aware of some of the problems and pitfalls in lighting and heating our homes. We experience power outages, usually attributable to extreme weather. We gripe about our electricity bills, especially during the summer months when our air conditioners run non-stop. We see the environmental cost with dirty air from coal-burning plants and the ever-present threat of a Three Mile Island or Fukushima Daiiachi disaster in our back yard.
The paradigms about the generation and distribution of electrical power in New Jersey are shifting. It’s not just the move from reliance on dirty fossil fuels to clean energy sources. We also must take into account the need for energy storage to account for the time difference between when renewable energy is available (like solar during daylight hours) and when it is consumed (for example, at night or during overcast days.) We need to recognize that the generation of renewable energy is not done at a few large capital-intensive power plants, but is more of a geographically distributed entity, one which our transmission systems and regulations may not be optimized for. And we need to look into the future where electric vehicles will become more prevalent, resulting in more consumer demand for power in the home, and access to power-hungry recharging stations along the state’s thoroughfares.The cost of solar power is becoming lower than that of nuclear, and with the closing of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in 2019, a large chunk of the state’s indigenous generation capacity will need to be replaced. And a new player, geothermal energy, is becoming a viable way to heat and cool our homes (for more on geothermal, go to the 4:00 mark in the Chivukula video, below.)
Tax the wealthy. For one thing, they have money. They are the only people with money. And for another, it's not as if they don't reap any benefits from living in society. Wealthy people get sick - and can afford health care.
During the Depression, Roosevelt and Keynes saw that while business owners could hire people they wouldn't risk capital making widgets they were not optimistic that people would buy. In economic times such as these it is only the government that is both able and also willing to hire. That's why the austerity programs in Europe are backfiring. We need government programs.
What is the future of New Jersey? Will New Jersey continue to be the polluted view that people get from the Turnpike? Or will it be a clean, bright and innovative future that will make New Jerseyans proud. Governor Christie addressed this very topic in last week's State of the State. The governor referred to the "New Jersey of our youth", "setting a national example" and a "step in a very new direction". Now it us up to the governor and New Jerseyans ensure that is the right direction.
The Garden State's past has been checkered with pollution and dirty industry. [more below the fold]
It also has several provisions I championed, including tax relief for transit riders and to spur the use of solar energy.
Compared to the tax cuts for the rich and payroll tax issues, the solar energy energy bit is minor, but a description is in The Solar Home & Business Journal:
A bill that embodies the controversial tax-cut deal negotiated by President Obama's administration and Republican congressional leaders includes an extension of a Treasury Department grant program for solar energy installations...
The Treasury grant program has approved nearly 1,500 awards totaling more than $5.5 billion in payments, mostly for wind and solar electricity projects.
So far, the largest awards have been for wind projects, ranging up to about $218 million for a project in the state of Washington. Solar electricity projects have received the highest number of awards, with almost 1,200. Solar electricity awards have ranged from a few thousand dollars to about $62 million for a Florida Power & Light Co. project.
Basically, developers can get "cash back" instead of a 30% tax credit that often has little value, but if they didn't start construction by the end of the month they'd have been out of luck. The tendency to offer subsidies and then let expire, then bring them back, then expire, has really hurt the wind industry over the years. Indeed, solar energy stock prices are soaring, showing that the uncertainty was hurting them.
Hopefully besides encouraging solar energy, these grants will also encourage construction projects to start up now while people really need the jobs.
With Chris Christie spending most of this month out of state for GOP political trips - sometimes with a powerful GOP lobbyist along, sometimes getting in the face of people with questions - NJDSC produced a video primer of our Governor, with some of the things he might not be mentioning as he helps Republican candidates rake in the money in the days leading up to the November election. Here it is, called "Consequences of Christie. Does it tell the story?
Salem County, New Jersey, may be best known for farming but we are also the cutting edge of energy work, with ongoing projects to develop a new solar power plant and a new nuclear reactor. Which is better? The Energy Collective reports that a new study suggests that solar is the better bet:
It's no secret that the cost of producing photovoltaic cells (PV) has been dropping for years. A PV system today costs just 50 percent of what it did in 1998. Breakthroughs in technology and manufacturing combined with an increase in demand and production have caused the price of solar power to decline steadily. At the same time, estimated costs for building new nuclear power plants have ballooned.
Admittedly this Duke study is based on is a study of energy costs in North Carolina, and the authors plainly are advocating for solar energy. Still, nuclear plants have a record of turning into white elephants while chips have been getting cheaper and cheaper. I bet the main trends are the same here:
The plot (which you can click on) is taken from the study. Of course, nuclear has certain advantages (think nighttime) but this is an important development--encouraging for solar if depressing for nuclear. I also point to this quote from the study:
Employment in North Carolina has more to gain from investment in solar electric and solar water installations than from the same amount of investment in nuclear plant construction and operation - by a factor of three.
We are witnessing the Fossil Fuel Trifecta of Disaster.
Dec. 22, 2008, the Kingston Steam Plant fly ash pond broke, releasing 1.2 Billion gallons of toxic sludge from a coal plant and flooding the Clinch and Emery Rivers and 3000 acres near Kingston, Tennessee.
April 5, 2010, an accident killed 29 miners in the Upper Big Branch coal mine in Montcoal, W. Virginia.
Since April 20, for 56 Days and counting, 50,000 to 84,000 barrels per day, 2.8 Million to 4.7 Million barrels of oil has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon. If it hits the Gulf Stream we can expect tarballs from the Deepwater Horizon to wash up on the beaches of Daytona, the Outer Banks, the Jersey Shore, Coney Island, The Rockaways, Jones Beach, Fire Island, Nantucket, Cape Cod, all the way up the coast to Maine, Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland.
The questions are "When?" not "If?" and "How Much?"
Gov. Christie is talking the talk, but, is he walking the walk? That would not seem to be the case from his proposed $158 million cuts to the state's highly successful Clean Energy Program administered by the Board of Public Utilities and the zeroing out the $65 million in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) funds - raised in state auctions of unused quotas by companies to entities that 'pay to pollute.'
The cuts seem contrary to the Governor's plans to promote the state's clean energy industry. Take Petra Solar, for instance -hundreds of jobs created are testament to the importance of this program to help provide solar companies with seed capital.
Petra Solar manufactures and provides solar solution to utility companies, and other commercial and residential customers. By creating its own research and development, and manufacturing supply chain, Petra Solar has grown from a few employees at the beginning of 2009 to their current employee-base of roughly 113.
Solar Freeze & Blowing Off Wind
The $158 million cuts to the state's Clean Energy Program will create a Solar Freeze as no new projects will be funded for the rest of year 2010. Many wind projects that would have relied on seed capital from the BPU will be blown off as well.
And yet, in his policy statement on the energy statement below - Gov. Christie says:
The NJ coastline is optimal for installation of off-shore wind farms and we need to take steps to promote that industry... [snip]
As we do so, it has to be with the understanding that production of renewable energy is presently very expensive.
Raiding Ratepayer Funds Will Raise Energy Bills In The Future
Christie's actions belie his words. By raiding $158 million from the state's Clean Energy Program funded by the Societal Benefit Charge, he has taken away an important means to help ratepayers reduce their energy consumption by investing in the same energy-star appliances that he touts in his energy policy. A major part of the Societal Benefit Charge is dedicated to such energy efficiency programs for homes and businesses. Christie's raid will cause many grant applications to be denied in the upcoming year.
In his policy statement, Christie says:
To reduce the cost of energy, we have to reduce the consumption of energy. Focusing on increased efficiencies, will lead to increased energy savings. This is as simple as energy-efficient light bulbs, windows, insulation, and appliances. The cheapest power is the power we don't have to generate, distribute and deliver...
Corzine administration was the first New Jersey administration to take renewable energy and alternative energy economy to an all-time high with landmark initiatives and breakthrough legislations - Global Warming Response Act and Global Warming Solutions (RGGI) Funds, and the Energy Master Plan (EMP) goals to support the state's aggressive Clean Energy Program successfully administered by the BPU. I am proud to be a central part of all these initiatives - as an architect of the EMP, sponsor of RGGI Funds, and being Chairman of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee.
Did Christie want to wipe the slate clean by raiding funds from RGGI and the state's Clean Energy Program so he could resort to Christienomics when it comes to renewable energy? Aren't his plans, reinventing Corzine's policies as his own, so that his administration will get credit for New Jersey advancing as a green (renewable energy) economy? That would be contrary to the spirit of bipartisanship and would be contrary to the interest of the people? Can we afford to invest taxpayer dollars in the creation of Christieconomics?
The news agency Reuters reports that, while California may be the Golden State, it's New Jersey where U.S. residents get the best deal on their solar power systems.
A new survey by Global Solar Center , which endeavored to provide an "apples to apples" comparison for the cost of solar power in all 50 states, found that New Jersey had the fastest payback - 1.5 years - for residential solar systems, followed by New York and Delaware with paybacks of three and six years, respectively.
So what does that actually mean:
"To put this all in context, five years ago you couldn't find a state with less than a 10 or 15 year payback," said Hidary, who also is a board member of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He said the steep fall in solar panel prices and more government incentives have helped speed up the return on investing in a solar power system.
Going from a 15 year payback to 1.5 years is amazing progress.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has approved the construction of three out of 59 vital sewer system and drinking water infrastructure projects for the tri-county area made possible by the state's $840 million package of federal and state aid.
The first so far approved is Mount Laurel's Municipal Utility Authority, which is ready to initiate the bidding process on an estimated $5.3-million project that will put solar panels on the township's main wastewater pumping station and drinking water well off Ramblewood Parkway.
Because the project will be bonded with federal stimulus money, half the loan doesn't need to be repaid. The other half, borrowed at a low-market rate of 1.2 percent over 20 years (the most recent quote) through the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, means that the loan will virtually pay for itself in terms of energy savings over the course of the next eight years.
An additional $300,000 a year in RECs (renewable energy credits), sold to electricity supplier Public Service Enterprise Group to meet its state-mandated renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 22.5 percent by 2021 (2.12 percent of that strictly from solar), will be the icing on the cake.
Here's how it will work and how much they will save:
Power for the wastewater treatment station, which handles 20 percent of the municipality's wastewater, and the well - which provides about 15 percent of the drinking water - will be provided via a system of ground mounted solar panels delivering 529 kilowatts whose installation will save the community about $90,000 in electricity costs.
According to Mount Laurel's Municipal Utility Authority (MUA) Executive Director Pam Carolan, the use of the solar panels to provide electricity means that, over a year, the amount of electricity purchased from Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) will be zero.
And it's not just one town that is working to move in the direction of using more renewable energy for their services:
The project is only one of many in the works, as other municipalities and towns like Camden, Camden County, Deptford and Bordentown City consider their own sewer system and drinking water projects for solar upgrades's recent initiative to install solar power units on 200,000 utility poles in PSE&G's service territory, which includes New Jersey's six largest cities and roughly 300 rural and suburban communities - a project being billed as the largest pole-attached solar installation in the world - and you have a major case of greening that extends beyond the state's reputation for truck farms delivering produce to Pennsylvania to the west and New York to the north.
Most of the efforts so far are in California, New Jersey and Connecticut, states that offer generous incentives. Executives say they would like to convert many more. How quickly they can do so depends on government policy because retailers rely on tax incentives to offset the cost.
I'm sure that Governor Corzine and his policies had nothing to do with any of this development and increase in the use of solar energy. That's probably why we haven't seen releases praising these developments, merely statements that criticizing other areas. There's always more to do, but it's not like we're not doing anything in this state as people are being led to believe.
NJN devoted their first three segments of the news program last night to the energy debate in the Governor's race. Here is the video and then I'll discuss some of the highlights after:The first segment had Michael Aron covering Chris Christie's energy event. At the end of the segment, they showed Christie's SUV driving away from the event and said that he refused to take questions, what a surprise. Aron even noted that it's strange to see a candidate roll out a major policy plan and not be willing to talk about it. They interviewed the Solar trade association chief who said he thinks they need to hear something stronger than what they have heard.
The second segment covered Governor Corzine's energy event. Corzine said Christie's attacks are ridiculous. He said that NJ is installing and producing solar panels at a rate that is only surpassed by California, who is 5 times as big. Talking about Christie's attacks, the Governor called them:
A political massage of something that doesn't relate to the facts.
The third segment brought in the director of Sales and marketing for Sun Farm Network, Pam Frank. While she said she didn't want to take sides in the argument between Christie and Corzine, she says that NJ has been an undisputed leader in the clean energy agenda. She says in the last decade we've laid the foundation for what will be phenomenal growth in NJ. She talked about the potential for job creation in the industry, past what Christie argues in his plans. She wouldn't get into the differing statistics the campaigns are using, but said that NJ has done phenomenal work to lay a unique policy framework, really what she thinks is the only competitive market framework in the world for Solar energy.
So while Christie continues to complain, people in the industry and even Christie's own campaign co-chairs acknowledge that people are trying to model themselves after what New Jersey has already been doing.
Chris Christie released his energy plan yesterday and while we will certainly have time to look at the specifics, I wanted to point out a fundamental disagreement that Republican members of Congress and co-chairs of his own campaign have with the party standard bearer in NJ.
In announcing his plan, Christie tried to attack Corzine saying he hadn't done enough, while also trying to hook himself to the Obama train. But statements by Republican members of Congress, in justifying their support for the Energy legislation, stood in square opposition to the argument that Corzine hasn't helped New jersey lead the way. First Leonard Lance:
"The fact of the matter is New Jersey and the Northeast are well ahead of the curve on many of the key elements of the legislation before the House.
"Here at home, the state of New Jersey is already subject to limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the ten-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. And our state renewable portfolio standard is more aggressive than the federal program contained in the bill.
"New Jersey serves as a national model for its investments in new, clean energy technologies that have reduced greenhouse gas emissions and created thousands of jobs. I heard from a number of New Jersey's leading businesses that firmly believe today's legislation would strengthen our state economy through innovative and sustainable job creation. It is time for other states to follow New Jersey's leadership and do their share to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate development of low-carbon energy sources and green jobs."
Follow New Jersey's leadership he says. Maybe Lance needs to talk to Christie and bring him up to speed. Joining them in that conversation could be Congressman Frank LoBiondo, who also recognizes New Jersey's role, under the leadership of Governor Corzine in leading the way:
"This is by no means a perfect bill but, for New Jersey businesses and families, many of the federal standards that will be created are mirroring state standards long on the books. For the past decade, New Jersey has been forward-looking in its energy policy and sought to establish diverse, renewable alternative sources of energy to meet the state's needs. From the development of biofuels based on crop waste and planning for additional nuclear reactors, to building small and large-scale wind farms and countless solar panel projects, individuals and municipalities recognized opportunities and took action.
"In the process, new local businesses were founded and jobs were created in the emerging 'green industry' here in New Jersey. What must happen next is the growth of domestic manufacturing of the materials needed for alternative energy production, such as solar cells, wind turbines and environmentally-friendly buildings. This legislation rightly focuses on growing that manufacturing base, creating green jobs and finally establishing our energy independence. The positive effects will be felt nationally and here in South Jersey. These are objectives I have long believed and advocated for as part of a national energy policy."
And four of those ten years were under the leadership of Governor Corzine, who Chris Christie is criticizing. So Chris Christie supports the federal efforts by President Obama, which members of his own party say were modeled after the efforts of our state, under the leadership of the person he is criticizing in the process. This must be more Christie logic.
On the heels of Chris Christie putting out a video talking about his plans for energy, the Corzine campaign is out with a web ad showing some more contradictions for Christie. As the Corzine campaign puts it, he'll say anything and you can't believe any of it. Let's go to the video:
A coalition of New Jersey solar energy businesses, electrical contractors, independent electricians, and solar energy workers is urging Governor Jon Corzine to veto (A-3372), legislation that the group says will not only drive up costs for ratepayers, but cost the state hundreds of new green energy jobs as well.
In a press release, the coalition said the legislation imposes an "oppressive new mandate" on all renewable energy and energy efficiency installation projects in New Jersey, with the sole exception of residential projects, by mandating that state "prevailing wage" rates be paid to workers on all such projects.
Prevailing wages, the coalition says, are synonymous with union wage rates and "often forces businesses to hire union labor and sub-contractors at additional cost."
Oh the horror, paying people well. This is the argument for everything lately. It's amazing how businesses want people to buy their products, but then object to anything that would pay them enough to afford to buy. They go on to say why the Governor must act now:
This legislation must be vetoed by Governor Corzine. It is anti-solar because it will result in increasing the labor costs of solar by 180%. It contradicts the Governor's and Legislature's policies of growing solar and reducing global warming gases, " said Dennis Wilson, vice president in New Jersey for the Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Energy Industries Association, a trade group representing solar energy companies, manufacturers, and solar project developers in NJ, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
Anti-solar? What, the sun won't come out if workers get paid well? Does that mean it's pro-solar to remain on non union foreign produced oil, because that seems to be working so well. Or maybe they'd just like all the solar incentives and benefits with none of the requirements and regulations. I'm no expert, but with some heavy hitting sponsors in the Senate like Buono, Sweeney, Weinberg and Baroni, I can't see this one getting vetoed.
The Department of the Interior is holding the only East Coast public meeting and hearing on plans for offshore drilling Monday in daylong sessions at the Atlantic City Convention Center, and interest groups are mobilizing their members to show up and speak up.
Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar will present findings from the newest federal Minerals Management Service on the status of energy sources on the continental shelf, including wind and tidal generation and oil and natural gas exploration. New Jersey ocean environment groups and held their own event in Atlantic City Wednesday to call attention to the Monday meeting and urge the public to turn out.
Findings from the public meetings could shape a final decision by the Obama administration on whether to grant five-year leases on the outer continental shelf to energy companies.
There was bi-partisan representation at the Wednesday event:
"We don't want oil rigs along the coast and we can't accept the risk of oil spills in the ocean tides or on our beaches," said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., who was there with Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J. and Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both D?N.J.
A 5-Year Program consists of a schedule of oil and gas lease sales indicating the size, timing and location of proposed leasing activity the Secretary determines will best meet national energy needs for the five year period following its approval. An area must be included in the current 5-Year Program in order to be offered for leasing. Section 18 (132.38 KB PDF) of the OCS Lands Act (286.05 KB PDF) prescribes the major steps (17.68 KB PDF) involved in developing a 5-Year Program including extensive public comment steps. A 5-Year Program balances energy needs and environmental considerations.
At a recent meeting, Salazar said the report on Outer Continental Shelf energy resources found huge information gaps about the location and extent of offshore oil and gas resources.
"Along the Atlantic Coast, for example, the seismic data we have is twenty-five years old," he said. "How should we gather the information we currently lack about our offshore oil and gas resources? How do we manage the costs of gathering seismic data? Are there areas on the OCS that should be of priority for information collection?"
Can you guess from those questions how the Obama Administration hopes to frame the "discussion" that proceeds from the meeting in Atlantic City and other cities?
I'm not sure but, if I were an executive at ExxonMobil, I think I'd be a bit concerned.
Every fifth M& M candy that comes out of the Mars Snackfood US factory in Hackettstown will soon be made with solar energy.
That was the way Tom Marshall, a member of the town zoning board of adjustment, broke down the fact that 20 percent of the factory's power needs could be drawn from a "solar garden..."
Here's how they plan to make it happen:
Mars Snackfood plans to use 29,000 panels on 14 acres at its Hackettstown facility to generate 2 megawatts of electricity. As pitched to the zoning board, construction is expected to begin in April and conclude about August, said Marshall, from the zoning board.
The field of panels is planned behind the factory on Route 517 and far enough away that the closest residents would not see them, Marshall said.
"There's going to be very little disturbance," he said. "It's hard to imagine a project more environmentally sensitive than this use."
