Energy Exchange

New Jersey’s leaders pave the way for a clean energy future

By Jim Marston / Published: April 24, 2018

New Jersey’s legislature voted on two important bills last week related to the state’s energy future. One will boost clean energy like renewables and energy efficiency, create jobs, and cut pollution. The other subsidizes two nuclear plants indefinitely. Both bills passed. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) enthusiastically supported the clean energy bill, but withheld our support for the nuclear bailout.

New Jersey deserves a clean, healthy, and prosperous future, and we need a plan to make it happen. The clean energy bill is such a plan. The details may be complex, but the result is simple: It prepares the state for the inevitable retirement of nuclear plants by accelerating the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The nuclear bailout is flawed and wasteful. It should have been fixed. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Equity, Solar Energy / Read 2 Responses

Clean energy bill: A roadmap for New Jersey

By Mary Barber / Published: April 12, 2018

Today, New Jersey lawmakers will be voting on a “Clean Energy Bill,” a piece of legislation that can help the state transition to a 21^st-century clean energy economy, and set us on a path to becoming a national clean energy leader once again.

Gov. Phil Murphy’s pledge to source 100 percent of the state’s electricity from clean energy by 2050 points us in the right direction. But we need a roadmap to get there – one that will boost the state’s economy and reduce harmful pollution.

The clean energy bill paves the way to invest in clean energy – a critical step toward achieving a more resilient, healthier future for New Jerseyans. We can only move forward if elected officials vote for it, accelerating the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Electricity Pricing, Energy Efficiency, Solar Energy, Wind Energy / Comments are closed

These 4 environmental wins just proved that fighting back works

By EDF Blogs / Published: January 17, 2018

By Keith Gaby, Senior Communications Director – Climate, Health, and Political Affairs

It’s been almost a year of fighting President Donald Trump’s reckless environmental agenda. For those feeling exhausted by the idea of spending three more years facing these serious threats, it’s good to remember that we can win. In fact, in the last few weeks we’ve scored four significant victories for public health and smart energy policy.

A backwards energy plan is rejected

On January 8, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unanimously rejected a plan from Energy Secretary Rick Perry to waste money and pollute the air by protecting coal and nuclear plants from competition. Perry had claimed — without evidence — that his bloated plan was needed to provide energy resilience.

FERC made it clear that the proposal fell far short of unbiased, evidence-driven analysis. It was about politics, rather than resilience. Read More »

Posted in New Jersey / Tagged FERC | Comments are closed

New Jersey’s considering a nuclear bailout. Here’s why we don’t need it.

By Mary Barber / Published: December 12, 2017

BLOG UPDATE – DECEMBER 20, 2017

PSEG’s bill aimed at subsidizing its two aging nuclear power plants was passed out of New Jersey’s Senate Environment and Energy Committee and Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee today, December 20. If enacted, this customer-funded bailout would require all New Jersey electric customers to pay $300 million for an unlimited number of years to keep the plants in operation, adding an extra $40 a year to each customer’s electric bill.

The availability of low-carbon energy and local jobs are both legitimate reasons to be concerned about the premature retirement of New Jersey’s nuclear plants, but a customer-funded bailout is not the answer. A time-bounded zero-emissions credit, tailored to worker protections, community considerations, and a commitment to accelerate the adoption of clean energy should have been considered. Though PSEG admits these plants are profitable, the utility giant still hasn’t provided any documentation or analysis to show these facilities are in need of financial assistance.

December 12, 2017 – The New Jersey State legislature is entertaining a lame duck proposal by the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), the parent company of New Jersey’s largest utility, Public Service Gas & Electric (PSE&G) to subsidize two PSEG nuclear plants and to have it paid for by New Jersey electricity customers – in other words, a customer-funded bailout.

Also posted in Clean Energy, Utility Business Models / Read 2 Responses

New Jersey’s new governor campaigned on a robust clean energy plan. Let’s get started.

By Mary Barber / Published: November 16, 2017

The election of Phil Murphy as New Jersey’s next governor represents an opportunity for the state to adopt technologies that will make our electric grid more efficient and permit the integration of large amounts of renewable energy, as well as provide customers with the ability to better manage their energy use and save money.

The Governor-elect’s agenda includes a robust clean energy plan, including goals to power 1.5 million homes with offshore wind by 2030; add 600 MW of energy storage by 2021, and 2000 MW by 2030; and to increase energy-efficiency investment.

Governor-elect Murphy is well-positioned to achieve his goals, as New Jersey is abuzz with clean energy activity from both the public and private sectors. Here’s a sampling. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Energy Efficiency, Grid Modernization / Comments are closed

Managing Methane: New Jersey’s Largest Utility Using Better Data for Better Decisions

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 13, 2016

Data helps prioritize gas line replacement

By Simi Rose George and Virginia Palacios

A new method of prioritizing gas infrastructure improvements is resulting in faster reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey. Just over a year ago, we wrote about an order from the state’s Board of Public Utilities approving a settlement agreement for a $905 million, three-year pipe replacement program by PSE&G, New Jersey’s largest gas utility. This order, and the underlying settlement agreement were pioneering in one major aspect – PSE&G agreed to use environmental data to inform its infrastructure improvement efforts.

The order provided that the company would use data on leak flow rate (the speed at which methane is leaking from gas pipes) to help prioritize its local distribution pipe (“gas line”) replacement program. PSE&G is the first utility in the country to do so. The idea was that this data would be gathered by EDF as part of a collaborative project with Google Earth Outreach and Colorado State University through a survey of sections of PSE&G’s service territory targeted for gas line replacement. Read More »

Also posted in Climate, Data Access, Energy Efficiency, Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged technology | Comments are closed