EnviroPolitics Blog

NJ Gov. Sherrill launches new nuclear energy process

From the Office of the Governor
TRENTON – Governor Sherrill today signed the Power NJ Act launching the state’s procurement process for new nuclear energy that will help New Jersey meet its growing energy needs. The bill will establish a transparent, competitive process by the NJBPU and NJEDA to evaluate proposals and ensure any project is the best investment for New Jersey ratepayers. The bill passed both houses of the Legislature unanimously with strong bipartisan support. A summary of the bill is below.

“The decisions we make today will determine the future we leave our kids, so we are putting New Jersey on a path to an affordable and secure energy future,” said Governor Mikie Sherrill. “I am excited to launch our state’s process to procure new, advanced nuclear power that will provide clean, reliable energy at scale for generations to come and meet our growing energy demands – from powering our small businesses, schools, and hospitals, to strengthening grid capacity and reliability for extreme weather that is becoming unfortunately all too frequent.”

Additionally, the bill sets strong safeguards for ratepayers – including assuring that they won’t bear any costs until a project is built and supplying energy, nor be responsible for cost overruns.

Other safeguards include:

Requiring projects to secure federal financing, shifting the risk away from New Jersey ratepayers;
Requiring any project provide a net benefit to ratepayers;
Requiring at least two separate public comment periods and a public hearing in any proposed municipality;
Requiring NJBPU and NJEDA to take into account independent assessments by the Division of Rate Counsel to ensure ratepayers’ interests remain central at every step.

Nuclear energy currently provides over 40 percent of the state’s total energy and represents over 80 percent of the state’s clean energy supply. Nuclear energy plants also provide unparalleled efficiency, with sites operating consistently at 90-95 percent capacity.

Read the full text here

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N.J. American Water expands as $63 billion merger looms

New Jersey American Water expands with 2 acquisitions

The proposed deal would create one of the largest public utilities in the country.Canva image

By Lia Opperman | NJ.com

New Jersey American Water is expanding its footprint in the Garden State after completing acquisitions of two local utility systems in Sussex and Mercer counties.

The company finalized its purchase of Montague Sewer & Water Co. on June 1, adding about 810 water and 270 wastewater customer connections as part of a $315 million multi-state deal by its parent company, officials said.

On June 30, the utility closed a $6.4 million acquisition of the Hopewell Borough water system, adding about 930 new water customers. The deal followed a 2025 voter referendum and a subsequent approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

As part of the Hopewell agreement, the water company has committed to investing $7 million in infrastructure upgrades over the next five years and retiring a local well affected by elevated levels of PFAS, a group of so-called “forever chemicals.”

Full article here.

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Poland’s first offshore wind farm begins generating power

From Notes from Poland

Poland’s first offshore wind farm has begun to deliver electricity. Once complete, the facility, known as Baltic Power, will generate 4 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually, enough to meet around 3% of Poland’s demand, powering the equivalent of 1.5 million homes.

The project is part of ambitious plans by Poland to develop wind farms along its Baltic Sea coastline. The government aims for around a fifth of the country’s electricity to come from offshore wind by 2040, as Poland moves away from reliance on coal and towards renewables and nuclear.

“This is a technological victory for all those who believed that Poland could be among the leading countries in modern energy,” declared Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a ceremony announcing the first electricity from the Baltic Power facility.

He said that offshore wind is a “key element of our energy security and sovereignty” because it provides power that is “independent of geopolitical turbulence in these highly uncertain times.”

Tusk noted that the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when Poland and other EU countries stopped importing Russian gas and oil, and the current crisis in the Middle East, which has prevented oil and gas exports from the region, highlight how important it is to have a diverse energy mix.

Full article here

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Meet the NY team tracking abandoned oil and gas wells

DEC Delivers Banner - Stay Connected with Your Environment

DEC’s Division of Mineral Resources is Plugging Hundreds of Abandoned Wells Across New York State

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today released the latest episode of “DEC Does What?!”, a podcast that features conversations with DEC experts about the agency’s wide-ranging efforts to protect New Yorkers and the environment. Episode 36 spotlights the work of DEC’s Division of Mineral Resources to address the threats that unplugged oil and gas wells have on the environment and public safety across New York State.

Approximately 35,000 orphaned wells are estimated to exist in New York State, many drilled and abandoned before the existence of DEC or modern environmental regulations. In this episode, hosts DEC Chief of Staff and Deputy Commissioner for Equity and Justice Adriana Espinoza and Region 4 Director Sean Mahar talk with Grace Gallagher and Nathan Graber from DEC’s Oil and Gas Compliance Enforcement Section about New York State’s progress to identify, prioritize, and plug abandoned wells. They’ll cover how drone technology helps locate high priority orphaned gas wells leaking methane into the environment and ways DEC engages with New Yorkers to search for abandoned wells on their property.

Grace and Nathan also share memorable well-plugging projects they were involved with, including an orphaned well leaking gas and vegetation-killing brine in Rome, Oneida County, and two abandoned wells drilled in the 1870s for a now-demolished hotel located on an island on the Susquehanna River in Tioga County.

Experts from DEC’s Division of Mineral Resources were previously featured in episode 25 (“From Pit to Park: Reclaiming New York’s Mined Lands”), which discussed the essential role of minerals in New York State’s economy and how the agency oversees the mining industry to ensure the protection of natural resources.

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Black Bass Season is Just Around the Corner!

The fish bite is picking up with the warmer summer weather arriving just in time for the largemouth bass and smallmouth bass season opener on June 15. From the beginner to novice angler, bass are a fun and exciting fish to pursue and can be caught in numerous waters across New York State.

Check out fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass to get tips on how to catch, effective gear and technique combinations to use, and where to fish. In addition, be sure to review both the statewide fishing regulations and any special fishing regulations for specific waters before venturing out. Good luck!

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Is Gov. Sherrill turning the NJDEP into the Department of Expedited Permits?

By Jeff Tittel in The Jersey Vindicator

There are some things you see online that make you laugh because they are obviously satire. Then there are things so bizarre that you assume they must be from The Onion.

Recently, one of those moments came from an official social media post featuring New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Ed Potosnak recruiting people to help implement Governor Sherrill’s permitting agenda.

The message might as well have said: “Uncle Ed Wants You! Help Turn the Department of Environmental Protection into the Department of Expedited Permits.”

Or perhaps more accurately: “Join the Department of Excess Pollution, Overdevelopment, and Rubber-Stamp Approvals.”

The irony is almost too much to believe.

Many people thought the post was a joke. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

What makes it even more troubling is that Commissioner Potosnak previously served as executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, an organization that historically opposed permit fast-tracking, environmental rollbacks, and weakening public oversight.

Today, he is implementing many of the very policies environmental advocates spent years fighting against.

As the old song from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas goes: “Ooh, I love to dance a little sidestep. Now they see me, now they don’t, I’ve come and gone and…”

That lyric increasingly sounds like the theme song of New Jersey environmental policy or “the act of an environmental contortionist.”

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