State also yanks from agenda its controversial plan to get the gas out of buildings
By Tom Johnson, NJ Spotlight
It wasn’t a good day Wednesday for advancing clean-energy goals at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
The state agency rejected proposed solar projects that would have generated more than 300 megawatts of electricity and it postponed action on a much-touted plan to begin electrifying buildings, the second-biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey.
The twin setbacks marked the latest turbulence encountered by the Murphy administration in aggressively pushing its goal to shift to a 100% clean-energy economy, an issue now facing the most sustained opposition of Gov. Phil Murphy’s first six years in office.
Denying approval of any of the solar projects proposed in the board’s initial competitive solar solicitation appears for now to be the more consequential action. The solicitation was developed by BPU staff to allow larger-scale solar installations of at least five megawatts to be built at a less expensive cost than much of the solar arrays, including those installed on single-family homes, built in the past.
The solicitation this past spring attracted plenty of interest, with developers seeking approval to build more than 300 megawatts, the goal set by the BPU. But all the projects exceeded confidential price caps set by the agency, leading the commissioners to reject them all.
BPU staff blamed regulatory uncertainty and cost increases as factors in the solar developers failing to come under the price caps, which have never been made public and kept private even from the developers seeking approval for their projects.
The four commissioners (one was absent) unanimously approved the staff recommendation without any comment or debate. A second solicitation is now projected to be held this October and the board will look at revising their assumptions, according to a board order.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable,’’ said Fred DeSanti, executive director of the New Jersey Solar Energy Coalition. “Unless they bother to revise the price caps, why bother? To reject all 300 mw is to say their modeling is better than the markets.’’
Lyle Rawling, founder and president of Advanced Solar Products in Flemington, called the solicitation a “big setback.’’
It is difficult to assess blame, Rawling said, because of the confidential nature of the price caps. “We don’t know whether the industry blew it or the BPU. We can’t work on the problem until we know where it came from,’’ Rawling said.
In deferring action on a building decarbonization plan, BPU President Joseph Fiordaliso said there had been a lot of input on the proposal from stakeholders, and the board wanted it all to be considered. The proposal was only unveiled early last month.
Fiordaliso said the issue would be taken up at a later board meeting, but some sources suggested it could be voted on at the board’s next meeting later this month. The plan is opposed by the state Division of Rate Counsel, legislators and some business lobbyists.
If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
