Subsidies for developers needed, state says, to boost green energy
File photo: Rooftop solar panels at Newark Liberty International Airport
By Tom Johnson, NJ Spotlight
State regulators on Wednesday formally adopted a new solar incentive program with the aim of developing 3,750 megawatts of new solar generation by 2026, a target that would double New Jersey’s solar capacity.
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Joseph Fiordaliso described the new program, approved after three years of discussion and debate with executives in the solar sector, as a monumental change and one that will help advance the Murphy administration’s goal of 100% clean energy by mid-century.
Solar energy is one of the cornerstones of that strategy and is projected to provide 34% of New Jersey’s electricity by 2050. Once the new program is fully implemented, solar energy is expected to generate roughly 10% of New Jersey’s electricity needs, up from a little more than 5% currently.
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In unanimously approving the new program, the BPU touted the incentives — markedly lower than the past subsidies, which were frequently criticized as overpaying for new projects — as minimizing the cost to ratepayers at the same time as encouraging growth in the solar sector.
The sector, once one of the fastest-growing industries in New Jersey, now employs 5,384 in the state, a drop from a high that once topped 7,000 workers. Solar advocates hope the increased number of solar projects expected to be built each year will maintain a robust sector in the state.
Installing at a fast pace
Under the new program, 750 MW of new solar arrays are projected to be built each year, nearly double what has been built in the past. To get to those numbers, the state needs to expand the rate of installations, Fiordaliso said.
Whether the new incentives will rein in costs to ratepayers remains to be seen. The new program scraps key provisions of a cost cap imposed by the Legislature to reduce subsidies paid by utility customers.
“I do think the staff is trying to reel in the industry and reel in the prices,’’ said Rate Counsel Director Stefanie Brand, who argues revisions to the cap could raise the cost to ratepayers from $800 million to $1.2 billion a year. “I don’t think you can say this is really reducing costs.’’
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