NJ concerned as solar energy industry flares out in PA

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that Pennsylvania’s solar-energy industry is “collapsing under the weight of its own good fortune.” 

“Spurred by hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state incentives, solar developers have built so many projects in recent years that they have created an oversupply of solar-energy credits, the market instruments that provide the developers with a critical income stream.

“The price of solar credits in the state has plummeted as much as 75 percent in the last year, dramatically shrinking the income-producing potential of new and existing solar projects.”

Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Ross (R., Chester County) expects today to introduce a legislative rescue for the industry that would increase the amount of solar energy that utilities must buy through 2015, propping up the price of solar credits. The bill also would close Pennsylvania’s solar markets to out-of-state producers. Developers here say cross-border imports of solar power are driving down prices in Pennsylvania.

Watching what has happened across the Delaware River–and charging that the Christie Administration’s ‘s foot dragging on a revised energy master plan had created perilous uncertainty in the market–New Jersey State Senator Bob Smith introduced legislation designed to prevent a similar fate for solar in the Garden State.

But at a hearing last week on the bill, numerous industry representatives noted that solar energy projects in New Jersey were still doing well–despite dropping prices for solar credits–and that the bill’s tinkering with long-term financing might not be necessary if the state Board of Public Utilities were required to extend programs for utility solar projects beyond their current 2016 expiration date. Most parties, however, agreed with Smith’s suggestion that the legislation be changed to establish a floor price for solar credits.

Have you installed solar on your business or home? Are you a solar installer?  We invite you to provide your opinion on the future of the solar industry in the response box. If one is not visible, click on the tiny ‘comments’ line below.
 
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Final two hearings on NJDEP public-access rules

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is taking public testimony today, May 23, 2011, on what it describes as “common sense rules that will improve and enhance public access to New Jersey’s beaches, bays and waterways through plans to be developed and implemented by municipalities and ultimately approved by the DEP.”
The proposed rule changes have turned out to be fairly controversial, with most business organizations in support but many environmental organizations opposed.
NJDEP has developed both a Fact Sheet and a Q&A to help guide you through the proposal.
Today’s hearing–the second in a series of four–starts at 1 p.m. at the Seaside Heights Borough Municipal Court House, 2nd floor courtroom, 116 Sherman Avenue, in Seaside Heights, N.J. 08751.
Fourth and final hearing on June 2
A final hearing on the proposed regulatory amendments is scheduled for 7 p.m., Thursday, June 2, 2011 in the Municipal Court Room of the Township of  Long Beach building at 6805 Long Beach Boulevard in Brant Beach, New Jersey  08008
 

Written comments may be submitted by June 3, 2011 to:

NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Gary Brower, Esq.
ATTN: DEP Docket No. 05-11-03
Office of Legal Affairs
Mail Code 401-04L
401 East State Street, 4th Floor
PO Box 402
Trenton, New Jersey 08625

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Rutgers profs try to warm Christie up on climate change

In our Friday post, Climate change, Governor Christie and the ‘birthers’, we mentioned that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who admits he’s not sure what to believe about climate change, had agreed to meet with university researchers who are convinced that global warming is a consequence of human activity and requires government action.

That meeting has taken place. The Christie Administration had no immediate comment following the informal May 17 session, but environment correspondent Ed Rodgers filed
this video report for NJN News.

_____________________________________________________________________________
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Climate change, Governor Christie and the ‘birthers’

New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie take note: USA TODAY thinks climate deniers and ‘birthers’ have a lot in common.

In an editorial today, the national newspaper opined:

“One way to deal with a problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist. This approach has the virtue of relieving you from having to come up with a solution, spend money or make tough choices. The downside, of course, is that leaky faucets and other problems rarely solve themselves and, in fact, usually get worse if ignored.

Such is the case with climate change, a threat that too many members of Congress, most of them Republicans, have decided to manage by denying the science. That head-in-the-sand approach avoids messy discussions of higher energy prices, but it just got harder to justify.
Late last week, the nation’s pre-eminent scientific advisory group, the National Research Council arm of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a report called “America’s Climate Choices.” As scientific reports go, its key findings were straightforward and unequivocal: “Climate change is occurring, is very likely caused primarily by human activities, and poses significant risks to humans and the environment.” Among those risks in the USA: more intense and frequent heat waves, threats to coastal communities from rising sea levels, and greater drying of the arid Southwest.
Coincidentally, USA TODAY’s Dan Vergano reported Monday, a statistics journal retracted a federally funded study that had become a touchstone among climate-change deniers. The retraction followed complaints of plagiarism and use of unreliable sources, such as Wikipedia.
Taken together, these developments ought to leave the deniers in the same position as the “birthers,” who continue to challenge President Obama’s American citizenship — a vocal minority that refuses to accept overwhelming evidence.”  (Read the full editorial here)
What’s this got to do with New Jersey’s governor?  

Questioned about global warming at a news conference a few months ago, Christie said he was skeptical about the science upon which climate-change arguments for CO2 controls are based. 

That set off chorus of boos from the state’s environmental community. Several green groups quickly formed a climate-change teach-in, featuring scientists from Rutgers, the state university, and invited the governor to come on down and get himself educated on the subject.

Christie, who is being courted by a number of national Republican organizations as a potential 2012 presidential candidate, declined, spurring speculation that he was polishing his conservative credentials for national office. [His more recent refusal to disavow the teaching of creationism in schools or to restore state funding to Planned Parenthood (he blames the budget shortfall) have only strengthened his appeal to the religious right–a powerful force in national Republican primaries].

But Christie is a smart tactician, not a political ideologue. When Glenn Beck came courting months ago, Christie found his schedule too full to meet. And he’s well aware that he serves as chief executive of a blue state where voters consistently vote for farmland preservation and open space, support strong environmental protection, and oppose offshore drilling.

During his gubernatorial campaign against sitting Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, Christie managed to win the backing of the influential New Jersey Environmental Federation. The Sierra Club, which actively opposed Christie as a candidate and continues to oppose him as governor in almost daily news releases, was scornful of the NJEF’s endorsement and gleeful when the governor expressed skepticism about climate-change science.

Last week Christie attended a NJEF gathering where he touted his environmental accomplishments (signing the nation’s toughest fertilizer control law, supporting protections for Barnegat Bay and offshore wind energy, and opposing offshore gas drilling and the siting of an offshore LNG terminal). He also announced he’s agreed to discuss climate change with scientists that the NJEF will select. [Take that, Sierra Club] 

In doing so, Christie demonstrates openness and flexibility.  He doesn’t have to come down on either side of the climate debate. As long as he’s listening, he keeps his Jersey creds alive with NJEF while maintaining his national, conservative appeal.

This guy’s no birther. But he is one sharp cookie.


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Sixteen energy and environmental bills in Trenton today


Sixteen pieces of environmental and energy legislation will be heard
in five committees of the New Jersey Legislature today. The bills
involve solar and wind energy, agriculture, Green Acres project funding, and more.


Here’s the lineup:

ASSEMBLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND UTILITIES
10 AM Committee Room 9, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

The Committee will take testimony from invited guests regarding the benefits to New Jersey of adopting Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards encompassing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Waste Heat Recovery Capturing emissions.

A-3893  Chivukula, U.J. (D-17); McKeon, J.F. (D-27)
Establishes uniform real property taxation for commercial renewable energy systems and eliminates municipal construction permit fees for non-commercial renewable energy systems.
   
A-3991  Chivukula, U.J. (D-17)
Provides exception from BPU standards for construction and installation of certain solar and photovoltaic electric generation equipment on utility poles by electric public utilities.

A-3992  Chivukula, U.J. (D-17)
Revises standards for wind generation facilities on preserved farmland.       


SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
10:00 AM  Room 10, State House Annex

S-2371  Smith, B. (D-17)
Requires that contracts by non-utility load serving entities to purchase solar renewable energy certificate shall extend for a term of 15 years or longer.
   
S-2857  Codey, R.J. (D-27); Doherty, M.J. (R-23)
Appropriates $84,495,199 from “2009 Green Acres Fund” and “Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund” for local government open space acquisition and park development projects.
   
S-2858  Greenstein, L.R. (D-14); Kean, T.H. (R-21)
Appropriates $14,818,787 from “2009 Green Acres Fund” and “Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund” for grants to certain nonprofit entities to acquire or develop lands for recreation and conservation purposes.  Related Bill: A-4051
   
S-2859  Gordon, R.M. (D-38); Beck, J. (R-12)
Appropriates $45 million from “2009 Green Acres Fund” and $12 million from “2009 Blue Acres Fund” for State acquisition of lands for recreation and conservation purposes.
   
SCR-107  Beck, J. (R-12); Sweeney, S.M. (D-3)
Proposed constitutional amendment providing for reduced property taxes for certain privately-held lands permanently preserved as open space.
   
SR-83  Rice, R.L. (D-28)
Memorializes Congress to renew America’s water infrastructure by creating dedicated fund to upgrade and repair aging public water and wastewater systems.
   
SR-98  Gordon, R.M. (D-38)
Urges enactment of H.R. No. 2766, known as the “Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2009.” Related Bill: AR-112


SENATE ECONOMIC GROWTH
10:30 AM Committee Room 1, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

A-3469  Albano, N.T. (D-1); Milam, M.W. (D-1); Amodeo, J.F. (R-2); DiMaio, J. (R-23) Reestablishes historic driving privileges afforded holders of agricultural driver’s licenses in operating farm equipment and vehicles. Related Bill: S-2428
   

A-3688  Wilson, G.L. (D-5); Riley, C.M. (D-3); Quijano, A. (D-20)
Authorizes Department of Agriculture to implement mobile fresh produce markets for residents of urban “food desert” communities. Related Bill: S-2728
   
S-1356  Oroho, S.V. (R-24); Van Drew, J. (D-1)
Encourages purchase of “Jersey Fresh” and other NJ agricultural products by State agencies, departments and facilities.  Related Bill: A-2342
   

SENATE STATE GOVT., WAGERING, TOURISM & HISTORIC PRESERVATION
1:00 PM – Committee Room 7, 2nd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

A-763  DiMaio, J. (R-23); Riley, C.M. (D-3)
Establishes program authorizing lease of historic buildings and structures in State parks, forests, and wildlife management areas. Related Bill: S-2570
   
S-2570  Doherty, M.J. (R-23); Van Drew, J. (D-1)
Establishes program authorizing lease of historic buildings and structures in State parks, forests, and wildlife management areas. Related Bill: A-763
   
  
ASSEMBLY HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
2:00 PM – Committee Room 16, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

The committee will receive testimony from invited guests regarding the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2011 Out of Reach Report along with data showing New Jersey’s rentals are not affordable.

A-3179  Coughlin, C.J. (D-19)
Revises standard of value for the purposes of real property assessment where property owner is responsible for environmental damage to real property.
Related Bill: S-2279 

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Pennsylvania moving slowly toward a tax on natural gas

It’s now more a question of when and in what form rather than whether Pennsylvania will begin to extract payment from its burgeoning natural gas industry.

Democrats (and some Republicans) have been pushing for a tax to help offset the state’s budget shortfall, to help towns whose roads and infrastructure are under pressure from drilling operations, and to build a fund to pay for the remediation of environmental damage. That damage, critics say, inevitably will result from the installation and operation of natural gas wells and from hydrofracturing (fracking)–the high-pressure blasting of sand and toxic chemicals into shale rock deep below the surface.

Republican State Representative Kate Harper has introduced HB 1406, which calls for a 1.5 percent tax on natural gas for the first five years of production and 5 percent thereafter. The five-year time frame would include wells already drilled.

The revenue would be split with 36 percent going to environmental programs, including Growing Greener, the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund, the Fish and Boat Commission and other agencies; 32 percent to counties and municipalities impacted by natural gas drilling with part going to the state Emergency Management Agency; and 32 percent to an education account with two-thirds for basic education and the other third for community colleges and higher education.

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett says he will not sign a bill imposing a gas severance tax (like Harper’s) but recently has indicated that he might consider a “local impact fee.”

As if on cue, Senate President Joseph Scarnati of Warren County on May 16 introduced SB 1100, a local impact fee bill would would impose a base fee of $10,000, adjusted for increases in volume and the price of gas. It would generate an estimated $45 million retroactively for 2010, $76.2 million for 2011 and a total of $675 million over five years.

About 60 percent of the revenue would go to counties and municipalities with wells, with some also going to municipalities without wells that are in counties where drilling is taking place. Another portion would go to conservation districts statewide and a third part for statewide environmental and infrastructure projects including environmental cleanup, water and sewer infrastructure, impacted state highway improvement and hazardous sites cleanup.

The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center has published a comparative analysis of the leading gas tax and impact fee bills that includes Harper’s, Scarnati’s and House Bill 33 (Greg Vitali) and Senate Bill 905 (Yudichak/Erickson).   

Governor Corbett does not want any discussion of a natural gas tax or fee to interfere with passage of his state budget which proposes significant (some would say drastic) reductions in state aid to higher education and social welfare programs. A potential stream of revenue from gas drillers could help defray some of those cuts.

Keep an eye on the final budget negotiations over the next month. It should be interesting.


Have an opinion or observation on the natural gas tax debate in Pennsylvania? Please feel free to share it with our readers. Use the comment box below. If one isn’t visible, click on the tiny ‘comments’ line to activate it. 

Related:
Politicians: Marcellus shale gas tax will eventually happen
Gas issue not necessarily connected to budget deal

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