NRG president sees solar shift as federal subsidies end

NRG’s David Crane

Without
the availability of federal loan guarantees, a program that ended in
September, the wave of massive solar projects is probably over,
according to David Crane, president and CEO of Princeton-based NRG Energy said Thursday during a conference call with analysts. 

Crane’s remarks were published on Friday by Platts Energy Week.

Wall Street does not have the capacity to provide
debt financing for the large projects, which have price tags of more
than $1 billion, Crane said. Looking ahead, utility-scale projects will
range from 20-MW to 100-MW, he said, noting that his company will pursue
those types of projects.

Solar
development will come more from rooftop projects, according to Crane.
“The distributed, residential is going to end up swamping the bag-scale
projects,” he said.
NRG
plans to install 733 MW of solar panels over four years on warehouse
owned by ProLogis under a partnership backed by DOE and Bank of America.
Dropping costs to bolster solar’s competitiveness

A
form of Moore’s Law – the doubling every two years of the number of
transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit – applies to
photovoltaic technology, according to Crane. In the last two years, the
delivered cost of energy from PV was cut in half, he said.

NRG expects
the cost to fall in half again in the next two years, which would make
solar power less expensive than retail electricity in roughly 20 states,
he said. The expected drop in solar costs has “the potential to
revolutionize the hub and spoke power system, which currently makes up
the power industry,” he said.

While
the solar industry has benefited from federal support, the driver for
the industry has been state renewable portfolio standards, led by
California’s 33% mandate, according to Crane.

In
defense of solar in a “highly politicized post-Solyndra world,” Crane
said that PV puts less strain on air, water and land resources than
other forms of power generation. It is also more predictable and
reliable than wind farms, he said.

See full Platt’s story here  

Our most recent posts:
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Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 11/10/11
Bob Hanna to replace Lee Solomon at the NJBPU
Lee Solomon leaving top NJBPU post for the bench

Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 11/9/11
EPA finds most states are getting the lead out

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Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 11/14/11


Business, government and environmental leaders who subscribe to EnviroPolitics accessed full versions of the environmental news stories below in today’s edition–and dozens more:

In Pennsylvania


Gas
drillers invade hunters’ paradise An area of abundant deer, turkey and bear,
known to hunters as “God’s Country,” lies atop vast reserves of natural gas. And now more and more drills are piercing the hunting grounds. Nine
wells have cropped up on this one game land of roughly 7,000 wooded
acres in Potter County, and permits have been issued for 19 more
New York Times

Federal  agencies collect data from Dimock families Officials from federal
environmental and public health agencies met with residents of Dimock Township
last week to discuss the impacts of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling and to
gather water-test results from families affected by methane migration Citizens
Voice


In New Jersey


Solomon stepping down at BPU; Hanna will replace
him Board of Public Utilities President Lee Solomon,
who oversaw dramatic changes in New Jersey’s energy policies over the past two
years, is stepping down from his post to once again serve as a judge. Robert
Hanna, who served with Gov. Christie in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will
replace him
NJ Spotlight

Audit
links spending cuts to JCP&L poor storm showing Interviews with regulators,
government officials and customers — along with a review of a recent
performance audit commissioned by the BPU — suggest that the state’s
second-largest utility is not wholly prepared to deal with large storms,
its work force reliant on outside help and its equipment in need of an
upgrade Star-Ledger
 

Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 11/14/11 Read More »

Report: 75 % recycling rate would create 1.5 million jobs

On the eve of America Recycles Day, a report prepared by an alliance of recycling advocates and labor unions claims that reaching a national recycling rate of 75 percent by 2030 would create nearly 1.5 million jobs and reduce
pollution.


The report’s findings will be the subject of a panel
discussion tomorrow at 3 p.m. with Senator Tom Carper of Delaware and Representative Frank
Pallone of New Jersey at the
U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.


Key report findings


Achieving a 75
percent diversion rate for municipal solid waste (MSW) and construction
and demolition debris (C&D) by 2030 will result in:
    • A total of 2.3 million jobs: Almost twice as many
      jobs as the projected 2030 Base Case Scenario, and about 2.7 times as
      many jobs as exist in 2008. There would be a significant number of
      additional indirect jobs associated with suppliers to this growing
      sector, and additional induced jobs from the increased spending by the
      new workers.
    • Lower greenhouse gas emissions: The reduction of
      almost 515 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (eMTCO2)
      from diversion activities, an additional 276 million eMTCO2 than the
      Base Case, equivalent to emissions from about 72 coal power plants or
      taking 50 million cars off the road.
    • Less pollution overall: Significant reductions in a range of conventional and toxic emissions that impact human and ecosystem health.
    • Unquantified benefits of reducing ecological pressures
      associated with use of non-renewable resources, conserving energy
      throughout the materials economy, and generating economic resiliency
      through stable, local employment.

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Try it free for 30 days!  No obligation. Cancel anytime with one click

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EP Weekend Photo – How things look through your eyes

Here’s a great chance to share with our readers–and the world–
what you’re seeing through your eyes.

We welcome for publication your photos relating to energy, environmental and related political issues in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware–the subjects that we cover in EnviroPolitics Blog.

This is a great opportunity to showcase your photos and, perhaps, to gain attention for the work of your business or organization.

Today’s photo (above) was submitted by the NY/NY Baykeeper, the organization that seeks to protect, preserve, and restore the environment of the most urban estuary on Earth – the Hudson Bay Estuary. 

Founded with the help of Hudson Riverkeeper and the American Littoral Society
in 1989, Baykeeper is an  independent nonprofit with a full and part time staff, Board of Directors, and many dedicated volunteers.

Related:
Get snappin’ this weekend on your enviro-photos

Owl in dead tree limb in Robbinsville, NJ Credit: Joanne Pannone


Petty’s Run, Allentown, NJ. 10/13/2011, Frank Brill, Blackberry






























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Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 11/10/11

Business, government and environmental leaders
who subscribe to EnviroPolitics were able to access full versions of the stories
below in today’s edition–and dozens more:



In Pennsylvania


Pennsylvania mercury pollution in
play New data shows that Pennsylvania
ranks among the worst in the nation for mercury pollution from coal-fired power
plants, and some fear the energy industry will try to influence legislators to
derail proposed federal rules to drastically cut those levels Times Leader  

Developer David Dodd II expected to
plead guilty in Capitol View fraud case West Shore developer David R. Dodd
II is scheduled to appear before a U.S. judge Tuesday to plead guilty to
criminal charges connected to the fiasco known as Capitol View Commerce Center Patriot-News

In New Jersey


Lee Solomon to leave
BPU, returning to Superior Court Lee
Solomon will be stepping down as head of the Board of Public Utilities after
less than two years of tenure to return to a position on the state Superior
Court, he said today Star-Ledger

Water utilities to get paid faster for fixing
infrastructure New
mechanism lets utilities pass along costs of routine upgrades to customers
without regulatory review NJ Spotlight
 


Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 11/10/11 Read More »

Bob Hanna to replace Lee Solomon at the NJBPU

Robert M. Hanna

Robert M. Hanna, head of the Division of Law at the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, will replace Lee Solomon as president of the NJ Board of Public Utilities if and when the New Jersey Senate approves Solomon’s appointment to the bench.

“I am being nominated to go to the superior court. It’s where I came
from, in Camden County,” Solomon said. “At some point I had to make a
decision of whether to go back.”
Solomon said the timing of the move is dependent on the state senate. “I’m not leaving until I’m confirmed. It’s in their hands,” Solomon said.

Hanna, 51, of Madison, was appointed to that post last year.
Previously, he was a director in the Newark-based law firm of Gibbons P.C., where he began working in 2006. He has also worked for 16 years as
an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

Solomon said Hanna would be very capable continuing his work at the
BPU, which includes a spat with federal and regional power regulators
over a state program.

“It will continue to go gangbusters,” Solomon said. “I don’t know if
you know Bob Hanna but he’s a very smart lawyer, very tough guy. His
agenda is what ours is and what the governor’s was.
Hanna joined the
Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the District of New Jersey
in May 1990. There he handled a wide array
of affirmative and defensive civil matters,
including appeals, on behalf of the federal
government. His affirmative civil matters
included, among others, a successful civil
RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations) action to rid Local 54
of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees Union in Atlantic City of organized
crime influence.


Hanna’s defensive
civil matters included defending the U.S.
Attorney, federal judges and other federal
officials in civil rights actions, handling
significant Freedom of Information Act
litigation and opposing the municipality
of Secaucus’s attempt to halt major federal
rail transportation project.


In 1997 Hanna joined the
Frauds Division at the U.S. Attorney’s
Office, and later served in a variety
of roles, including as Chief of the Securities
and Health Care Fraud Unit and Criminal
Health Care Fraud Coordinator. Among his
many white-collar criminal cases, Hanna
was lead prosecutor in the prosecutions
of the University of Medicine and Dentistry
of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and major pharmaceutical
concern Bristol-Myers Squibb. 
As a federal
prosecutor, Hanna also tried complex,
lengthy securities and health care fraud
criminal cases. He joined the Gibbons
firm in May 2006. In private practice,
he represented clients in a wide variety
of complex white-collar criminal matters,
civil matters and attorney ethics matters.
He also has served as a court-appointed
receiver. 



Hanna graduated from Manhattan College
in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science in
Business Administration degree. After
working for a year at a national public
accounting firm, he attended Fordham University
School of Law School in New York, serving
on the Fordham Law Review staff and graduating
in 1984 with a Juris Doctor degree. 
Following
law school, he was a litigation associate
at the Cahill Gordon & Reindel law
firm in New York, working on a broad range
of commercial litigation matters. He is
admitted to the practice of law in New
Jersey and New York. Born in Teaneck and
raised in New City, Hanna has lived in
Madison for 20 years.

Can lying lobbyist crook Jack Abramoff save America? Solar shining brightly in US and NJ, not so much in PA
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