Op-Ed: NJ’s solar industry collapse puts thousands of jobs at risk

Here’s what Gov. Murphy and lawmakers must do to restore a once-thriving industry

By Rodger Ferguson in NJ Spotlight News

New Jersey’s solar industry is collapsing. Installations are down, the solar pipeline is shrinking and thousands of jobs are at risk. This distressing reality is set out in black and white in a recently released report prepared by Sustainable Energy Advantage, LLC (SEA).

Gov. Phil Murphy’s 2019 Energy Master Plan set the stage for New Jersey to achieve 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050. The master plan concluded that New Jersey could meet this goal by reaching 20.64 GW dc of solar installations by 2035. To get there, the state needs to incentivize the installation of approximately 1,140 MW dc, annually, from 2020 to 2035.

Unfortunately, New Jersey installations have declined by an average of 10%-15% per year for the past four years. The projection for 2022 is 280 MW dc — the lowest total since 2015 and only about 25% of the Energy Master Plan’s target. Unless something changes, drastically and immediately, it will be all but impossible for the state to meet its solar installation targets.

The solar industry is a multibillion-dollar industry in New Jersey, with over 6,000 people employed. In years past, the state ranked first in the country in solar installations. Based on current projections, it will fall to 21st within five years. According to the SEA report, whereas New Jersey once ranked first in the country in solar jobs, it has now slipped to 12th. In addition to Gov. Murphy’s ambitious and important clean-energy goals, thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment in the state are at risk.

Although many factors contribute to the rate of solar installations, including equipment costs and interconnection delays, the SEA report notes that, at the same time New Jersey’s solar market is contracting, installation rates across the country are rising. In fact, in the same period (2019-21) that New Jersey’s solar market contracted by 23%, the U.S. solar market expanded by 78%. The report concludes that “NJ-specific characteristics and policy choices are the primary drivers of recent trends.”

Read the full story here

If you liked this post you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed 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.

Op-Ed: NJ’s solar industry collapse puts thousands of jobs at risk Read More »

Four decades after Watergate, ‘Ozzie’ Meyers heads back to federal prison again for bribery

The former politician was sentenced to 2 1/2 years behind bars after pleading guilty to bribing election workers to stuff ballot boxes in South Philadelphia local elections.

Former U.S. Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers at a 1976 Philadelphia campaign stop.


By Jeremy Roebuck, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 27, 2022

The last time former U.S. Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers stood before a federal judge to face sentencing in a bribery case, Ronald Reagan was president, and Abscam — the 1970s scandal that sent Myers and a host of other elected officials to prison — dominated newspaper headlines.

The South Philadelphia politician emerged from the New York courtroom brimming with confidence that his conviction would be overturned on appeal.

But as the now 79-year-old found himself facing a similar predicament Tuesday — this time awaiting punishment for a separate bribery scheme involving ballot-stuffing in local elections — he didn’t emerge from the courthouse at all.

Saying he had little confidence Myers had learned anything in the four decades between his convictions, U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond sentenced the former congressman to 2½ years in prison and ordered him hauled off to prison immediately — a decision that hit the courtroom like a bomb.

Read the full story here

If you liked this post you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed 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.

Four decades after Watergate, ‘Ozzie’ Meyers heads back to federal prison again for bribery Read More »

How NJ towns are imlementing DEP’s revised stormwater management rules, one year in


 By Sasha Weber, New Jersey Future, June 27th, 2022

It has been just over a year since the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) 2020 amendment to the Stormwater Management Rule (NJAC 7:8) took effect. Since March 2, 2021, NJ municipalities have been required to utilize green infrastructure—systems that mimic natural hydrologic processes to capture and reuse stormwater—as a stormwater management technique on all new public and private major developments (see our March 2021 article for an overview of the new stormwater rules). Localities carry out these requirements through their Stormwater Control Ordinances.

Once enacted, Stormwater Control Ordinances set a threshold for the size of an individual development project. If the project disturbs more than one acre of land, NJDEP requires that it employ green infrastructure. If it disturbs less than one acre of land, green infrastructure is not required. 

What Constitutes “Above and Beyond?”

In the Enhanced Model Stormwater Ordinance for Municipalities, New Jersey Future (NJF) highlights several steps that municipalities can take to further enhance their Stormwater Control Ordinances and go above and beyond DEP’s requirements.

These recommendations for advancement include redefining the threshold for “Major Development;” adding a definition and requirements for “Minor Development;” requiring stormwater management on existing (not just new) impervious surfaces; requiring infiltration of a specific volume of stormwater onsite, and reducing “maximum contributory drainage areas.” All of these changes would increase the amount of green infrastructure in localities.  

Case Studies

Curious how some municipalities have implemented and/or gone above and beyond NJDEP’s requirements to reap the benefits of green infrastructure? Check out the following case studies to learn how these requirements are put into action. 

Read the full story here

If you liked this post you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed 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.

How NJ towns are imlementing DEP’s revised stormwater management rules, one year in Read More »

NJ Governor throttles up offshore wind goal


By Tom Johnson, NJ Spotlight

New Jersey plans to ramp up its reliance on offshore wind, now with a new executive order from Gov. Phil Murphy to increase the state’s goal for building wind farms off the coast.

Murphy, speaking Wednesday at an event in New York City for Climate Week, increased the state’s target of 7,500 megawatts from wind turbines by 2035 to 11,000 MW by 2040. The move underscores the importance of offshore wind in achieving the administration’s transition to a 100% clean-energy economy by mid-century.

“This is an aggressive target, but achievable,’’ Murphy said. At the same time, he announced the release of a Council on the Green Economy study that projected the state can expect an additional 314,886 net jobs over the next 10 years based on current green policies and investment.

Murphy’s executive order increasing offshore wind energy goal

In announcing the increased offshore wind goal, a jump of nearly 50%, Murphy also talked about a further expansion that may be in the offing. The state Board of Public Utilities was directed in the executive order to study the feasibility of raising the target further.

“Offshore wind is the best way to reach New Jersey’s clean renewable energy mandates and Gov. Murphy’s executive order cements the reality that offshore wind will continue to expand over the next decade-plus,’’ said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey.

Clean-energy advocates have long pressed the administration to pursue more ambitious offshore wind targets. Murphy has done so before. In 2019, he increased his administration’s original target of having 3,500 MW in the state by 2030 to the 7,500-MW target by 2035.

‘Gov. Murphy’s executive order cements the reality that offshore wind will continue to expand over the next decade plus.’ — Doug O’Malley, Environment New Jersey

So far, the state has approved building 3,700 MW to be generated by three projects off the New Jersey coast, but none yet have been built. The first wind farm is expected to be operating by mid-decade. The state has scheduled a third solicitation seeking to build 1,200 MW in the first quarter of 2023.

Read the full story here

If you liked this post you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed 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.

NJ Governor throttles up offshore wind goal Read More »