Members of a General Assembly oversight committee tried for months to get McGrath to answer their questions. While the subpoena compelled his appearance, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at least 170 times. In dozens of other responses, he said he couldn’t recall what legislators wanted to know.
Legislative leaders said it’s clear to them McGrath spent money lavishly and negotiated a significant payout despite transferring from one state position to another. They’ve reviewed hundreds of pages of documents and interviewed other witnesses, publicly and privately.
“We’ve had a lot of evidence about a large, unwarranted, unprecedented payout for a lateral move within state government,” said Del. Erek Barron, co-chair of the committee. “That evidence, I haven’t heard much, if any, opposition to.”
For the better part of four hours, Ward B. Coe, an attorney for the lawmakers, grilled McGrath via video. McGrath’s attorney, Bruce Marcus, appeared at his side.
Coe attempted to get McGrath to describe how he got the Maryland Environmental Service’s board of directors to approve the payout at the end of May, when he left to become Hogan’s chief of staff. It represented a year’s salary of $233,647, plus $5,250 in tuition reimbursement.
Package of tax credits eyed for must-pass spending bill
Agreement reached among House and Senate tax committees
U.S. congressional leaders have tentatively agreed to a package of tax incentives including extension of credits for wind and solar projects that would be incorporated into a must pass-government funding bill if a deal on Covid stimulus can be reached, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who asked not to be identified.
The package renewing tax breaks, which could also provide tax cuts for beer-brewers and the storage of carbon dioxide, has been the subject of bipartisan talks that have yielded agreement on the House and Senate tax writing committees, according to a congressional aide, who also asked not to be identified.
An extenders deal hinges on leaders in the House, Senate, and White House agreeing on a broad spectrum of largely unrelated issues and a breakthrough on an economic relief bill, which has eluded lawmakers for months.
An agreement to extend these tax breaks for multiple years last year fell apart after he White House balked at some of the clean energy incentives and Congress instead passed a narrow one-year extension of some non-controversial tax breaks.
There is support for the inclusion of a one-year extension of lucrative tax credits for the wind and solar industries at their current level as well as the multiyear extension and expansion of a tax credit for the underground storage of carbon dioxide backed by both environmental groups and oil companies. Also being pushed are credits for energy storage and offshore wind.
In all, more than 30 tax breaks for energy-efficient equipment, movie producers and race-car tracks and other targeted industries expire at the end of the year. Also among the expiring tax breaks is a special write-off for race horses, a favorite provision of the senior senator from Kentucky: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will have large say over whether extenders end up in a final version of the legislation.
Several solar stocks including SunPower Corp. and Sunrun Inc. were up sharply Tuesday, though it was unclear whether the bill was a catalyst.
Three former executives of Boucher & James, Inc., a Doylestown-based engineering firm, have been arrested after allegedly stealing approximately $2.1 million from clients across Pennsylvania.
The three defendants have been charged with Theft by Deception, Theft by Receiving Stolen Property, Deceptive Business Practices, Corrupt Organizations and Conspiracy, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
Former owner and board member Ross Boucher, as well as former managing directors Mark Eisold and David Jones, allegedly repeatedly overbilled clients for time spent on the job, resulting in bonuses for the three individuals that they would not have earned otherwisenull
The fraud scheme was uncovered by another managing director in 2018, when it was discovered that Eisold had consistently put additional work hours into invoices. One such bill stated that one employee had worked 34 hours in a single day for a client.
The alleged scheme took place from 2009-2018, according to a review conducted by Shapiro’s office and forensic accountants.
More than 100 entities across the state, several of which are located in the Philly region, suffered substantial financial losses. Among those to lose money included Lower Makefield Township, Springfield Township, the Richland Township Board of Supervisors, the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, Souderton Borough, Cheltenham Township and Ivyland Borough.
“These company executives took advantage of their municipal clients’ trust by routinely overbilling for work that never happened,” Shapiro said.
“Let’s be clear about what this means: when you bill for time that you didn’t work, you are stealing — and these former Boucher & James executives will be held accountable for their crimes.”
As a result of the investigation, the three defendants have resigned from their positions at Boucher & James. The overbilling scheme has since ceased, and the company has agreed to repay more than $851,000 in funds to clients dating back to 2015. The company itself is not being charged with any crimes.
Construction is set to start next spring on a solar battery project in the Northwest Arctic villages of Shungnak and Kobuk. It’s the latest renewable project for a region routinely struck by high energy costs.
It’s always been expensive to provide energy to rural Alaska. With most communities not falling on the road system, locals are forced to barge and fly in diesel fuel to power generators. There is a state program that reduces energy costs but with the state’s budget crisis, it’s unknown how long that program will be around.
Edwin Bifelt said even with state support, energy in rural Alaska remains pricey.
“Even with Power Cost Equalization, people see rates anywhere from 20 cents up to 40 to 50 cents a kilowatt-hour, which is four or five times the national average,” Bifelt said.
Bifelt, who grew up in the village of Huslia, is the founder and CEO of Alaska Native Renewable Industries. The company specializes in providing renewable energy to rural Alaska communities.
Now, ANRI is contracted with the Northwest Arctic Borough for just over $2.1 million to construct similar arrays in the villages of Shungnak and Kobuk, the easternmost communities in the borough. Bifelt said he expects the arrays to lower utility bills in the villages.
“Definitely see a decrease in the amount of diesel fuel that they have to fly in every year, but it’s tough to say right now what end effect it’s going to have for residents in the long run,” Bifelt said.
Kobuk and Shungnak combined have about an eighth the population of Kotzebue. Bifelt said the two new arrays will follow a similar design to the Kotzebue project, but they will be much smaller.
“The tentative design we have is for approximately a 38-kilowatt array in Kobuk and a 186-kilowatt array in Shungnak, I believe,” Bifelt said.
Bifelt said rural energy projects aren’t new to the region, though his company puts an emphasis on hiring locals to help with construction rather than fly up workers from larger cities.
“Just to provide some temporary jobs, provide some new skills for people within the community relating to renewable energy, and giving them education and experience with solar,” Bifelt said.
Construction of the solar arrays should wrap up by summer next year.
Analysis estimates that 16% of nearly 38,000 jobs have been wiped out in the COVID-19 slowdown
An energy saving smart meter
Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight
After four years of steady growth, energy-saving programs and other efficiency efforts were slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with as many as 6,202 jobs wiped out in New Jersey from last December, according to a new analysis.
The analysis, by E4Future, Environmental Entrepreneurs and BW Research Partners, estimated a 16.3% decline in employment in the sector since the onset of the pandemic, with jobs declining from 37,982 to 31,781 in the state.
The slowdown reflects a nationwide trend, with more than 300,000 workers in the sector still unemployed since the industry began shedding jobs last year as the pandemic took hold in the U.S., according the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
The disruption led states — many like New Jersey with ambitious goals to counter climate change — to abruptly shift their focus to mitigate the health and economic impacts of the deadly global pandemic.
Here in New Jersey, with hundreds of thousands of customers falling way behind in paying utility bills, it has spurred calls by consumer advocates, including the state’s Division of Rate Counsel, to press for a suspension of further utility rate increases. That includes programs the administration of Gov. Phil Murphy deems critical to fund meeting its goals for transitioning to clean energy and reducing emissions that contribute to climate change, such as the electrification of the transportation system.
Green-energy advocates say those efforts should not take a back seat, even during a pandemic.
“A number of states see that they have to act aggressively now to cut carbon emissions, but others aren’t acting urgently,’’ said Steven Nadel, executive director of the ACEEE. “In this pandemic and recession, policymakers can embrace efficiency efforts to help residents reduce their utility bills, and to get more people back to work, all while cutting pollution.’’
A call for more state investment
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, agreed, saying state investment should be stepped up in its energy efficiency programs — the largest energy sector in New Jersey.
“We’ve said all along — it is a win-win-win situation,” he said. “It creates jobs, reduces air pollution and saves people money on their utility bills. It really makes sense to invest in these programs.’’
In the past year, New Jersey has taken steps to have a more aggressive energy efficiency program, adopting specific energy-saving targets for gas and electric utilities, and developing policies to ensure low-income customers have equitable access to energy efficiency programs.
The state Board of Public Utilities approved a comprehensive energy efficiency program by the state’s largest utility, Public Service Electric & Gas, allowing the company to spend nearly $1 billion over the next few years. Electric utilities have to ramp up energy savings for customers by 2.15% a year and gas utilities by 1.1%. Those requirements are some of the highest levels in the nation, according to the ACEEE.
Nevertheless, New Jersey placed 17th in the nation in a 50-state scorecard (which also includes Washington D.C.) that ranks efforts in energy efficiency, the same spot the group gave New Jersey the previous year.
President-elect Joe Biden is nominating Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan who has been a strong voice for zero-emissions vehicles, as secretary of energy, two people familiar with the process said Tuesday.
Granholm, 61 and currently an adjunct professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley, has argued that the United States risks being left behind by other countries if it doesn’t develop alternate energy technologies. Her pick is a clear sign that Biden wants the department to play an important role in combating climate change.
Arun Majumdar, a materials scientist and engineer who led a new research agency within the Energy Department under the Obama administration, is under consideration as deputy secretary, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no decision had been finalized. Majumdar, who has been working for the Biden transition team and was considered a candidate himself for the top Energy post, is an enthusiastic advocate for modernizing the nation’s electricity grid.
Granholm and Majumdar are both immigrants — she from Canada, he from India. Both come to the department from California with backgrounds and expertise in promoting and developing alternate technologies, even as the bulk of Energy’s mandate has to do with the maintenance and safeguarding of the nation’s nuclear weapons and handling the cleanup efforts at contaminated nuclear sites.
“The Energy Department is actually the Nuclear Weapons Department,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.
But its role in promoting research began getting more attention in the Obama administration and is likely to feature prominently under Biden, given his promises to tackle climate change.
