PSEG yet to decide about equity stake in offshore wind project

The BPU is reviewing applications for approval of plans to build an initial cluster of wind farms, to generate as much as 1.1 gigawatts of electricity

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

Offshore wind
Credit: Creative Commons

Public Service Enterprise Group appears to be keeping its options open on how much it will invest in the state’s ambitious efforts to be a leader in the offshore-wind industry that’s developing up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, the Newark company said it would decide by the second half of this year whether it would exercise an option to acquire an equity interest in Ocean Wind, one of three projects bidding for state approval to build up to 1,100 megawatts of offshore wind off the Jersey coast.

PSEG already has entered into an energy-management agreement with Ocean Wind LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ørsted US Offshore Wind.

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The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is currently reviewing the applications and expects to decide by July what projects will be selected to build the state’s initial cluster of offshore-wind farms. Besides Ørsted, the other developers include Equinor, which has a project off of Sandy Hook, and EDF Renewables, pushing an offshore-wind farm off of Atlantic County.

The BPU has given the developers the flexibility to build between 400 MW and all 1,100 MW of the power to be generated. Ørsted has indicated a preference for building all 1,100 MW, citing the benefits of economy of scale in driving down the overall cost. None of the applications, however, have been made public because the BPU says they contain proprietary information.

The energy management services presumably involve PSEG helping Ørsted connect the offshore wind farm, located about 15 miles off Atlantic City, to the land. PSEG has a potential lease of land for use in the project development, according to the filing.

Many irons in the fire

The Murphy administration is banking on building 3,500 MW of wind capacity off the coast by 2030, a key component of its overall goal of having 100 percent of New Jersey’s power needs delivered by clean energy by 2050.

Public Service Electric & Gas, a subsidiary of PSEG, has been the most aggressive utility in New Jersey in seeking to align itself with Murphy’s clean-energy goals. It has a $2.5 billion energy efficiency filing now being reviewed by the BPU.

Other PSE&G filings yet to be looked at by the agency are to install smart meters in homes ($900 million); to build out the infrastructure for electric vehicles ($364 million); and for energy storage ($130 million). The utility also is seeking $2.5 billion to strengthen its gas and electric grids.

PSEG has been more circumspect about its intentions on offshore wind, likely to be the most expensive of the state’s clean-energy ventures, leading to billions of dollars of investments, much of it subsidized by utility customers.

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Clean Energy For America Act would repeal tax incentives for fossil fuels

Posted by Betsy Lillian in Solar Industry – May 2, 2019

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with 25 other Senate colleagues, has introduced the Clean Energy for America Act, which would consolidate the current 44 energy incentives into three technology-neutral provisions that encourage clean electricity, clean transportation, and energy efficiency.

wyden
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden

According to Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, the bill would overhaul the federal tax code, which is currently “woefully inadequate to address today’s energy challenges,” he says.

“It’s a hodgepodge of temporary credits, anchored by advantages for Big Oil, that don’t effectively move us toward the goals of reducing carbon emissions or lowering electricity bills for American families,” Wyden continues. “It’s time to kick America’s carbon habit – and that means a complete transformation of the tax code to reward clean electricity, transportation, and conservation.”

To incentivize clean electricity, the bill would provide a production tax credit (PTC) or investment tax credit (ITC) to facilities that are at least 35% cleaner than average. It would be available as either a PTC with a maximum of 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour or an ITC of up to 30%.

In addition, it would repeal tax incentives for fossil fuel production and, instead, ensure the tax code rewards clean energy. The new incentives – which are long-term but not permanent – would be phased out once greenhouse-gas emissions have been reduced by 50%.

Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), voices his support for the bill’s clean electricity provision:

“Senator Wyden’s Clean Energy for America Act includes an innovative, technology-neutral tax credit that would move national tax policy in the right direction to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and create long-term stability for businesses to make new investments in American energy production,” says Kiernan.

“Congress should seize this opportunity to have a thoughtful conversation about specific policies, like Senator Wyden’s bill, that can meaningfully address climate change through market-based, technology-neutral solutions while keeping costs low for consumers and growing the U.S. economy.”

Likewise, Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, applauds Wyden’s proposal:

“Senator Wyden’s legislation would provide a stable and long-term set of incentives and parameters to foster greater deployment of solar energy and technology. The bill is a significant step forward, and we commend Senator Wyden for this effort,” she says, adding that the bill, as it advances, should also consider improvements for incentives for solar heating and cooling technologies.

Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), says the bill “would, at long last, modernize the federal tax code for 21st-century power generation.”

“The proposal would drive economic growth by creating a level playing field in electricity markets, improving affordability and reliability for consumers, creating plenty of good-paying American jobs, and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions,” Wetstone continues. “ACORE welcomes the opportunity to work with Senator Wyden and others in Congress to advance the Clean Energy for America Act through the legislative process this year.“

To encourage clean transportation fuel, the bill would provide a tax credit for fuels that are at least 25% cleaner than average, with the maximum credit of $1 per gallon available for fuels with zero-carbon emissions. The bill would also eliminate the per-manufacturer cap on the tax credit for electric vehicles and extend the credit for fuel cell electric vehicles.

Further, to incentivize energy conservation, the bill would provide a performance-based tax credit for energy-efficient homes and a tax deduction for energy-efficient commercial buildings. The value of the tax credit would increase as more energy is conserved.

The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Tom Carper, D-Del.; Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Angus King, I-Maine; Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; and Tina Smith, D-Minn.

“Our tax code should be encouraging the deployment of all clean energy technologies that are good for public health and our climate,” says Carper, top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Instead, however, the tax code we have today incentivizes the very sources that fuel climate change and make our air harder to breathe. Too often, the incentives that actually push us in the right direction expire too quickly or erratically, making it difficult for business leaders to plan long-term investments.

“The Clean Energy for America Act will eliminate outdated incentives for fossil fuels and, instead, provide long-term, technology-neutral incentives for the investment and production of electricity and vehicles that help drive down our country’s greenhouse-gas emissions.”

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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh resigns amid book scandal, health problems

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh resigns

Paul Schwartzman and Paul Schwartzman report for
the Washington Post

BALTIMORE — Mayor Catherine E. Pugh, who is under state and federal investigation over lucrative sales of her self-published children’s books, resigned Thursday, plunging this already rattled city into another political crisis.

Pugh (D), a former state lawmaker, has been under public scrutinysince at least March, following news reports about the book deals with companies that do business with the city and state.

Her attorney, Steven D. Silverman, announced her resignation at his downtown law office, calling it a “sad day for Baltimore” and reading a statement from Pugh, who was believed to be at her home elsewhere in the city.

“I am sorry for the harm I have caused to the image of the city of Baltimore and the credibility of the office of the mayor,” the statement said. “Baltimore deserves a mayor that can move our great city forward.”

Silverman departed without taking questions.

The resignation ends weeks of sometimes frenzied speculation over whether Pugh would try to stay in office despite the scandal, questions that even her own aides and associates were asking up until the final hours.

Her departure is another bruising setback for a city long besieged by poverty and violence and still recovering from a series of police corruption scandals and rioting in 2015 related to the death of Freddie Gray in police custody. Pugh, 69, is the second Baltimore mayor in the past decade to leave office while facing corruption allegations.

Federal agents remove items from the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh on April 25. (John Strohsacker/Getty Images)

“This was the right decision, as it was clear the mayor could no longer lead effectively,” Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who called for her resignation a week ago, said in a statement. “The federal and state investigations must and will continue to uncover the facts. Baltimore City can now begin to move forward.”

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Dredging funds raised to keep boat racing afloat on the Schuylkill

Rowing crews compete in the first day of the Dad Vail Regatta in 2014 (Brad Larrison/for WHYY)

Catalina Jaramillo reports for PlanPhilly

Philadelphians will be able to continue enjoying the long tradition of rowing on the Schuylkill River.

That heritage is no longer in peril now that $4.5 million has been found to dredge shallow areas of silt around Boathouse Row and the national racecourse. The money came from members of the 10 rowing clubs of Boathouse Row; universities with rowing programs; the three major regatta organizations; and individual donors, foundations and institutions, as well as from city and state funds.

“Philadelphia is seen nationally and internationally as a leader and as a hub for the sport of rowing,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, the city’s Parks & Recreation commissioner. “It’s just become a part of our culture here in Philadelphia, it’s become very much a part of our park system. The Schuylkill River, and Boathouse Row, and Kelly Drive, and West River Drive have become iconic landmarks for us in the city of Philadelphia, and I just can’t imagine what the Schuylkill would be like if we didn’t have that recreational aspect to this beautiful natural asset.”

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Silt has accumulated in the riverbed since it was last dredged in 1999, resulting in uneven depth in the racecourse and in areas around the boathouses. The Schuylkill Navy, as the association of rowing clubs is known, has been trying to get it dredged for four years.

Paul Laskow, chair of the Schuylkill Navy’s River Restoration Committee, said access to the river has become unsafe because there is only a very narrow and shallow channel available right now. Famed regattas were beginning to lose competitors, he said, because organizers didn’t feel that all six lanes were safe and equal — lane six is less than 2 feet deep, while the others are closer to 10 feet deep.

The largest scholastic, collegiate and club regattas are held in Philadelphia, Laskow said. No dredging would have meant the end of the economic benefits brought to the city by such regattas as Dad Vail and the Stotesbury Cup. But it also would have meant the end of a rowing tradition here that goes back to the 19th century.

“Rowing in the United States really more or less started here, and this was the epicenter of rowing well into the 20th century,” Laskow said. “If there’s no rowing, the boathouses would go dark, as they did in the Depression. And that would be, I think,  a blow to civic pride.”

The dredging work will be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and take about 90 days to complete. The plan is to remove accumulated sediment shoals at four locations that include portions of the racecourse in the vicinity of Peter’s Island and the Strawberry Mansion Bridge; an area around the docks in front of Boathouse Row; and an adaptive rowing access point to the river below the Columbia Railroad Bridge.

An estimated 60,000 cubic yards of material will be removed and transported to Fairmount Dam, and then taken downstream to the Fort Mifflin Confined Disposal Facility, according to a public notice by the Army Corps. Work will start by mid-August and is expected to finish before the end of the year, without disrupting regattas.

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Oyster Creek nuclear license transfer decision expected in Summer

The former Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station

Gina Scala reports for The Sandpaper – May 1, 2019

FORKED RIVER, NJ — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is likely to render its decision on the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station license transfer application that would, if approved, allow Holtec Decommissioning International to kick-start the process of retiring the defunct plant by July 1.

Exelon Generation, which operated Oyster Creek until it shut down in September 2018, along with HDI, part of the Camden-based Holtec International energy conglomerate, submitted the license transfer application on Aug. 31, 2018. The companies requested a decision on the application be made by May 1.

In a separate but related matter, the presidentially appointed commission that oversees the NRC is expected to rule on two requests for a hearing on the license transfer application, said Neil Sheehan, public information officer for the NRC Region 1 office. One of those requests is from Lacey Township, which is home to the shuttered Oyster Creek plant. The other hearing request is from the Sierra Club.

“There is no timeframe available on when the commission may rule on the hearing requests,” Sheehan said earlier this week. “I can just tell you the staff intends to issue a decision on the application by July 1.”

Last month, the NRC issued its environmental assessment relating to Exelon Generation’s request for an exemption from certain emergency planning requirements to kick in at 285 days after permanent defueling of the plant, not the normal 365-day requirement. Exelon cited a new zirconium fire analysis that shows the possibility of fire in the spent fuel pool will be reduced to a point of significantly less risk sooner than initially estimated, Sheehan said.

In rendering its environmental assessment, NRC staff determined moving up the effective dates for certain emergency planning requirements would not significantly affect plant safety or increase the probability of an accident happening. “The proposed action would not have a significant effect on the environment. The reason the human environment would not be significantly affected is that the proposed exemption would not involve any construction or modification of the facility.”

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NJ’s last vestige of coal power is gone

Looking down the fishing pier next to the B.L. England power plant in Upper Township, accessible to the public off of the company driveway off Route 9.

Michelle Brunetti and Avalon Zoppo report for the AC Press

B.L. England, the last coal-powered plant in New Jersey, was set to stop operations yesterday after more than 50 years of burning fossil fuels, Upper Township Mayor Rich Palombo said.

“They’re officially flipping the switch the morning of May 1,” he said Monday. “They’ll continue having people working at the plant as it’s decommissioning.”

R.C. Cape May Holdings, the owner of the Beesleys Point plant, did not return requests for comment.

Jason McGovern, a spokesman for grid operator PJM, said B.L. England submitted a deactivation notice for the plant in December 2016, but grid reliability upgrades stopped the facility for shutting down at that point.


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The closure could have some impact on the township’s $1.86 billion ratable base. The company has filed a tax appeal in state court for the 261.5-acre parcel the plant sits on, said Municipal Tax Assessor Megan McAfee.

The property is assessed at $2.36 million in land and $14.63 million in improvements, and for which the company paid the township $313,853.32 in property taxes in 2018.

McAfee could not discuss particulars of the case, as it is in litigation, she said.

But state law requires that the township keep receiving $6 million a year in energy receipts payments it has been getting in exchange for hosting the plant.

Residents will miss the old plant

“The neighbors and I went by, and it looked closed,” said Ellen Mallen, a 15-year resident of the Marmora section of Upper Township. “It’s been like a landmark. I always looked for the smoke.”

Dan Young, 53, lives in Marmora but grew up in Beesleys Point near the plant when it was owned by Atlantic City Electric. At the time, the plant provided recreational facilities for township residents, he said, including a pool and nine-hole golf course.

“I went there to the pool as far back as I can remember,” Young said of the late 1960s and early 1970s. “We would sneak onto the golf course at night when I was 10 or 11 years old. That’s where we taught ourselves to play golf.”

He also has fond memories of something he probably never told his parents about — jumping onto the coal cars as they slowly meandered down the railroad tracks to the plant, Young said.

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