BPU hiring consultant to help overhaul solar program

Existing program has cost utility ratepayers more than $2.8 billion over a decade. Board of Public Utilities is under pressure to cut costs for utility customers

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

The state Board of Public Utilities this week said it is planning to hire a firm to help it redesign its solar-energy program, a policy it is under pressure to overhaul and make less costly to utility customers.
The consultant, yet to be approved by the New Jersey Department of Treasury, will help determine how the state will end its current system of incenting solar development by June 2021.
Under the current system, New Jersey has vaulted into one of the nation’s leading solar states with nearly 100,000 arrays installed. It is the fastest growing segment of the clean-energy sector in the state.
But the system’s cost to ratepayers has spurred legislation to revamp the program. New Jersey’s solar program is currently financed through solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs). A tradeable commodity, the certificates are sold by owners of the solar systems to electricity suppliers, based on the power they produce. Costs are then passed on to the suppliers’ ratepayers.

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Looking for a cheaper option

Over the past decade, those costs have exceeded $2.8 billion, leading policymakers and legislators to seek a less costly option. While many developers in the solar sector agree the system needs to be overhauled, they fear the market could collapse if a smooth transition to a new framework is not designed.
Industry leaders have argued recently that such a collapse could cause massive layoffs in a sector that now employs more than 7,000 in New Jersey. It also could leave many solar projects — including those undertaken by school systems, municipalities, hospitals, and others — without sufficient revenues to repay the bonds used to finance them.

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Christie rumored to be Trump’s next Attorney General

New Jersey's former governor is on a shortlist of people to replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to a new report.
New Jersey’s former governor is on a shortlist of people to replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to a new report. (Andy Mills/NJ Advance Media)
Matt Arco reports for NJ.com:
Former Gov. Chris Christie is on President Donald Trump‘s short list of less than a half-dozen people to be the nation’s next attorney general, according to multiple reports..
New Jersey’s 55th governor has coveted the position. Now that Trump has pushed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions out of as the country’s chief law enforcement officer Wednesday, Christie’s name has emerged as a possible replacement.
The White House confirmed to NJ Advance Media Christie was there Thursday and that he met with Trump adviser Jared Kushner to discuss prison reform. It was a previously scheduled meeting, according to the White House.
Christie, along with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, outgoing Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Attorney General William Barr, who served under President George H. W. Bush, are being considered, CBS News and CNN reported.
CBS News predicted the list of names is likely to grow in the coming days.

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Not too late for Murphy to overhaul Pinelands Commission


 Yesterday, the Times of Trenton Editorial Board wrote: 


The million-plus acres of pinelands sprawling across 56 communities and seven Garden State counties represent one of the most highly protected environments in the country. And for good reason.
Rare species of plants and animals flourish in its leafy expanses, trillions of gallons of water flow under its sandy soil.
But many of the state’s environmental activists are rightfully concerned – if not downright angry – that the men and women charged with the stewardship of this precious jewel have bungled the job.
They’re calling on Gov. Phil Murphy to overhaul the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, the 15-member panel charged with preserving, protecting and enhancing the natural and cultural resources of the vast parcel of land that more than 40 years ago became the country’s first National Reserve.
At a fiery rally in front of the annex of the State Capitol last month, speaker after speaker urged Murphy to undo damage inflicted by his immediate predecessor, whose appointments to the commission often seemed driven less by protection than by politics. 
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Seven of the members are appointed by the governor. Seven others are named by freeholders from the counties within the Pinelands – Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Ocean – while one is appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
Under the watch of former Gov. Chris Christie, the panel has repeatedly approved gas pipeline measures, such as the New Jersey Natural Gas Southern Reliability Link Pipeline, and has fallen short on protecting the supply of fresh water that lies beneath the Pinelands. 
Moreover, rally speakers pointed out, individuals and environmental organizations have been repeatedly shut out of the decision-making process, leaving the commission without a full understanding of the facts before members make critical decisions.
Doug O’Malley, director of the watchdog organization Environment New Jersey, took aim at Christie’s appointments, individuals he charged were part of a “clear attempt to undermine the Pinelands.”
And he decried the firing of several long-term commissioners, among them Bob Jackson, the only African-American on the panel, whose only “crime” was to stand up for the ideals of preservation and the future of the Pines.
“Gov. Christie played Bridgegate-like politics with the Pinelands, and with Pinelands commissioners,” O’Malley charged.
All seven of the commissioners chosen by the Republican governor are now serving under expired terms. They include its chairman, Sean W. Earlen, the mayor of Lumberton and a vice president of a Pennsylvania construction firm.
We’re not sure why Murphy, with all his progressive zeal, has failed to put his own stamp on the commission 10 months into his tenure. But it’s not too late.
The coalition that rallied in Trenton last month was so right. It’s time for new leadership to assure that this remarkable gem within our borders remains an ecological wonder, and not a developers’ playground.

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Mystery bridge under drained Lake Hopatcong water


David M. Zimmer reports for North Jersey.com:


Every five years, a mysterious stone causeway of unknown origin emerges as the waters of New Jersey’s largest lake drain.

Jutting from the shallows of Lake Hopatcong’s northern shore, the strip of stacked stones connects a preserved stretch of the mainland with uninhabited Liffy Island. Only when the lake is lowered is the bridge exposed.

That the bridge is typically hidden below water is curious. However, its height is explained by another typically submerged artifact: an ore loading dock off Nolan’s Point.

Who built the bridge remains a mystery. Though, there are a few suspects, said Marty Kane of the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum.



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Newark’s water breaches levels for dangerous chemicals


Michael Warren and Karen Yi report for NJ.com:

First, it was lead. Now it’s a likely carcinogenic chemical.
Newark has again violated a federal standard, allowing a potentially cancer-causing contaminant to flow through the drinking water — and the water it sells to nearby towns, according to state test records.
The state records show Newark’s water contains high levels of haloacetic acids, a group of five possibly carcinogenic chemicals that are byproducts of the water disinfection process. People exposed to elevated levels of haloacetic acids for years are at an increased risk of getting cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 
The test results deal yet another blow to public trust in Newark’s water system.
The city is already under pressure to address elevated levels of lead in its drinking water and recently acknowledged it wasn’t properly treating the water for corrosive properties at one of its plants.
The elevated levels of haloacetic acids are not considered an acute public health emergency by state and federal authorities, according to Kareem Adeem, the city’s deputy director of water and sewer utilities.

He said Newark is aware of the high levels of haloacetic acids and is working to solve the problem. Specifically, Adeem said the city is making changes to its disinfection process and instituting a flushing program to remove old water from the system more quickly. and Karen Yi report for NJ.com  


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What’s the cost of replacing 300 miles of urban pipelines?

Elizabethtown Gas proposes a big overhaul of its distribution system, parts of which are more than a century old

pseg workers gas mains

Credit: PSE&G
Tom Johnson reports
for NJ Spotlight:

Elizabethtown Gas yesterday filed a proposal to spend $518 million over the next five years to replace more than 309 miles of gas mains and to make other investments in its system
The filing with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is the latest by utilities in the state, which have ramped up capital spending to modernize an aging gas distribution system at a time when gas prices have dropped considerably in the past decade, cushioning the impact of those expenditures on customers.
The proposed program includes replacing vintage cast-iron and bare steel mains and services as well as iron, copper and dated plastic mains, some of which are more than 100 years old, according to the utility.
“We are committed to providing our 292,000 customers with safe, reliable affordable natural gas service, and the modernization of our infrastructure reinforces that commitment,’’ said Brian MacLean, president of Elizabethtown, which was acquired by South Jersey Industries in a deal completed this past July.

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