NJBPU sets process to award nuclear plant subsidies

Agency to follow two-step process, creating zero-emission credit program and then determining which applicants qualify for ratepayer subsidies

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

The state is launching a proceeding to determine whether some of the region’s nuclear power plants need subsidies from New Jersey customers to remain open.

The process, initiated by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities last week, could decide the fate of the state’s three largest nuclear power plants. Another, Oyster Creek, already is scheduled to close by the end of the year.
By mid-November, the regulatory agency is supposed to adopt a program that would allow eligible nuclear units to apply for up to $300 million annually from ratepayers to keep the facilities economically viable.

Coal and nuclear — NJ and beyond

The issue resonates nationwide as both nuclear and coal units have prematurely closed, mostly because of cheap natural gas. Efforts to prop up those plants are being hotly debated at the national and state levels.
The so-called zero-emission credit program was the most controversial aspect of a three-bill package adopted by the state Legislature this past spring and signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy. The legislation overhauls the state’s energy policies, putting a premium on curbing pollution contributing to global warming.
The nuclear bill, pushed by the state’s largest energy company, Public Service Enterprise Group, is aimed at propping up uneconomic plants finding it difficult to compete against cheap natural gas. PSEG threatened to close its three units in South Jersey without some incentives.

BPU must make the call

The legislation gave the BPU the task of deciding what plants, if any, deserve ratepayer subsidies. The initial phase of what is set to be a two-step process involves creating a zero-emission credit program for eligible nuclear units to apply for subsidies, followed by a second proceeding to determine what plants are most deserving of help. The exercise is to be done by April 2019.

Read the full story


Like this? Click to receive free updates

NJBPU sets process to award nuclear plant subsidies Read More »

NJ becomes first state to establish standards for PFOAs

NJ becomes first state to establish standards for PFOAs Read More »

Electric Mercedes opens German assault on Tesla

Mercedez electric car concept




Esha Vaish, Laurence Frost report for Reuters:

STOCKHOLM/PARIS (Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz is set to unveil its much-anticipated electric SUV on Tuesday, marking the start of a German onslaught against Tesla’s (TSLA.O) dominance of the fast-growing market for premium battery cars.

The EQC, the first fully electric Mercedes car is shown at a presentation in Stockholm, Sweden September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Esha Vaish

Daimler-owned (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes, BMW (BMWG.DE) and Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) Audi and Porsche divisions are all gunning for the $52 billion Californian upstart, with early publicity efforts emulating its tech-industry halo.

The market for upscale electric cars is Tesla’s to lose, with sales of its entry-level Model 3 sedan expected to reach about 50,000 cars this year and almost double that in 2019.

The Mercedes EQC – whose launch program in Stockholm features yoga in a direct appeal to the Millennials who have flocked to Tesla – is the first production model under the carmaker’s electric EQ sub-brand. It will be closely followed by similarly hyped debuts for BMW and Audi.

“While Tesla currently has a strong hold on the luxury electric market, I don’t think this will be the case after the arrival of the German premium offerings,” said Wajih Hossenally, an automotive powertrain analyst with IHS Markit.

“Tesla has virtually zero competition – but this will change from 2019 onwards.”

Rival forecaster LMC Automotive agrees, predicting a steady decline in Tesla’s share of an exploding electric-car market over the next decade, from today’s 12.3 percent to 2.8 percent, even as its absolute sales continue to rise.

The Germans’ combined market share will surpass Tesla’s to reach 11.8 percent in 2020 before increasing further to about 19 percent three years later, according to its projections.

The new Mercedes, due to reach its first customers next year, will be priced close to the fuel-burning GLC to compete in the same bracket as Tesla’s $49,000 Model 3, helped by its hotter-selling SUV form.


Electric Mercedes opens German assault on Tesla Read More »

In Pa., the future of renewable energy is lawmakers’ call

DEEP DIVE

Two roads diverging: Pennsylvania lawmakers rethink their renewables mandate

Policymakers are making decisions on how to change the state’s alternative energy portfolio standards by 2021, causing a tension between utilities and distributed solar activists.
Herman K. Trabish reports for Utility Dive 
Pennsylvania leaders have big choices to make about the state’s energy and solar future that will impact its power sector for the next decade.

Policymakers must choose how to change the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS), which now requires 18% alternative energy by 2021. And, if they replace the AEPS’ 0.5% carve-out, they must choose whether to include 90% utility-scale solar or 35% distributed solar.
At the end of 2017, Pennsylvania was at 0.2% solar. A draft plan for 10% solar by 2030 was released in July. Its choice of a largely utility-scale solar carve out, or one that includes over one-third distributed solar, has already started a classic solar debate between utilities and distributed solar advocates.
“Pennsylvania is working on the energy sector’s next generation and solar should be key,” said Patrick McDonnell, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which hosted the stakeholder-led process that produced the plan. “With its low installed price continuing to drop, solar must be a bigger part of our energy mix to keep us competitive with surrounding states.”
The new solar plan shows Pennsylvania “wants the jobs and environmental and energy benefits that come with solar,” he added. “The state’s utilities need to understand we are moving from large centralized plants to a more distributed energy grid and that means changes, but those changes can help utilities deliver better power quality and resilience for their customers.”

A state ready for change

“Pennsylvania is lagging behind its neighboring states,” Vote Solar Mid-Atlantic Director Pari Kasotia told Utility Dive. “This plan may push the legislature into action on an increased renewables mandate that includes a solar future.” The numbers support her point.
Pennsylvania installed 372.63 MW of solar at the end of 2017, to meet 0.2% of its electricity needs, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). That ranked it 22nd in the U.S., created 3,848 solar businesses and produced a total $1.5 billion investment in solar.
This puts it well behind its border-states, Maryland and New Jersey. Maryland, Pennsylvania’s Mid-Atlantic neighbor to the south, has half the population, but an installed solar capacity of 932.7 MW which meets 2.92% of its electricity need, according to SEIA. It ranks 13th nationally, has 5,324 solar businesses, and a $2.6 billion total in-state solar investment.   
Across the Delaware River, New Jersey has three-fourths the population, but ranks 5th nationally with an installed solar capacity of 2,446.79 MW, SEIA reported. It met 3.87% of its electricity need with solar in 2017, had 7,106 solar businesses and $7.8 billion in total solar investment.

A comparison of solar’s job creation as well as RPS goals in neighboring states. 

 

Credit: From the DEP’s draft solar plan

“Nearby states have embraced solar development to a greater degree,” the first paragraph of Pennsylvania’s Solar Future Plan acknowledges. But the experience gained by policymakers, utilities, and solar developers in those states “can now be used [in Pennsylvania].”


Despite the state’s apparent lack of progress compared to its neighbors, the state moved from 26th to 22nd in SEIA’s 2017 national rankings, evidence that the state “is moving forward,” the plan reports. “There is significant potential for solar to continue this growth and transform the electricity generation sector.”

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s administration took a significant step forward with October 2017’s Act 40, McDonnell said. The Act will help boost solar growth by protecting Pennsylvania’s solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) price.

Several factors, including other states selling their SRECs to Pennsylvania utilities, caused an oversupply and drove REC solar prices sharply down, RER Energy Group VP for Strategy Chris Flynn told Utility Dive.

The plan describes a set of “Cross-Cutting Strategies” that go beyond the Act. They include a more demanding AEPS, carbon pricing, innovative rates and financing programs. Widely endorsed by distributed solar advocates and rejected by utilities, these strategies could bring down solar costs and drive Pennsylvania’s solar market.

“The next step is to engage with the legislature and others,” McDonnell said. “Reconsidering and expanding solar is the starting point because the AEPS’s 18% mandate will be met by 2021. This plan asks ‘what comes next?'”

Read the full story

Like this? Click to receive free updates

In Pa., the future of renewable energy is lawmakers’ call Read More »

Hoboken water woes reach boiling point as mayor threatens water company, Suez, with lawsuit

Corey W. McDonald reports for the Jersey Journal:

HOBOKEN — The nearly 25-year relationship between the city and Suez, the company operating the city’s water system, took an ugly turn Tuesday when Mayor Ravi Bhalla said he intends to sue the company and seek a new operator following a rash of water main breaks.
Bhalla, during a 10 a.m. press conference outside City Hall, declared a city-wide emergency after a string of water main breaks that the city has “never before seen.”
“In our view, there can only be one explanation: Suez has mismanaged our system,” Bhalla said.
Suez has been contracted with the city since 1994. City officials said Tuesday there have been 14 water main breaks over a 64-day period, an “anomaly” in the summer months.
“Needless to say, decisive action is appropriate and necessary to address the spike in water main breaks,” he said, adding that the water remains safe to drink.
Bhalla said the city intends to file a lawsuit against Suez “if, as we suspect, our professionals confirm that the cause of the water main breaks is the result of Suez’s mismanagement of our water main system.” 
Meeting between Hoboken mayor, water company reps ends abruptly, official says
Meeting between Hoboken mayor, water company reps ends abruptly, official says
An emergency meeting between the mayor and Suez to discuss the city’s recent water main breaks didn’t go as well as planned.

He will seek authorization from the City Council during the body’s regular meeting on Sept. 5 to retain legal counsel for the litigation. Bhalla said his administration will also seek council approval to rebid the city’s water management.
But during its own press conference at 11 a.m., the water company defended itself against accusations of mismanagement and refuted the city’s claims.
Rich Henning, a senior vice president of Suez, said that for the past 17 years, the city has averaged 12 water main breaks during the months of July and August — on par with what the city cast as an anomaly.
Annually, the city has averaged 111 water main breaks, about one break every three days, Henning added.
“One-hundred-year-old pipes have outlasted their usefulness and, truthfully, it is time for the city to finance and get ready to (install) infrastructure that meets the greatness of this city,” Henning said.
Read the full story

Hoboken water woes reach boiling point as mayor threatens water company, Suez, with lawsuit Read More »

Algae bloom in Lake Superior raises tourism concerns

Scientists collecting samples of the algae. Lake Superior is one of several major bodies of water where algae blooms have drawn scientific scrutiny.CreditCreditBrenda Moraska Lafrancois
Christine Hauser reports for the New York Times: In 19 years of piloting his boat around Lake Superior, Jody Estain had never observed the water change as it has this summer. The lake has been unusually balmy and cloudy, with thick mats of algae blanketing the shoreline.

“I have never seen it that warm,” said Mr. Estain, a former Coast Guard member who guides fishing, cave and kayak tours year-round. “Everybody was talking about it.”

But it was not just recreational observers along the shores of the lake who noticed the changes with concern. Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes with more than 2,700 miles of shoreline, is the latest body of water to come under increased scrutiny by scientists after the appearance this summer of the largest mass of green, oozing algae ever detected on the lake.

From the Gulf Coast to the northernmost shores of the United States, scientists and government officials are working to decipher algae blooms to help them interpret the causes of the blooms, changes to their climates, and the effects the blooms have on public health and regional environments.


Scientists generally agree that algae blooms are getting worse and more widespread, and are exacerbated by the warmer water, heat waves and extreme weather associated with climate change. They are also intensified by human activity, such as from farm and phosphorus runoff, leakage from sewer systems, and other pollution.
The problems that algae blooms pose to fresh and marine waters have been propelled to the forefront in recent years by high-profile events like the shutdown of the water supply in Toledo, Ohio, in 2014 after toxic algae formed over the city’s water-intake pipe in Lake Erie, as well as the production of a toxin by a species of algae off the West Coast in 2015.
[Like this? Click to receive free updates]
More recently, in the waters off southwestern Florida, a toxic algal bloom known as a red tide persisted this year for more than nine months, the longest time period since 2006. The overgrowth killed wildlife and made some beaches noxious.
Other areas, including the Finger Lakes in New York and Utah Lake south of Salt Lake City, have also experienced an unusually high number of blooms in recent years.
This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s laboratory for environmental research on the Great Lakes warned that some parts of Lake Erie were not fit for recreational activities because of an algal bloom.

Read the full story

Like this? Click to receive free updates

Algae bloom in Lake Superior raises tourism concerns Read More »