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NJ Gov. Chris Christie signs solar energy rescue bill

New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie on Monday signed into law a bill to rescue the state’s crashing solar energy industry by escalating the rate at which power suppliers must buy solar energy over the next 15 years. 

The businesses of solar panel installers across the Delaware in Pennsylvania are reportedly in even tougher shape, but similar legislation there remains stuck in committee. 

“There’s only eight legislative days left,” solar lobbyist Maureen Mulligan told NewsWorks yesterday. “So it’s not looking promising that the legislators would have the will to push it through.”


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Advanced Solar Products CEO Lyle Rawlings hopes Christie’s approval eventually nudges Pennsylvania lawmakers.

“I would hope the fact that a conservative Republican governor in New Jersey recognized the economic importance of the solar industry in New Jersey would be a clue to the Pennsylvania governor and Legislature that the same can happen, and should happen, in Pennsylvania,” Rawlings said.

Good luck with that, Lyle. Unfortunately, you’re trying to save solar energy businesses and jobs in a state that seems entirely focused on shale drilling and warding off non-existent voter fraud threats.

Read the full NewsWorks story here. 

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