"With hearings about to end on a petition by Public Service Electric & Gas to spend $2.6 billion to harden its power infrastructure, the utility could be encouraged by the release of independent reports saying climate change poses a serious strain on energy supplies,"
Tom Johnson writes today in NJ Spotlight.
"It is an argument the Newark company frequently has made during the hearings before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, which are expected to end today. PSE&G noted that the three worst storms in its more than century-old history, which left millions of customers without power, all occurred in the past 18 months.
"The reports, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy and by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, suggest that existing energy production and use are at risk of cascading failures."
The BPU faces a delicate political decision. One the one side is the need to give utilities rate increases high enough to fund the hardening of their facilities and equipment against future storms. On the other is the fact that New Jersey residential and business customers already pay among the highest electric bills in the nation.
Con Ed Settlement Sets Stage for Climate Change Reform
Long winter has been hard on power providers, customers – Buffalo News
PSC Approves Florida Electric Utility Storm Hardening Plans
Survey of Five Southeast State Utility Commissions Finds Wide Hardening Variations
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