“Offshore wind developers yesterday presented a proposal to set up a mechanism for financing up to 1,100 megawatts of wind farms off the Jersey coast, but the proposal raised more questions than it answered among state regulatory official,”Tom Johnson writes in today’s NJ Spotlight.
“The proposal, a consensus mechanism agreed upon by several offshore wind developers, suggests a framework for how the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) could award ratepayer-subsidized credits to the wind farms for the electricity they generate. That would guarantee the projects a steady stream of funding that should convince banks to invest in the clean energy technology.
“What the proposal failed to spell out, however, was any semblance of what these projects — priced at upward of $5 billion by some — would cost ratepayers, who ultimately will foot the bill, under bipartisan legislation signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie.”
Frustrated by Few Details
Johnson reports that the proposal seemed to leave the BPU and Division of Rate Counsel officials frustrated, particularly over lack of details of how precisely the developers’ proposal would work.
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