State Weighs Dramatic Changes in Energy Policy

by Tom Johnson for NJSpotlight.com

By the numbers, New Jersey’s solar industry is racking up some pretty impressive milestones. More than 10,000 solar systems installed statewide. A total of 380 megawatts of electricity generated from those panels. A record 42 megawatts installed in June, involving 520 new solar projects.

Citing those milestones, the Christie administration yesterday defended its plans for developing new sources of renewable energy, a commitment called into question by some clean energy advocates ever since the release of a draft Energy Master Plan (EMP) last month.

That event underscored the increasingly high stakes expected over the next few months, as the state weighs dramatic changes in its energy policy. Those decisions will have significant impact on an industry experiencing rapid growth, but one that could spike electric bills in a state with some of the highest energy costs in the nation.

Holding a press conference the day before public hearings on the plan began in Newark, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin disputed allegations that the administration is scaling back its renewable energy goals, saying the sector, particularly solar, is experiencing "explosive growth."

"New Jersey continues to be a leader in solar," said Martin, talking to reporters on a conference call. "There’s no intention of backing away from solar in any form."

A New Focus for Solar

The questions about the solar program have been voiced by some solar industry advocates, as well as environmentalists, who are unhappy the draft plan changes the focus of the state’s solar program. The plan also recommends taking another look at very aggressive targets for increasing New Jersey’s reliance on solar to provide electricity to residents and businesses.

Martin stood behind those recommendations, saying they were motivated, in part, by a desire to have the market drive down the costs of solar power. The plan recommends moving away from subsidizing smaller residential projects in favor of bigger utility-scale systems, which generate cheap power because of the economies of scale.

The draft plan looks at the cost of solar, which is more expensive than electricity supplied by conventional power plants, such as nuclear or natural-gas fired plants. By 2015, the plan noted, ratepayers would be paying $525 million a year to pay off the cost of solar renewable energy certificates, which owners of solar earn for the electricity their systems produce. Those numbers have been criticized by solar energy executives, who say they are out-dated since the cost of solar is dropping every day.

Nevertheless, presenting a unified front to the administration’s plan may be difficult for the solar sector, which has grown increasingly divided over where solar systems should go and what type of installations make the most sense. Some favor building on farmland, which the plan discourages. Others want to retain rebates to encourage homeowners to put systems on their homes.