NJ Energy Report – February 2024
Actions and comments affecting the New Jersey energy supply.
Comments
Green Energy Goals
- Environmentalists laid out their yearly demands to the state Legislators (1).
- Their energy demand is by 2035, only eleven years from now, all electricity generated in the state will be produced without any carbon dioxide emissions.
- To help force the energy transformation along, state pension funds should accept lower rates of return by refusing to purchase fossil fuel energy stocks (2).
- New equipment must be electric. (3).
- Energy costs, reliability, availability and residents and businesses preference for energy use are ignored.
(1`) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/environmentalists-lay-out-green-priorities-for-new-session/
(2`) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/02/another-push-divest-nj-state-pension-funds-fossil-fuel-investments/
(3`) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/02/gov-phil-murphy-fuel-merchants-association-of-new-jersey-department-of-environmental-protection-commissioner-shawn-latourette-new-jersey-board-of-public-utilities-new-jersey-conservation-foundation-e/
Replacing New Jersey CO2 emissions with massive Chinese emissions
- New Jersey has about 17 GW (17,000 MW) of installed electrical power mainly composed of gas, solar and nuclear. China installed 47 GW (47,000 MW) (1) of coal power alone last year.
- Yet New Jersey residents are expected to pay increasingly high rates for unreliable solar and wind electricity and to shut down the low carbon gas turbines.
- Simply New Jersey residents should go primitive while China builds coal plants and increases CO2 emissions.
(1`) https://www.cfact.org/2024/02/28/china-built-47gw-of-coal-power-last-year-and-is-way-off-track-to-meet-emissions-targets/#
Green Energy Incentives
- The Murphy Energy plan is falling (1) way behind its clean energy goals and the New Jersey Senate proposes to spend more taxpayer money to reach the goal.
- Incentives are being proposed to advance the following green energy goals
-
- Expanding reliance on solar energy
- Electrifying the commercial vehicle fleet
- Creating a market to store energy.
- Do the legislators have any idea why their goals are failing?
- What is the evidence that more financial incentives will improve reaching the goals?
- The Senate bill proposes to provide incentives
- To lower income families to promote solar power.
- Provide $60 million to entice building or developing energy storage systems
- Provide tax credits to companies to purchase electric trucks and install solar panels on warehouses.
- Evidently none of these actions are economically viable and worthwhile without other people’s money financing them.
(1`) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/02/nj-lawmakers-eye-incentivizing-clean-energy-goals/
Energy Supply
Offshore Wind Complexes.
- Offshore wind (1) (2) is returning to New Jersey waters despite Orsted’s withdrawal last year.
- The Atlantic shores wind complex will continue, the state has awarded two (2) new contracts for projects in the New York Bight area and the state is investigating another project further out from the Atlantic Shores area
- The wind electricity will be more expensive than promised in the past , it will still be unreliable and rate payers will absorb, up to 15%, any cost increases.
- The wind advocates ignore the increased costs and whale deaths and hope you do also.
(1’) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/02/glenrock-associates-american-clean-power-association-board-of-public-utilities-bpu-leading-light-wind-attentive-energy-biden-administration-tax-credits-inflation-reduction-act-gov-phi-murphy-orsted/
(2’) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/feds-host-hearing-on-regional-offshore-wind-plans/
Wind Port
- Governor Murphy is giving the wind industry about $550 million by building a wind port near the Salem Nuclear Plant. This wind port supposedly will attract all east coast wind companies to assemble their wind turbines there.
- Yet New York is building a wind port in Brooklyn and Massachusetts is building one in Salem Mass (1) (2). With their own wind ports why would they come to New Jersey?
- Other than the four projected projects for New Jersey, who else will use the massive New Jersey wind port?
- The governor should explain the current projected capacity utilization of the wind port and the projected rentals of the facility.
(1`) https://gcaptain.com/salem-offshore-wind-terminal-takes-significant-step-forward/
(2`) https://gcaptain.com/crowley-closes-land-deal-for-massachusetts-offshore-wind-port/
Nuclear Power
Subsidies
- The current New Jersey resident funded state payment of $300 million to PSEG for nuclear power will end. A new payment, funded by the federal government, is expected to replace it.(1).
(1`) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/02/new-jersey-bpu-to-eliminate-unpopular-nuclear-subsidy/
Natural Gas
Natural Gas Prohibition
- The state legislature is considering passing a constitutional amendment which would prevent any new natural gas power plants in the state (1).
- This would be massive and perpetual subsidy to the wind and solar industries.
- It also removes cost and reliability from the evaluation of providing electricity. The electricity supply becomes irrelevant if the generation method is acceptable.
(1`) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/02/nj-lawmakers-consider-ballot-question-enabling-voters-approve-or-block-new-gas-power-plants/
Transportation
Electric Vehicle Opposition
- A poll shows a majority of New Jersey residents oppose being forced to buy electric vehicles.
- Governor Murphy created this issue when his executive order prevented the sale of ICE cars in New Jersey after 2035.
- The primary advantage of an EV is the reduction in air particulates (air quality).
- The air quality issue is mainly in the cities and can be addressed by hybrids, not BEV’s.
(1`) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/poll-majority-of-nj-residents-oppose-electric-vehicle-plan/
Grid Improvements
Delayed Grid Connections
- Solar developers and legislators complain about the slow pace (1) and connection costs of larger solar complexes to the grid. This connection problem is caused by the random construction locations and intermittent power from the solar complexes.
- Solar complexes require transmission lines, substation connections and extensive control modifications whose costs have been excluded to claim that solar is cheap. Historically the power provider paid these costs.
- By passing the unreported costs to grid modification, the true cost can remain hidden.
(1`) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2021/05/interconnection-delays-big-problem-impeding-solar-growth-new-jersey-state-wants-fix/
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