New Jersey Launches 3.1 MW Community Solar Project Constructed on Delanco Landfill May 14, 2021, 11:25 am | in
First-of-its-kind project offers low-income households access to clean energy and bill savings in historic Pilot Program
Delanco, N.J. May 13, 2021–Governor Phil Murphy’s Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) today celebrated the launch of the first community solar project to be constructed on a closed landfill as part of the NJBPU’s historic Community Solar Energy Pilot Program. Community Solar supports Governor Murphy’s commitment to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2050 and ensures access to clean energy for communities previously unable to utilize solar energy. The 3.1 MW solar installation, constructed by New Jersey developer Soltage at 900 Coopertown Road in Delanco Township, will power up to 700 households with clean energy and dedicate 55 percent of its output to low-
Obligating ratepayers to act as guarantors…
…. they seek to leverage the subsidies as a means to obligate ratepayers to act as guarantors of the plants’ profitability,
It is noteworthy that PSEG never offered to return any stranded-cost payments to ratepayers and now has the temerity to argue that this $3 billion wealth transfer should not be considered in determining whether the nuclear plants require further subsidization.
Despite the efforts of PSEG and Exelon to ignore precedent and establish their preferred regulatory structure, the fact remains that the BPU and Legislature removed precisely these types of costs and risks from ratepayer responsibility long ago.
Steven S. Goldenberg
With the issue regarding the propriety of nuclear subsidies known as Zero Emission Certificates or ZECs again before the Board of Public Utilities, the predictable PSEG-inspired public drumbeat supporting its nuclear plants has begun. News outlets, including NJ Spotlight News, have recently featured articles and editorials that tout the benefits the nuclear plants confer on the state, and are intended to gin up support for extending the current $300 million annual ratepayer subsidies.
There is no question that the plants provide jobs and environmental, fuel diversity and economic benefits to the state. However, as discussed below, these benefits alone do not establish the plants’ eligibility to receive the more than $800 million in additional subsidies that have been requested, and certainly do not justify PSEG’s effort to require ratepayers to assume responsibility for the costs and risks associated with the plants’ continued operation, a requirement