| | | | | |  | | By Ry Rivard and Marie J. French | Presented by NYLCV and the Building Decarbonization Coalition | FOR COMMUNITY SOLAR, TIEBREAKER IS DEAL-BREAKER — As the New Jersey prepares to create a new subsidy program for community solar projects, environmental groups and elements of the solar industry are concerned about one way the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities would select projects. The state has run a pilot program since 2019 but, at the behest of lawmakers, is creating an annual program meant to help fund about 150 megawatts of new community solar projects annually. Unlike other home rooftop solar projects, which largely benefit homeowners, or grid-scale project, community solar is considered a way to bring the local and price benefits of solar to low-income communities. Thanks to the pilot program years, about 50 projects with a combined 48 megawatts of capacity have been built — but almost as many projects have gone unbuilt, making the program unpredictable in terms of how much power it will actually create. That’s prompted discussions among BPU officials about how to award projects in a way that is fair to developers but also ensures they’ll actually get built. In a draft plan from back in March, BPU staff suggested that pre-qualified developers could apply for and receive approval for projects on a first-come, first-serve basis. But there would be regional capacity limits — based on the overall market share of the utility serving the community where the project would be. And, importantly, when there were more qualified bids than the capacity cap submitted in the first 10 days after bidding opened, there would be a way to break the tie among developers. But that tiebreaking method is proving controversial for environmental groups and some community solar developers, including Solar Landscape, the Asbury Park-based company that has been awarded dozens of projects. The BPU’s idea is to break ties among developers by awarding subsidies to the projects that guarantee the lowest prices for ratepayers. This, Solar Landscape and others argue, “would incentivize project developers to make unrealistic financial guesses to justify overly aggressive discount rates, which would lead to project failure when those guesses turn out wrong.” Solar Landscape cited BPU statistics that show 56 percent of the projects awarded in the first year of the pilot program have failed (the company said none of its project have failed). Others agree with the company’s position, including NRDC, Environment New Jersey and the state League of Conservation Voters. Instead, some of the environmental groups argue the BPU should favor projects where developers can show community engagement because one of the purposes of community solar is to make sure low-income households can access solar energy and lower rates — but they can’t do that if they don’t know about the projects or the program. The BPU’s draft also makes some hard calls about what community solar should and shouldn’t be. Officials there argue that utilities, like PSEG, should not be able to build community solar projects and that community solar projects should not be built on farmland. The BPU’s proposal also notes that no community solar projects had been built in Atlantic City Electric’s service territory, which means that a program meant to help the whole state is not helping customers in South Jersey. It’s not clear why that is, but the region’s lack of warehouse rooftops may be one factor. — Ry Rivard
| | | | A message from NYLCV and the Building Decarbonization Coalition: The State Legislature must make utility affordability and climate action a priority by passing the NY HEAT Act. This legislation would save customers over $200 million annually by ending subsidies to build new pipelines and cap energy bills at 6% of income for low-income households. As we build carbon-free communities, we must ensure that the cost of achieving that future will not be borne by those who can least afford it. Read more: https://nylcv.org/clean-buildings/ | | | NEPA CHANGES IN DEBT CEILING DEAL — POLITICO's Josh Siegel: The tense negotiations between the White House and House Republicans over the debt ceiling yielded a handful of updates to environmental permitting rules that would benefit both oil and gas and clean energy projects — though meeting the tight deadline to avoid a debt default meant many of the most contentious measures were left for Congress to haggle over. The energy components of the debt ceiling deal struck by the White House and House Republicans calls for setting time limits on environmental reviews of new projects and conducting a study of the power grid. The bill also includes a special provision to expedite permitting of the Mountain Valley Pipeline , a long-delayed natural gas project with some powerful allies which would send natural gas through West Virginia to the East Coast. Republicans had used the tough negotiations over the federal debt ceiling to push several of their energy priorities, including a rollback of the Inflation Reduction Act’s hundreds of billions in spending on programs to fight climate change and an overhaul of permitting rules that the energy industry says drags on too long and makes it difficult to build new infrastructure. But the measures included in the text of the deal would modestly address the long delays that can plague both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects. They included a two-year time limit on conducting Environmental Impact Statements, and a one-year limit for environmental assessments under the National Environmental Policy Act, and allow developers to seek the intervention of a court if the deadline is missed. The bill calls for designating a lead federal agency to conduct reviews, which it would put into a single environmental review document set out in a timeline listed publicly. It would require agencies in some cases to consider fewer alternatives for the proposed locations of projects so that options considered have “reasonably foreseeable” environmental impacts. It would allow an agency to adopt, or share, another agency’s “categorical exclusion,” or a determination to exempt a project from NEPA review due to low environmental impact. GOOD TUESDAY MORNING: Let us know if you have tips, story ideas or life advice. We're always here at mfrench@politico.com and rrivard@politico.com. And if you like this letter, please tell a friend and/or loved one to sign up. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories. | | | | A message from NYLCV and the Building Decarbonization Coalition:   | | | Here's what we're watching this week: TUESDAY — The first of a series of listening sessions on spending the $4.2 billion environmental bond act is held, 1 p.m., University at Buffalo's Center for Tomorrow. Others are scheduled through the summer. WEDNESDAY — City and State hosts an event on electrification sponsored by National Grid, 9:30 a.m., the Renaissance Hotel, Albany. THURSDAY — The first of a series of webinars on the state’s proposed “cap and invest” program will give an overview of the plan, 1 p.m. — The Department of Public Service staff convenes a session on National Fuel Gas’ long-term plan for its system, 3 p.m.
| | | | A message from NYLCV and the Building Decarbonization Coalition: New York's gas pipeline system is an increasingly outdated, non-renewable heating source, linked to air pollution and safety hazards. But even since the 2019 Climate Act was passed, New York has sunk $5 billion into maintenance and expansion of the gas system. Millions of New Yorkers are feeling the pain as utility companies force them to pay for outdated infrastructure in need of constant maintenance.
The NY HEAT Act can reverse this trend and get gas utility bills under control. Not only would this legislation cap the energy bills of low- and moderate-income households at 6% of their income, it would save gas customers more than $200 million annually by ending the ‘100 foot rule,’ which subsidizes new gas pipeline hookups and incentivizes existing buildings to use gas instead of clean energy sources, like high-efficiency heat pumps. It’s time to pass the NY HEAT Act. Read more: https://nylcv.org/clean-buildings/ | | | | | — A North Country clean energy hub. | | ASSEMBLY COOL ON N.Y. HEAT: After cutting a deal for the nation’s first legislative ban on fossil fuels in most new buildings, lawmakers are resisting additional limitations on the natural gas system in the final days of session — despite an urgent call for action in New York’s climate plan. Environmental advocates have put much of their end-of-session focus on a measure that has backing among Senate Democrats to reshape the regulatory paradigm for the gas system. — Marie J. French SOLOMON SAYS FAREWELL AT BPU: The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities said farewell to Dianne Solomon, who has been on the board for the past decade, since Gov. Chris Christie nominated her to it. In her farewell to the board, she warned about the costs of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s clean energy master plan, which sets the goal of abandoning the use of fossil fuels by 2050. She said she has bristled at supporting such policies and objected when the board has been asked to “promote policy interests that will result in higher utility rates and diminished reliability.” “The master plan, though aspirational, which advocates for policies unquestionably consistent with the administration's goals, is inconsistent with our charge,” Solomon said in farewell remarks last week to the board. “In a state already expensive for residents and businesses, these policies will impact our poorest residents the most as the cost of electricity and natural gas increase and economic opportunities decrease. We must ensure New Jersey does not follow the failed policies of California.” The BPU will soon have two new commissioners, Marian Abdou, an attorney for the energy company NRG, who is the Republican replacing Solomon; and Christine Guhl Sadovy who will return to the BPU, where she was a top staffer, to be a member of the board. Sadovy is one of the top staffers who worked on Gov. Phil Murphy’s clean energy master plan and someone who knows her way around the BPU. — Ry Rivard LIBERTY STATE PARK PLAN — POLITICO's Ry Rivard: New Jersey officials unveiled plans Wednesday to redo Liberty State Park and create a vast area there comparable to Central Park by the time Gov. Phil Murphy leaves office in 2026. The plans are for a grand interior park covering 230 acres with nearly six miles of trails, some of which will look out at New York Harbor and the Manhattan skyline. GLICK NIXES LOW CARBON FUEL STANDARD: While the Senate Democrats made moves last week to advance a “clean fuel standard” to decarbonize the transportation sector (S1292), a key Assembly Democrat stomped on the concept. “I don’t believe we think that this matches our goals set out in the” state’s climate law, said Assemblymember Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan), who chairs the Environmental Conservation Committee. She raised concerns about continued combustion of fuels under the proposal. The measure did not move through her committee, which held its last scheduled meeting for this session on Tuesday. That makes action in the final weeks of the session, scheduled to end on June 8, unlikely. — Marie J. French ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES PUSHED: Environmental advocates are pushing for a package of bills to ban toxic chemicals known as PFAS in some products as the final days of session tick down. “I would like to see PFAS banned in every way, shape and form,” said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn) at a press conference with the JustGreen Partnership, a coalition coordinated by Clean and Healthy New York and WE ACT for Environmental Justice. “These are the forever toxins that are forever transforming our health and safety." — Marie J. French OFFSHORE TRANSMISSION COSTS RISE: The price tag for a series of infrastructure projects the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved last year to bring offshore wind energy to millions of homes throughout the state continues to rise. The $1 billion suite of projects is now expected to cost $127 million more than estimated last fall. One of the largest cost increases is due to the cost of acquiring land, costs that were explicitly excluded from original estimates for the project. The cost increases were made public in documents from a committee of the regional grid operator, PJM. This is the second time the costs of the project have been revised upward, though transmission projects are notorious for running over budget. — Ry Rivard BIRDS AND BEES: The coalition of environmental groups is also backing the “birds and bees” bill to ban a certain class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids (S1856), which faces staunch opposition from several agricultural industry groups.— Marie J. French JERSEY WIND PROJECT NEARS FINAL APPROVAL: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Monday published its final environmental review for a major proposed wind farm off the New Jersey coast. The Ocean Wind 1 project would power roughly half a million homes with 98 turbines off the Atlantic City shoreline but has generated local opposition. BOEM said it would issue a final record of the decision for the project this summer. — James Bikales | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
