BPU DECARBONIZATION PLAN FACES “BAN” CRITICISM, “CHOICE” PRAISE — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: Amid a political firestorm, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Wednesday gave power companies the option of helping customers switch from gas to electric appliances. The board’s move — called a gas stove mandate by its opponents — was met with attacks from Republicans, South Jersey Democrats and industry groups. It was a significant but more modest attempt to help Gov. Phil Murphy meet his goal of electrifying 400,000 residential buildings and 20,000 commercial buildings by the end 2030. Utilities charge their customers hundreds of millions of dollars to help fund energy efficiency programs. The board is now encouraging those companies to spend that money on customers who want to get rid of their gas-fired water heaters, space heaters and stoves. “It’s disturbing that Gov. Murphy is trying to circumvent the Legislature by having the BPU rubber-stamp his plan to transform how millions of New Jersey homes are powered,” said Sen. Anthony Bucco, leader of state Senate Republicans. South Jersey Democrats in competitive districts came out against the BPU’s action and state Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) and his running mates issued a press release urging the board to clarify that it was just voting on voluntary incentives. BPU President Joseph Fiordaliso rejected the anger at the board’s action as lies, misinformation and fear mongering. “With these new incentives, we are encouraging folks to move to energy efficient options — notice I said ‘encouraging folks’ — but let’s be clear, we are not requiring, not mandating anyone to give up their gas stove,” Fiordaliso said. “If that were the case, I would be thrown out of my own house.” Eric DeGesero, who represents the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey and New Jersey Propane Gas Association, called the board vote a “railroad job,” but even though he has led the campaign against mandates, he acknowledged the board action was not a ban on gas stoves. “This is what I would call the non-mandate mandate,” he said. NY AND NJ OBJECT TO 3M PFAS DEAL — POLITICO's Annie Snider, Jordan Wolman and Ry Rivard: Twenty-two attorneys general urged a federal judge Wednesday to block a $10.3 billion settlement proposal from 3M Co., saying the deal wouldn’t do nearly enough to resolve claims the company contaminated drinking water supplies across the country with toxic “forever” chemicals. The move, from both Democratic and Republican attorneys general from 19 states ranging from Hawaii and Texas to New Jersey and NewYork along with two territories and Washington, D.C., comes as public concern about the chemicals is mounting and the Biden administration is preparing to issue first-ever federal drinking water regulations that could cost water utilities and their customers billions each year. The AGs argue that the proposed settlement could negatively impact their own lawsuits against 3M. For instance, they say that 3M could end up paying far less than $10 billion because of provisions that could require water providers to reimburse the company for certain costs, and could leave water utilities and taxpayers liable for harms stemming from the chemicals. They also argue that the settlement would improperly bind all U.S. water utilities to it unless they opt out. Many utilities don’t yet know the extent of contamination they are facing nor the cost of dealing with it, and it’s unclear yet how much compensation the proposed settlement would deliver to individual utilities. “While I appreciate the effort that went into it, the proposed settlement in its current form does not adequately account for the pernicious damage that 3M has done in so many of our communities,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the state coalition, said in a statement. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel, for the District of South Carolina, is currently weighing whether to sign off on 3M’s proposed settlement, and a related $1.2 billion settlement proposal from Chemours Co., DuPont de Nemours Inc. and Corteva Inc. NORTHEAST WIND WOES — POLITICOs Ry Rivard and Marie J. French: We take a look at the grim financial outlook for the country’s offshore wind power industry and how it is threatening President Joe Biden’s most important energy plans. The administration is counting on offshore wind farms to produce at least enough power for 10 million American homes by the end of the decade. Up and down the Northeast — the center of the burgeoning industry — however, energy companies have struggled to finance their projects, going hat in hand to governors and utility regulators asking for more money so they can start building the turbines they have already promised to deliver. The energy developers’ requests have caused unrest in statehouses and among a public wary of already-rising power bills. But without a dramatic increase in offshore wind capacity, there is no way Biden or two of the nation’s greenest Democratic governors — New York’s Kathy Hochul and New Jersey’s Phil Murphy — can hope to meet their climate change goals. “This is a pretty fragile time in the offshore wind industry,” said Molly Morris, president of Equinor Wind US, which is developing three projects to serve New York. BUILDING DECARBONIZATION BACK ON AGENDA — The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is again set to consider a plan that would encourage building electrification. The board delayed action on the item at another board meeting earlier this month amid opposition from Republicans, traditional industry groups and the state’s ratepayer watchdog. On Wednesday, the BPU is set to take up recommendations that “focus on goals, targets, and performance incentive mechanism, as well as building decarbonization and demand response programs.” A BPU staff straw proposal aims to use a new three-year energy efficiency program that utilities will have to start next year to decarbonize buildings. Utilities would help customers switch from gas to electric appliances by targeting space and water heating in the residential and multifamily sectors and making buildings electrification-ready. Gov. Phil Murphy earlier this year set a target to electrify 400,000 residential buildings and 20,000 commercial buildings by 2030, which generally means retrofitting them to switch from natural gas to electric heat. PSE&G, the state’s largest utility, has taken a positive view of Murphy's goals and of the BPU’s plan. Others did not. Some parties, including the state’s ratepayer watchdog, have questioned whether the BPU has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, which decarbonization would do indirectly. To explain a delay in taking up the item, BPU President Joseph Fiordaliso said at a July 12 board meeting, “We’ve gotten an awful lot of stakeholder input, and we want to make sure that we include every aspect of input we’ve received before we have the final order issued.” — Ry Rivard SCHUMER PUSHES FERC —POLITICO’s James Bikales: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is urging FERC to significantly strengthen its proposed rules on transmission — an indication Democrats are looking beyond negotiations on the Hill to speed up permitting of the high-voltage lines. Schumer pushed FERC commissioners in a letter on Thursday to finalize a transmission planning rule with cost allocation provisions, including a specific list of benefits that must be considered in cost-benefit analyses. He also pressed FERC to “expeditiously finalize” its rule clarifying the commission’s backstop siting authority when states deny permits for major transmission projects. Cost allocation and federal backstop authority are among Democrats’ top priorities in permitting negotiations on the Hill, which have slowed since the two sides reached a debt ceiling deal with some regulatory reforms. Missing from the deal, however, were changes to speed up the permitting of transmission projects, which Democrats see as vital to the success of the clean energy transition. Republicans have indicated they are open to some transmission reforms, but haven’t spelled out what specific policies they would support and are asking for reforms to bedrock environmental laws in return. | 
