By Michele Byers
For the first time in four years, New Jersey is updating its Energy Master Plan, a blueprint for how this state we’re in uses and manages electricity.
And unless you live “off the grid,” it affects you.
This month, the state Board of Public Utilities is holding public hearings and accepting public comments for updates to the 2011 Energy Master Plan. Here’s your chance to weigh in on key issues like where our energy comes from, how efficiently we’re using it and how we can protect our land and air.
The 2011 Energy Master Plan had five goals: Drive down the cost of energy for customers; promote a diverse portfolio of clean, in-state power generation; reward energy conservation and reduce peak demand; capitalize on emerging technologies for transportation and power production; and set a goal of 22.5 percent of our energy coming from renewable sources by 2021.
Here are a few suggested talking points for new goals if you’d like to comment:
Achieve greater energy efficiency.
Develop renewable energy sources that are clean, appropriately located and competitively priced.
If we can meet these two goals, we can greatly reduce our reliance on energy from fossil fuels and protect land, water and air at the same time!
In its Energy Master Plan update notice, the Board of Public Utilities says New Jersey has made “good progress” in meeting the 2011 goals and related policy recommendations. Overall, the board said, the state has lowered energy costs and is advancing with energy efficiency, demand response and renewable energy.
The board’s focus on energy efficiency and renewables is right on track, but our state needs to invest much more in these areas. And while natural gas likely will be part of our energy mix in the short term, it’s critical to assess the financial and environmental costs of the proposed expansion of the natural gas pipeline infrastructure and the risks and hazards of over-reliance on natural gas.
Right now, New Jersey is facing an onslaught of proposed natural gas pipelines that threaten preserved open space and farmland, our air, our drinking water and our communities. Several new gas pipelines recently have been constructed in central and northern New Jersey, and three more are under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the Board of Public Utilities.
Many of these proposed pipelines would cross preserved farmland and open space — lands New Jersey residents paid for with their tax dollars. Crossing preserved lands runs counter to voter support for land preservation and erodes public trust in preservation programs.
There is not clear documentation these new gas pipelines are needed in New Jersey. In fact, the opposite most likely is true.
A recent analysis conducted by Labyrinth Consulting Services found the proposed PennEast pipeline alone would result in a 53 percent surplus beyond current demand in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and concluded gas is bound for other markets, including export overseas.
The current rush to build multiple pipelines in New Jersey runs the risk of significantly over-building, resulting in supply that far exceeds actual needs.
Since pipelines are designed to last for about 50 years, New Jersey could be saddled for decades with the costs of an extensive network of new pipelines that become obsolete in the near future as energy efficiency and renewables increase.
Instead of locking our state into long-term reliance on natural gas, the Energy Master Plan should catalyze a rapid transition to renewables and energy efficiency as the best means to meet the state’s energy needs and lower carbon emissions.
Superstorm Sandy showed us very clearly what our coastal state has at stake from climate change.
Renewables and energy efficiency also offer greater economic opportunities since they generate more sustained jobs and economic activities than those associated with pipeline construction.
Speak out to encourage greater energy efficiency measures and a quick transition to renewable energy sources! Email the Board of Public Utilities at EMPupdate@bpu.state.nj.us. Michele Byers is executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. For more information, contact her at info@njconservation.org or visit NJCF’s website at www.njconservation.org.
