NJ’s Clean-Energy Goals Finance ‘Green’ Jobs in Other States, Lobbyist Claims
Are New Jersey’s utility customers paying too much to meet the state’s renewable energy requirements, mostly by funding similar programs and creating green jobs in other states?
The question is being raised as some argue that the state’s ambitious targets to increase the use of renewable energy can’t be achieved, primarily because many of the key technologies, such as offshore wind, are unlikely to be deployed.
The result? Of the $105 million collected from the state’s ratepayers this year to pay for credits to support some types of renewable energy, about $90 million will flow to out-of-state renewable energy projects and green jobs, according to an analysis put together by an energy lobbyist and a colleague.
The reason the money is on the move to neighboring states is that renewable resources like wind are more plentiful and more affordable in other locales, the analysis said.
This trend will significantly worsen in the next few years unless something is done, according to the analysis, potentially ballooning to $180 million heading out of the state by 2021.
