NJBIA is not the only group raising questions about how much the state’s new Energy Master Plan is going to cost consumers.
Michael Butler, the Mid-Atlantic director for the Consumer Energy Alliance, recently penned an op-ed for The Star-Ledger that criticizes the state for not analyzing how the changes in energy policy will impact ratepayers and raises questions about the judgment of the consultants New Jersey has hired to figure out how to meet the state’s energy goals.
The 108-page plan, which was unveiled in June and is expected to be adopted by the end of the year, encompasses Gov. Phil Murphy’s goal to convert New Jersey’s electricity production to 100% clean energy by 2050. The EMP strives to dramatically expand the use of alternative energy in ways that will affect the vehicles we drive and how we heat our homes and businesses.
A component of the EMP called the Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) is supposed to model how the state will achieve its goals. As Butler points out, however, these modeling exercises have not yet been made public and don’t include modeling of how these policy changes would impact rates.
“What’s even riskier is the fact that the IEP wasn’t finished before the public comment period for the BPU closed last month,” Butler writes. “As a result, no one in New Jersey will be able to comment about the cost of the plan, a fact Consumer Energy Alliance and six other groups representing most aspects of our state’s economy, highlighted in a recent letter to the BPU’s president.”
