The price quoted by Nautilus was too high given the unsubstantiated benefits, and therefore an unacceptable burden for the state’s ratepayers. This includes the proposed OREC starting price plus the annual escalator. Board staff made this clear to Nautilus at multiple points during negotiations over the last three months, but the price never came down to an acceptable level.

Taxes & Subsidies New Jersey

Offshore-wind developers are pressing the BPU to begin accepting applications before the end of the year, fearing that if the state does not move swiftly, they will not be able to qualify for lucrative federal tax credits. The credits expire at the end of 2019 and developers need to start spending big dollars on their projects before then or they will not qualify for the incentives.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind New Jersey

The U.S. Department of Energy says Fishermen's Energy failed to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to have a power purchase agreement in place. The department is revoking most of the $47 million in funding it pledged to the project in 2014; about $10.6 million has been spent.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind USA New Jersey

The plan, rejected three times by New Jersey utility regulators, is the subject of a court appeal due to be heard in March. But Fishermen's Energy is powering ahead with the plan anyway in order to take advantage of federal tax credits that expire at the end of the year.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind New Jersey

Ratepayers already have coughed up $388 million in rebates and other financial incentives for the clean energy program to promote solar panels, wind projects, and other renewable energy initiatives during the first years of the program, ...but that amount does not include what customers have shelled out since the state largely switched to a more market-based program.

Taxes & Subsidies New Jersey

The clock is quietly winding down on Fishermen’s Energy offshore wind project, a proposal its backers say could propel New Jersey into becoming a hub for offshore wind farms, and potentially create hundreds, if not thousands of new manufacturing jobs in the state. The 25-megawatt pilot, located 2.8 miles off Atlantic City, is the first to come under review by state regulators, but its prospects of moving forward are looking bleaker by the week, if not by the day.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind USA New Jersey

New Jersey is hoping to lure an offshore wind manufacturer to the state to help jump-start a green industry, but a lucrative incentive aimed at attracting the business is no longer available. ...to qualify, a company had to make its decision by the end of 2012. With a Chinese manufacturer offering to build a facility ...the bill is likely to move forward before the new fiscal year begins in June.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind New Jersey

Wake up, New Jersey, before more of your tax dollars are wasted on Gov. Corzine's offshore wind farm. ...In these hard financial times, our state and federal governments need to invest taxpayer dollars more wisely than they have. Alternative energy sources are needed, but they must make financial sense. Windmills on land are borderline cost-effective, and that's only because of energy subsidies. Windmills in the north Atlantic never will come close to recovering their cost. If something doesn't make financial sense, we should be looking at who will benefit from its construction. New Jersey citizens will not benefit from this ocean wind farm. Electric costs will rise because of it. Someone needs to follow the money to see who will benefit.

Taxes & Subsidies General New Jersey New York

Twenty percent of the electricity consumed in New Jersey by 2020 must come from renewable sources, such as wind and sun, up from 1 percent today, according to new regulations adopted unanimously Wednesday by the state’s Board of Public Utilities. “Increased use of renewable resources, specifically solar, will provide greater fuel diversity for New Jersey, while simultaneously reducing price volatility, strengthening the economy, improving public health and reducing greenhouse gases,” said Jeanne M. Fox, utilities board president. New Jersey Public Interest Research Group and the Sierra Club applauded the decision, but the state’s leading business and industry group warned that the rules will end up costing ratepayers more.

Taxes & Subsidies Energy Policy General New Jersey

Yet, despite the operation of New Jersey’s small wind project since January, there is uncertainty about whether wind farms, particularly gigantic turbines positioned off the region’s coastline, will be embraced here. On Long Island, a 40-turbine project being considered off the South Shore is facing stiff resistance from opponents who argue that the turbines will damage pristine ocean views, fail to deliver cost-effective electricity and create environmental problems. In New Jersey, powerful local politicians have lined up behind wind power, where up to 80 turbines — rising 380 feet or more above the water along the South Jersey coastline — have been proposed to take advantage of the near-constant breezes.

Pollution Taxes & Subsidies Energy Policy General Zoning/Planning Connecticut New Jersey New York

Less than a day after a long-suppressed audit of the state's Clean Energy Program was released by the state Treasury Department, a Senate Republican called for an independent investigation into possible wrongdoing at the state Board of Public Utilities.

Taxes & Subsidies General New Jersey

TRENTON New Jersey will be the first to offer a statewide program in which all the state's electric customers can opt to pay more in their monthly bills to use energy that comes from renewable sources.

Taxes & Subsidies New Jersey