NJ Sees Big Improvement in Energy Efficiency, New Report

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) State Energy Efficiency Scorecard for 2018 has been released. It ranks New Jersey as the state with the most improvement in the nation, ranking at 18^th overall. This scorecard ranks states on their policy and program efforts and recommends ways that states can improve their energy efficiency performance in various policy areas. New Jersey used to be ranked 7th nationally before Governor Christie was elected in 2010. By 2016, we had dropped down to 24^th.

“New Jersey is the most improved state with moving forward with energy efficiency according to a new report. For so many years we were going backwards and now we’re finally going forward. Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gasses and pollution while creating green jobs. In order to maintain our progress, we must be transitioning to renewable energy and energy efficient programs and move away from fossil fuels,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Under Christie we went from 7^th to 24^th and we’re finally moving back up to 18^th. We’ve been down so long, it’s all up from here. While this report shows progress, we still have a long way to go to make that progress a reality for New Jersey.”

According to the report, new Jersey’s rise is attributed to our new goal of 100% clean energy by 2050 and rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Many of the Republican states have been cutting energy efficiency programs altogether under the Trump Administration. Massachusetts remained in the #1 position followed by California. Other top ranking states include Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, and Maryland.

“Energy efficiency is an important way to grow our economy and protect against climate change but we haven’t been seeing all of its benefits yet. We spend more and see the least amount of outcome than any other state in the nation. We also continue to allow the Clean Energy Fund to be robbed, taking money away from important energy efficiency programs. Governor Murphy while campaigning promised to end the stealing of these funds but the pattern has continued this year by diverting another $140 million,” said Jeff Tittel. “Without implementation, we won’t see reduced pollution or green jobs. We need to work with the BPU to implement these new goals and projects. Governor Murphy must also stop raiding the funds so we have the means to make it happen.”

The recent nuclear subsidy bill is one of the biggest threats to clean energy here in New Jersey. There is no cap for coal, oil, gas, pipelines, or nuclear but this bill unfairly targets renewable energy by placing a cap on it, limiting the amount of renewable energy we can use in the state. The reason why we will not reach our renewable energy goals is because OLS says that in 2020 the cost of our RPS will exceed the cap by $280 million. This means the BPU will set aside the Renewable Portfolio Standard for that year. This leaves no room for New Jersey to move forward to meet targets of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (50% by 2030).

“Some of these utilities are presenting major obstacles to our clean energy future with the nuclear subsidy bill and some of them coming out with their own energy plans to undercut the BPU. The nuclear subsidy legislation requires consumers have to buy 40% of electricity coming from nuclear power plants. The bill does not have a sunset provision, so this can go on indefinitely. If we have to buy 40% of our electricity from nuclear, we will never get to Governor Murphy’s 100% clean energy renewable goals. New Jersey stays hooked on nuclear power at the expense of renewables like solar and wind. It will essentially block our efforts to get to 100% renewable energy and will lead to a crash in our solar market,” said Jeff Tittel.

New Jersey should be using the Clean Energy Fund to help people weatherize their homes and save money, but they continue to rob the Fund for other purposes. For every dollar invested by a homeowner they save $4 and for every dollar invested by a business they save $16.

“We’re finally heading in the right direction for energy efficiency. It’s important that New Jersey puts some action behind all of our promises when it comes to clean energy and energy efficiency. We used to be a leader for both and can be again. However, we need real policies that support our goals for rejoining RGGI and reaching 100% clean energy by 2050. Without funding the Clean Energy Fund and putting muscle into energy efficiency programs, we will stall out without advancing,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Energy efficiency is the low hanging fruit to save money and reduce pollution, but New Jersey will miss these opportunities if we don’t have the policy and the funding behind them.”