Sierra Club Urges NJDEP To Reject the Keasbey Woodbridge Power Plant 

Woodbridge Township, NJ – The Sierra Club joined over 150 people last night at the virtual hearing for the proposed 630-megawatt gas fired power plant in the Keasbey section of Woodbridge, New Jersey. Residents from Keasbey raised serious public safety and health concerns if another fossil fuel plant were to be built in their neighborhood. Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) also failed to notify the community immediately impacted where English is predominantly a second language. There was no opportunity for Spanish speaking residents to attend and participate fairly.

“New Jersey does not need more burning of natural gas to generate power. The proposed expansion of the Keasbey Energy Center in an already overburdened environmental justice community is unacceptable.The community has spoken, Keasbey, Woodbridge and the entire State of NJ does not want more natural gas infrastructure. This is 2023 and CPV can do a lot more than doubling down on natural gas burning, they actually already have a growing portfolio of wind and solar, so why not do just that in NJ?” said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, Director of New Jersey Sierra Club. “New Jersey in its entirety is already in non-attainment for ground-level ozone, therefore the addition of a significant amount of NOx emissions, a precursor of ground-level ozone, further exacerbates our air quality and public health problem.”

“The proposed Keasbey fossil fuel plant would go directly against Governor Murphy’s goal for NJ to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2035. Woodbridge has already received an F rating from the American Lung Association for ozone. Adding another power plant that would add 2,055,800 metric tons CO2e/year. would be disastrous for the residents, including children who are already suffering from harmful air pollution” said Tiziana Bottino, Senior Representative for Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. “The BPU has already determined that no additional gas is needed in New Jersey. There is no reliability issue. A fossil fuel power plant would only worsen our climate crisis and public health. That’s why the state needs to step up, just like New York has done and reject the Woodbridge Power Plant.”

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About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information about our work in New Jersey, visit www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey.