A recent article in NJ Spotlight details how New Jersey utility companies have decided to join in a program to promote the use of solar energy in homes and businesses.  The article describes the plan as “unexpected.”

In a bit of a surprise, all four electric utilities in New Jersey plan to participate in an extension of a program aimed at promoting the installation of new solar systems on homes and businesses in the state.

In letters delivered to the state Board of Public Utilities on Friday, all four utilities agreed to take part in the extended program, an unexpected development given that less than two weeks ago both Atlantic City Electric and Rockland Electric indicated they would not voluntarily join the effort.

The turnaround occurred amidst criticism from one BPU commissioner that the program should not be voluntary and perhaps by the fact that Public Service Electric & Gas had expressed a willingness to install solar systems in franchise territories outside its own, if others opted out of the program, according to industry observers.

The article notes that solar companies are particularly fond of such utility-sponsored programs, especially since the industry has been hit by steep declines in the prices that owners of the systems earn for the electricity they produce. PSE&G is apparently especially bullish on solar, announcing that it will build up to 95 megawatts of new capacity to develop solar in homes and small businesses. The company also plans to build solar atop unused garbage dumps and brownfields, which is a priority of the Christie administration’s new energy master plan.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

 

 

30 replies on “NJ Spotlight: Utility Companies Will Promote Solar”

  1. Solar is very good ( the Army uses it now whenever possible to cut back on the inherent dangers of fuel convoys) but extra insulation and efficient heating and cooling systems are far better.

    herb to bring up Solyndra in 1..2..3…

  2. 6:45 am this morning these guys were at work on my corner, loud, dropping tools and some big strip of metal was left in the middle of the street.

  4. Good to hear herb that should Romney get elected, he’ll be able to stop climate change. And also make oil an infinite resource.

  5. “whose ultimate costs are borne by ratepayers who pay for solar renewable energy certificates purchased by power suppliers”
    How come no one stops to think how much this is going to cost and who is going to pay for it? Every solar application I’ve seen requires significant subsidies to be feasible. These subsidies are paid by rate payers or tax payers.
    While we are on the topic, does anyone know how much those panels hung on utility poles cost and how much power is generated?

  7. Yeah Herb…..Mitt’s going to take all those solar panels and throw them into the Gulf of Mexico and give big oil more subsidies to pollute our drinking water! I can’t wait.

  8. I don’t know if you all heard, but the convenient truth is that the polar ice caps are coming back rapidly over the past two years. The scientists attribute this to Obama.

  10. “I love the hysteria”

    —i prefer the right’s more grounded, reasoned take on issues like birth certificates, birth control and “socialism”

  11. birth certificates, really Romney never said it was an issue. I’m not worried about the “right”, I’m worried about someone righting this country and saving it from this inept disaster in the WH. Check the polls , there are a lot more people that agree with me than the ‘right’.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiZdY9rw-uo

  13. I’m worried about someone righting this country and saving it from this inept disaster in the WH.

    Sure herb, let’s repeat the disasters of the previous adminstration, particularly more tax breaks for the wealthy and rolling back financial regulations. It worked so well for us last time!

    I wouldn’t mind Romney re-using old ideas. Whats laughable is that the old ideas he’s advocationg are proven not to work.

  14. I’ll do it, Spiro T. (and where hath thou been?), since Herb hasn’t yet.

    This sounds like a wonderful opportunity to hire Solyndra employees who may be, uh, “at liberty” these days. Let us hope, however, that they prove more competent this time than they did during their last go-round. We could also send Mike 91 up onto roofs (once we talk him down from the political tree house (way up there in the Swiftian “cloud cuckoo land” he seems to inhabit, that is).

    Also, Mike, even former President Clinton (a Democrat, I gather) wants to retain those tax cuts. Along with several other distinctly “Republican-sounding” policies. Did you know that? You always sound so steamed as a poster, so close to bellicosity. If we could only harness such hot ideological air, we might not even need solar panels.

    I really do await your careful, reasoned and in temperate language, explication to others of what makes Obamma’s last four years so successful and why we should vote enthusiastically for him again, as November nears. But I also suspect you can’t do it. You certainly don’t seem to have any idea whatsoever how to have dialogue with anyone who disagrees politically with you.

  15. Also, Mike, even former President Clinton (a Democrat, I gather) wants to retain those tax cuts. Along with several other distinctly “Republican-sounding” policies. Did you know that?

    Of course he didn’t say all of the Bush tax cuts, did he? Obama himself said he wouldn’t let the tax cuts for the lower income brackets expire. Its not even hair-splitting cathar, but alas, over your head as usual.

    I really do await your careful, reasoned and in temperate language, explication to others of what makes Obamma’s last four years so successful and why we should vote enthusiastically for him again, as November nears.

    Let’s not bother; lets go with what I stated above: the Republicans not only don’t have a plan, the plan they have has been proven not to work. I suspect enough independent voters will come the same conclusion.

    You certainly don’t seem to have any idea whatsoever how to have dialogue with anyone who disagrees politically with you.

    Ha ha! Hilarious, coming from the poster most often likely to insult first, and ask questions later. The poster who’s been given the nickname ‘crankypants’ by a prominent poster here. Oh and mention the word Muslim, now there’s the fireworks!

  16. “the Republicans not only don’t have a plan, the plan they have has been proven not to work.”

    The R’s have a plan you choose to ignore it. However, What has Obamas plan been going into his forth year? His own budget was defeated in both the Senate and House without receiving a single vote, not one….again, haha. What has this guy done? He’s a joke.

    “I suspect enough independent voters will come the same conclusion.” Really? you seem to be one of the few, I guess you can always HOPE, bwahahaha.

  18. The R’s have a plan you choose to ignore it

    No, I said it won’t work because its been tried before, especially in regards to tax cuts and regulations. Oh, they also want to roll back a health care reform law based on their own ideas.

    But yeah, they’re totally not a joke.

  21. cathar, sorry I haven’t been around much, but it’s been an amazing few days, what with Venus transiting the sun and me running around doing selfless good deeds 24/7.
    Plus, I’m trying to find a Red Heifer to sacrifice to the Mighty Yahweh, but all the stores seem fresh out of that kind of mammal. Best regards to you.

    Hey herbie, wassup?

  22. Home values still dropping. Last months non farm payrolls a pitiful 69k and now trending in the wrong direction for several months. People dropping out of the workforce. A non functioning government. ACA potentially unconstitutional. So much wasted time. Broken promises of hope and change.

    Obama has to shoulder these things. From a practical standpoint he really has to go.

    Romney is a moderate who many Democrats like more than they are willing to admit. There is a good chance congress is more functional under his watch even if only on the margin. Obama had his chance, he had some wins, but not nearly enough to earn him 4 more years.

    Obama inherited a disaster and in this regard it would be improper to judge him based on absolute numbers such as the current deficit or current unemployment rate. HOWEVER it is very fair to judge him based on his policy response to the inherited issues and it has been inadequate. Its that simple, it has not worked. I don’t want to hear anything about Republican obstructionism either because in his first 24 months he had a super majority and he really has nothing to show for it.

    He gives a great speech and can deliver the populist message at a specific moment in time incredibly well. I really care more about results.

  23. Really Mike, you didn’t say this “the Republicans not only don’t have a plan”….hummmm…ahhhh forget it , I’m heading home

    You’re right, I did! So let’s just leave it at “it’s been tried before and won’t work.” Better? Any response?

    hahah, and last year we had record snow fall….stop.

    Global climate change has a host of effects, including increase in severity of storms. Of course, we’re still setting records for average temperatures, but averages are math and math is harder than looking out your window.

    https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303753904577452754268255074.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

  24. 🙂 @ Spiro but I don’t want those ugly things on my roof.

    Stay … From your lips, or fingers, to the voting booth …..

  25. Cmon, stayhyphy, the “home prices” plummeted in large part because the old numbers were a sick joke, completely detached from the reality of the shabby and cynical products offered to the exurban executive and executive wife wannabe market. No wonder people will pay $3.5M for a brownstone in Park Slope, and far less for a vinyl plastic box in Sparta, masterfully appointed with a three car garage,
    a two story foyer and a toilet stall appointed with exotic polished stone tile and rare imported toilet paper. Stunningly gawgeous and to die for , for a wedding shower full of bridesmaids with bladder problems, but as flimsy as a cheap pick up line at Wayne Newton’s favorite bar.

  26. stayhyphy, you make some good points about the current administration. But I just don’t see anything out of the Romney campaign that isn’t the same old, same old.

    On Romney’s website, on his Jobs and Economic Growth page, he states: “His plan seeks to reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs. It seeks to increase trade, energy production, human capital, and labor flexibility.”

    So, again the same old refrain: Taxes and Regulations. Taxes are at their lowest levels (especially for the upper brackets) in years. Where has it gotten us? Cutting spending lessens the deficit. What does it do for unemployment? For that matter, uemployment payments go right back into the economy, don’t they? I guess “labor flexibility” means the unions. Yeah, the all powerful 7% of the economy are holding us back. Much better that no one have any negotiating power whatsoever.

    Increase trade. Great! How? Increase energy production. I’m guessing this is domestic oil drilling, which is at its highest levels in years. Where has that gotten us? How are gas prices?

    Again, same old bag of tricks. But along with that you get the right-wing’s ever so lovable social conservatives.

  27. Romney is a moderate who many Democrats like more than they are willing to admit. There is a good chance congress is more functional under his watch even if only on the margin.

    You are kidding yourself if you believe this. As much of a closeted moderate as Romney may be, he will have to deal with a very right-wing House that even John Boehner cannot control, and which will expect him to hew to very conservative policies, both financial and social. The Republican freshman class in the House has made it abundantly clear that their positions are non-negotiable, and they will interpret Romney’s election as a mandate for their policies, not any of Romney’s per se.

    And if they don’t hold his feet to the fire, his billionaire corporate overlords will.

    Me, I wouldn’t so much describe Romney as a moderate, but rather as shape-shifting pragmatist who will morph into whatever form he needs to assume to achieve his objectives, from the moderate Massachusetts governor who was instrumental in enacting the individual health insurance mandate (i.e., “Romneycare” or “Obamacare”, take your pick) in his state, to now self-described “severe conservative” who had furiously back-peddled, spin-doctored, and not infrequently blatantly lied about what he as said and did in the past.

  28. Spiro, Im not talking about the dramatic drops from what were, agreed, euphoric highs. 2007 and 2008 were under Bush’s watch anyway, 2009 and 2010 I will give Obama a pass. I am talking about end of 2011 and currently. Look at monthly year of year Case Shiller data, prices are still falling. Employment is going in the wrong direction, the economy needs to add 250k per month to really grow, 69k is unacceptable and what is super unacceptable is the rate itself going up despite people leaving the workforce (the denominator is decreasing). THATS A PROBLEM! and in year 4 Obama needs to carry that weight and pay for it.

    mike91…What is fresh about Romney is his desire to do a deal and his desire for results. Of course he had to pander to the retarded far right but thats not who he is and frankly he does not care if he pisses them off. In terms of getting both parties to the table, horse trading, and understanding give and take he gets that and he is good at it. Please don’t discount this, it is meaningful. What benefits America most is compromise. I think Romney brings that to the table in a much more effective manner than Obama.

    Pork Roll….I can care less if Romney back pedals in the pandering he has had to employ with in the primaries with respect to the far right. In fact I hope he back pedals and I hope he flip flops in that regard. I promise you, he will. Let me ask you this, how the H E double hockey sticks is a moderate supposed to otherwise win in today’s super polarized world? He will inevitably be labeled a flip flopper.

    Guys, Obama was not able to remotely achieve what he has promised, again, despite a 24 month super majority. He kind of has to go. He had his shot. I voted for him and he disappointed big time. Let me also say if any of the other 6 jacka$$es ended up with the nomination I would be voting for Obama again or staying home.

  29. “Increase trade. Great! How? Increase energy production. I’m guessing this is domestic oil drilling, which is at its highest levels in years. Where has that gotten us? How are gas prices?”

    mike91..Of course Romney does not have a magic wand? His website? Really? You think that’s where any candidate will have the answers?

    You bring up super tough questions and the only way we come close to an answer is when a bunch of people with differing views or approaches can sit down and hammer out a deal. Romney can facilitate that better than Obama has been able to do. In fact Romney has made a career of it, I believe Bubba’s word was “Sterling” … He has business experience. Obama was a risk because he had no substance in this regard and it would be really hard for you to argue that this lack of substance/experience did not play out.

  30. Another stupid comment by our clueless Prez.

    “The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government.”

    He is so out of it.

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