New Jersey Sierra Club Applauds Board of Public Utilities Investigation Into Regulatory Responses to Disastrous Federal Rule

Trenton, NJ - Today, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) responded to a new Federal rule from the Trump Administration, which will promote fossil fuel electricity generation at clean energy’s expense,  by opening an investigation into state regulatory options that will protect New Jersey’s clean energy economy.

In December 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced an expanded application of the Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR), which now mandates that New Jersey’s new clean energy resources be offered into PJM’s capacity market at artificially increased prices. The MOPR effectively cancels out state incentives for clean energy resources, leaving them unable to reduce capacity from dirty energy like coal and fracked gas. This will lead to ratepayers being forced to pay higher prices for dirty energy that they do not want or need.

New Jersey’s recently released Energy Master Plan (EMP) found that the FERC is “actively attempting to support fossil fuel interest in the PJM region,” and that the new MOPR would likely make it impossible for the state to meet Governor Murphy’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050. Public health groups, consumer protection associations, and environmental organizations have loudly denounced the new federal rule, and asked that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities intercede and investigate a wide variety of pathways moving forward, which includes opting out of the PJM capacity market completely.  

In response, Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement: 

“This federal rule is nothing more than a bailout for fossil fuel generation in the PJM electricity market, which will hurt New Jersey’s clean energy economy, increase energy costs for ratepayers, and increase dangerous fossil fuel pollution in our communities. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ investigation is critical to identifying the best ways to avoid the harm the rule will cause to NJ's clean energy economy. It’s clear that clean energy is taking off with more proposals for offshore wind and solar, and that FERC and the Trump Administration are trying to tilt the scale to dirty, expensive energy. We will not stand for this, and we urge the utilities commission to make a decision that aligns with New Jersey's clean energy goals and ensures affordable energy to ratepayers across the garden state .”