NEWARK—New
Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities passed one of the best Clean Energy
Standards in the nation today. NJPIRG praised the standard and called
on Governor Corzine and the state legislature to make New Jersey energy
independent by adopting policies that further promote renewable energy,
energy efficiency and conservation.
“New
Jersey has become national leader for clean energy, providing the
building block to take our state on the road to energy independence,”
said Suzanne Leta, NJPIRG’s Energy Advocate. “This is an excellent
opportunity for Governor Corzine to be a visionary in mapping out our
energy future.”
The
Clean Energy Standard, known as an RPS (renewable portfolio standard),
was introduced in October and requires that 20 percent of the energy
coming into New Jersey is from clean, safe, renewable sources like wind
and solar by 2020. This rule will reduce air pollution and global
warming emissions, reduce our oil and gas dependence, help stabilize
energy rates and, according to Rutgers University, bring an estimated
5,710 jobs to New Jersey every year.
The
Clean Energy Standard will remove a total of 15.3 billion pounds of
carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that causes global warming, which
is the equivalent of taking 1.3 million cars off the road, and 29.1
million pounds of nitrogen oxides, a smog-creating ozone precursor that
is also associated with pulmonary and respiratory disease, which is the
equivalent of taking 761,781 cars off the road.
“The
next step is energy efficiency and conservation,” said Leta. “We still
waste too much energy and that’s a problem regardless of how it’s
generated. To become truly energy independent, New Jersey must get
serious about reining in runaway energy demand.”
Over
the next 15 years, New Jersey’s electricity demand is expected to
increase by 29 percent and natural gas demand is expected to increase
by 9 percent. New Jersey can meet that demand with intensive promotion
of energy efficiency policies and investing the resources necessary to
carry them out. For example, by improving residential and commercial
building codes and appliance standards and investing more in existing
energy efficiency programs, New Jersey could reduce electricity demand
by 16 percent of projected consumption and natural gas demand by 15
percent of projected consumption by 2020.
•
There is no better or cheaper way to promote energy independence than
energy efficiency, since energy efficiency investments offer many years
of savings. According to the NJBPU, an investment of $110 million in
energy efficiency programs will deliver consumers a lifetime savings of
$520 million, a return of five to one. And when the NJBPU factored in
the cost of the energy infrastructure avoided, the overall return to
New Jersey consumers is $1.4 billion, a return of almost fifteen to one.
NJPIRG
is currently working to pass two bills in the state legislature that
together could cut projected electricity demand by 6.9% of projected
consumption and natural gas demand by 5.3% of projected consumption by
2020. The first bill would require new residential and commercial
buildings to meet Federal Energy Star standards, making them 30% more
efficient. The second bill would enact appliance standards for common
products including DVD players, lighting fixtures, furnaces and
boilers. In addition to reducing energy consumption, this bill would
save New Jerseyans an average of $840 million over the next 24 years.
In
addition to the legislation, New Jersey can invest more in energy
efficiency programs, and Governor Corzine can make a huge dent in state
energy consumption by requiring that existing state buildings reduce
their overall energy use by at least 30%.
“
New Jersey is ready to take huge strides forward to combat our
dependence on dirty fossil fuels and dangerous nuclear power. By
creating policies that work together to reduce demand and develop clean
energy technology, New Jersey will create a structure today that will
make us energy independent tomorrow,” Leta concluded.
Read NJPIRG's Energy Independence Policy Agenda for 2006
