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The PSE&G Kearny Landfill Solar Farm is shown in this file photo.
(Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media)
TRENTON — A state Senate panel on Monday will consider legislation that supporters say would give New Jersey one of the nation's most ambitious goals for renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
The bill (S2444) would require that 80 percent of New Jersey's energy use would be from renewable sources 35 years from now.
Supporters say the legislation is needed to crack down on carbon-producing forms of energy production like coal and gas.
"I think the public is realizing more has to be done," said state Sen. Christopher "Kip' Bateman (R-Somerset), who sponsors the legislation along with state Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex). "I think it's a way of continuing to get there. It's not going to happen overnight, but we're going to keep pushing."
The controversial bill, which has been pushed for by the solar power industry and is set to be heard by the state Senate Environment and Energy Committee, also specifically increases the amount of solar energy suppliers must use.
New Jersey requires 8.8 percent of energy to come from "Class I Renewable" sources, which include solar, wind, landfill gas and fuel cells. Under state law, that will have to be increased to 17.9 percent 2021, at which point the law mandates no more increases.
The legislation would increase that goal to 20 percent by 2020. It would then increase by 10 percent every five years, until it reaches 80 percent in 2050.
Right now, 2.5 percent of energy in the state is required to come from solar. Under the legislation, by 2030 at least 13.9 percent would have to be from that source alone.
But while the bill — which had a hearing but no vote in committee in October 2014 — is beginning to advance, its supporters acknowledge it's unlikely to become law while Gov. Chris Christie is in office.
"Unless Chris Christie has a road to Damascus experience, there's no way he's signing this bill," said David Pringle, New Jersey campaign director for Clean Water Action. "This is more about getting the bill right, advancing the conversation so that once we have a more enlightened governor we can once again be a more enlightened state."
And it has more its share of opponents.
Stefanie Brand, New Jersey's rate counsel, said ratepayers are already on the hook for $5 billion in expenses related to solar power, and that the bill would result in almost $3 billion more.
Brand the solar industry in New Jersey has been helped by state subsidies but is becoming self-sustainable as the energy form catches on and the cost of equipment declines.
"We really need to kind of take the training wheels off and let this industry ride off into the sunset when it's actually doing very well," Brand said.
Solar industry executives disputed the idea that they're being given subsidies.
"They're a payment for a value delivered," said Lyle Rawlings, president and CEO of Flemington-based Advanced Solar Products and co-founder of the Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Industries Association. "Being allowed to emit those pollutants is a subsidy, because the cost of that is borne by the public."
Andrew Hendry, president of the New Jersey Utilities Association, urged the Senate environment committee in October to take a "judicious approach" on renewable energy.
"All of our companies are currently investing capital into our infrastructure to make it more resilient and resistant to storms," he said in written testimony. "The upward pressure on utility rates that would result from the drastically increased (renewable portfolio standard) in this bill must be considered in the context of the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in the electric distribution system being made right now."
And while environmental advocates are broadly in support of the bill, they have some concerns.
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said the bill is impractical in requiring all the renewable energy to come from in-state sources, and that he's urging the bill's sponsors to remove that provision.
"We cannot support that," Tittel said. "We can bring in out-of-state coal... If we can't bring in out-of-state renewables, what will end up happening is we won't be able to do all the renewables here but then we'll bring in out-of-state coal."
Although the 80 percent goal is far off, advocates say it shouldn't be unrealistic.
Rawlings, the solar executive, said Germany has an 85 percent goal and is ahead of its schedule to meet it.
"They show us how this can be integrated into the electric grid into a major industrial power. And how you can do it even when you're resource-challenged," he said.
Matt Friedman may be reached at mfriedman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattFriedmanSL. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. e