PSEG To Climate Concerns: Screw You!

Another New Fossil Power Plant

Christie’s Energy Policy In Action

Today, the day that the public comment period closed on the Christie BPU Energy Master Plan (EMP) update, PSEG announced that a new fossil fueled power plant will be built in Woodbridge (the second one), see:

• New $600M power plant to be built in Woodbridge

Those boys at PSEG have some sense of timing, eh?

So much for public planning – it was nothing more than a choreographed charade. PSEG made it absolutely clear about who calls the shots on energy policy. And announced on an ozone non-attainment day to boot!

[The fact that the announcement was made public in response to the project clearing the PJM Auction is proof positive that so called “free markets” rule – as a result of deregulation, government has no power in controlling energy production. Democracy is sacrificed completely to the greed of the private market.]

(to give you a sense of the corruption, this was the Star Ledger’s headline of the story announcing the first one:  Christie, Sweeney tout bipartisanship at groundbreaking of Woodbridge energy plant.)

Of course, the Star Ledger wrote the story entirely off the PSEG press release, and ignored the EMP, climate issues, or public health threats related to ozone non-attainment and ultra-fine particle emissions or fracking.

According to PSEG, it will be a 540 megawatt plant, fueled by natural gas (fracked) with back up oil fuel.

We’re sure, given the “diverse portfolio of clean in state generation” touted by PSEG – the rationale PSEG used to spend $1.3 BILLION of ratepayer money on dirty dinosaur coal plants in Mercer and Hudson Counties – that even if BPU had jurisdiction over the plant (which they don’t as a result of Whitman deregulation), they would make the same kind of finding they did in support of the BL England gas plant – both BPU and DEP are rubber stamping virtually any fossil infrastructure that the private sector would finance based on the Christie EMP policy:

The PSEG announcement today amounts to a huge FUCK YOU to citizens and climate advocates, who just turned out in droves to demand that BPU accelerate conversion to renewables and impose a moratorium on new fossil fueled pipeline infrastructure and power plants.

Here’s the note I wrote the reporter for his stenography – with a copy to editorial board chief Tom Moran, my homie who once left the Ledger to work for PSEG:

Hi Anthony – you should report the context of today’s announcement, which amounts to a huge middle finger to the public

1) the public comment period closes today on BPU’s Energy Master Plan revisions.

Hundreds of people attended and most all testimony demanded more renewables (wind & solar) and a moratorium on new fossil fuels.

PSEG’s announcement is either extremely arrogant and oblivious or an intentions slap in there face to the public and environmentalists.

2) New science suggests that natural gas is as much as a global warming fuel as coal is, when lifecycle emissions are considered.

3) NJ fails to meet the Clean Air Act’s health based ozone standard and EPA is about to lower it to 60 ppb.

This plant will make that problem WORSE. That means more asthma attacks for NJ kids, more deaths of NJ seniors, and far worse air quality in NJ cities.

4) the plant is designed to use OIL as a backup fuel.

Do a followup story, please!