Good morning and welcome to the Monday edition of the New York & New Jersey Energy newsletter. We’ll take a look at the week ahead and look back on what you may have missed last week.

THE FUTURE OF GAS — The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities held a two-day technical conference looking at the future of natural gas utilities in the state last week. The proceeding, which is expected to produce a report next summer outlining the regulators’ view of the industry’s future, was ordered by Gov. Phil Murphy in a major speech earlier this year on climate change and clean energy.

Some of the discussion may have been more reassuring to the industry than the governor’s sweeping goals might seem. Murphy has, on paper, pledged to help hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses dump natural gas by the end of the decade and has pledged to move the state to clean energy. But in opening remarks that got a lot of attention, BPU President Joseph Fiordaliso said gas isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“Gas is here to stay,” Fiordaliso said. “What we have to do is improve the quality of it. We need backup. We don’t have enough clean energy to generate the energy that is necessary to supply the 9.3 million here in the state of New Jersey with energy. And, until that day comes, things like nuclear power and gas will help us to provide the reliability that the citizens of New Jersey demand and should have every day of the week.”

Other notable quotes and exchanges from the conference:

“I think the whole point of this proceeding should be — is that really true? Is gas here to stay? Or do we have a moral and economic imperative to basically end as quickly as possible the use of gas?” — John Reichman of EmpowerNJ

“We’re not even 100 percent sure on the questions and we wanted to make sure we were getting input before we framed a proceeding and missed something.” — Stacy Peterson, deputy executive director for BPU.

“Sometimes businesses say, ‘The [business] climate isn’t so great here, I’m going to Pennsylvania,’ in Pennsylvania they say, ‘Hey, it’s not so great here, I’m going to West Virginia’ — eventually you end up in Texas where they don’t believe in capacity markets and the grid does down or Florida, where you’re uninsurable.” — Eric Miller, New Jersey energy policy director for NRDC

“Certainly at this point we should not be paying subsidies to support expansion of the gas system.” — The state’s ratepayer watchdog, Brian Lipman, on gas main extensions.

“Cows defecate at a pretty stable rate.” — Andrew McNally, from South Jersey Gas, on the stability of investments in non-traditional gas, like methane capture from cows. — Ry Rivard

FOUR BIDS FOR THIRD NEW JERSEY OFFSHORE SOLICITATION — The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has received four bids in its third solicitation for offshore wind projects that will receive state backing, the state said Friday, the deadline to receive bids. The BPU is looking to support between 1.2 and 4 gigawatts of new generation in this round of bidding and to announce the winners in “early 2024.” Four gigawatts would be more offshore wind energy than the state has previously approved during two previous rounds of bidding. The board has approved three wind farms previously, though it has also displayed frustration with delays by developers who are facing financial uncertainty due to inflation, interest rates and supply chain issues. None of the first projects are yet under construction.

Some familiar faces are vying in this new round, including Atlantic Shores — a partnership of Shell and French energy giant EDF. The company won approval for one project in 2021 but says it will need more money to get that project over the finish line amid rising costs. The BPU’s new solicitation has some new features, like an inflation adjustment mechanism, that may allow companies to build projects without having to come back to the state for help, as Orsted did earlier this summer when it got the Legislature to allow it to keep federal tax credits that would have otherwise been paid back to ratepayers.

Community Offshore Wind, a joint venture between RWE and National Grid Ventures, also submitted a bid to build a 1.3 gigawatt project, the company announced. The company is also bidding for work in New York and in an interview said the outcome of the New York award — which has been delayed — would not affect its plans in New Jersey.

Leading Light Wind, a partnership of Invenergy and co-developer energyRe, submitted a plan for up to 2.4 gigawatts of generation.

It was not immediately clear who the fourth bidder was. — Ry Rivard

FISHING AGAINST THE WIND — A group of powerful fishing groups from up and down the Northeast will send a letter today to officials from seven states to protest the buildout of offshore wind. The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, along with eight other fishing groups, wrote to the governors and U.S. senators from Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, calling on them to support New England’s “maritime heritage” by engaging in a more robust and thorough evaluation of the environmental concerns associated with the “irreversible industrialization” of our oceans. All U.S. House members from those states also received the letter, except for New York, where the letter was sent to four coastal House members from that state.

The groups are specifically asking state and federal authorities to rescind the Gulf of Maine call area for offshore wind development, conduct a more thorough regional environmental assessment prior to siting wind energy areas “and only proceed after sufficient research and monitoring has been conducted.” It’s an attempt to hit the brakes on Biden’s ambitious goal of producing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030.

The letters include a report conducted by the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, which claims that offshore wind could threaten marine life and even “decimate” certain fish populations. It comes amid rising anxiety from the fishing industry that planned projects up and down the Atlantic could alter their industry. Those worries have only accelerated since a recent episode of dead whales washing up on the shores of New York and New Jersey — two states aggressively pursuing offshore wind — have galvanized offshore wind opponents, despite no direct evidence linking the offshore wind industry to the deaths. — Jordan Wolman

HAPPY MONDAY MORNING: Let us know if you have tips, story ideas or life advice. We’re always here at [email protected] and [email protected]. And if you like this letter, please tell a friend and/or loved one to sign up.

Here’s what we’re watching:

WEDNESDAY
The public and potential funding applicants will be able to learn more about the New York environmental bond act at a series of educational listening sessions. Sessions have been announced across the state — use the links below to register — 6 to 8 p.m., Brooklyn College

— NYC Comptroller Brad Lander says the state is directing too much from federal infrastructure funds to highway widening projects instead of more climate friendly solutions.
— The Adirondack Land Trust “has preserved one of the most magnificent views of the High Peaks.”

— Edward Lloyd, a long-time Pinelands Commissioner, has died.
— NJ.com: “Turf wars raging as N.J. residents face off over replacing grass with artificial fields.”

SCHOOL BUS BONDS: NYSERDA has proposed guidelines for distributing $500 million for zero-emission school buses from the state’s environmental bond act approved by voters last year. The “Public School Bus Electrification Program” offers funds for municipalities to meet the state’s mandate that no more diesel or fossil school buses be purchased after 2027, supporting a target for all school buses on the road to be zero emission by 2035.

Comments are being accepted until 5 p.m. on Sept. 1 to Vincent Riscica, NYSERDA, 1359 Broadway, New York, NY 10018 or by email: [email protected].

— The Clean Energy Fund also has a $12 million initiative for projects and demonstrations that “advance electric vehicle adoption and the integration of electric vehicles with the electric grid.” It also supports demonstrations of trucks and other heavy-duty electric and hydrogen fuel cell technologies. “We are committed to making it possible for both residents and companies to transition to owning and charging electric vehicles — building a greener future for all,” Hochul said in a statement. Concept papers for consideration for full proposal submission under this new initiative will be accepted through 3 p.m. on Sept. 12, To learn more, register for the informational webinar on Aug. 15 at 11 a.m.

GAS’ FUTURE IN THE AIR, BUT NO BANS — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: With all 120 New Jersey legislators on the ballot this fall, a plan by Gov. Phil Murphy to ban gas stoves would be a heck of an issue for Republicans to use against his fellow Democrats. And one of Republicans’ loudest voices trying to reclaim seats has advocated making it one.

The governor does want hundreds of thousands of homes to dump gas by the end of the decade and to explore the future of the natural gas industry, but there is no gas stove ban in New Jersey or any mandate that anyone buy an electric appliance instead of a gas one. That didn’t stop howling from Republicans and a few South Jersey Democrats about a move by the state’s utility regulators last week to encourage building “decarbonization,” which generally means retrofitting homes and businesses to switch from natural gas to electric heat. Republicans nationally have made similar claims that President Joe Biden is taking away gas stoves.

If there is a new mandate, it is in a narrower sense: The BPU is mandating electric utilities — and encouraging gas utilities — to start offering customers incentives to voluntarily replace gas stoves and heaters with electric ones.

And there is going to be money behind it — some $350 million over the next three years.

NUCLEAR RELIEF: Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday celebrated tax credits for electricity from nuclear power plants included in the federal Inflation Reduction Act, after contracts subsidizing the plants were amended to account for the credits. But there’s no estimate for how much the federal program will reduce the billions slated to flow from New Yorkers’ electric bills to Constellation Energy, the owner of the upstate nuclear plants. The subsidies have already cost ratepayers about $3.2 billion since 2017 as of the end of March and are expected to cost another $1 billion over the next two years with more costs until the program is slated to end in 2029. “The Inflation Reduction Act has been critical to helping New Yorkers lower utility costs, while also helping the state reduce emissions and confront the global challenge of climate change,” Hochul said in a statement. — Marie J. French

COMPTROLLER FLAGS CLEAN ENERGY CHALLENGES — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: New York’s renewable energy goals seem to be in reach, but policymakers need to keep an eye on risks to projects in the pipeline and costs, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office concluded in a report Tuesday. The report highlights the state’s previous failures to reach renewable energy goals because of inconsistent contracting. The current 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 target is achievable if currently contracted projects are built, the report concludes, “but this is a big ‘if.’”

FOR THE BEES: When the Assembly passed Assemblymember Deborah Glick’s “Birds and Bees Protection Act” this spring, members touted the importance of protecting these pollinators. It turns out Speaker Carl Heastie is willing to do more than just talk on this subject. As the speaker was visiting a building site in the village of Philmont as part of his statewide tour on Tuesday, he was repeatedly swarmed by bees that he refused to kill. “I let them live. They nest in my gutter,” he said of his apine neighbors. Heastie said that Glick convinced him of the importance of protecting bees. “And then I watched that episode of Black Mirror,” he said. “In there, they tell you that if bees cease to exist, civilization would end.” — Bill Mahoney

BATTERY STORAGE PITCH: A large-scale battery storage project proposed on Staten Island is kicking into high gear as it seeks a key state approval and gathers local support. Hecate Grid is working on a 650 megawatt, two hour battery project capable of powering about half a million homes. The company filed Monday for approval from the state’s Public Service Commission. The Swiftsure project was the largest energy storage facility to complete the NYISO process to enable it to hook up to the grid in the most recent “class year” round but is still trying to secure a Con Ed or state contract. — Marie J. French