The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has begun hearing testimony on a new energy master plan for the state.

The new plan, if and when adopted, will update the 2019 document that set many of the goals that have driven state investment in alternative energy sources like offshore wind power and solar power.

It was the 2019 plan that set the target of reaching a 100% clean energy economy by 2050, a goal that Gov. Phil Murphy later accelerated to 2035 through an executive order.

The energy plan amounts to a major transformation of the Garden State’s energy profile. The 2019 version was praised for serving as a foundation of an aggressive energy policy and vilified for being the source of overly ambitious projects that opponents say wasted taxpayer funds and posed a threat to sectors of the state’s economy.

The first day of testimony on the new plan March 13 showed that many in the state have carried their same feelings forward to the new document.

Support for the plan came from individual citizens and from organizations like the League of Conservation Voters and the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Sierra member Howard Stein, a member of the club’s offshore wind committee, challenged those who dismiss offshore wind as an unreliable source of alternative energy supply.

In a statement issued by the League of Conservation Voters there was not only support for the plan but a call for the Legislature to quickly enact its energy goals into law.

State Sen. Michael Testa (R-1), on the other hand, called for scrapping the existing plan rather than updating it. Calling it the “energy disaster plan,” Testa said the 2019 document has led to a lower quality of life in the state. He saw it as a “blueprint for higher costs.”

The New Jersey Business and Industry Association’s Ray Cantor urged the BPU to avoid making the same mistakes that were made in the 2019 plan. He said energy rates are “becoming unaffordable” and the grid was “becoming unreliable.”

A greater focus is needed in the plan on affordability and reliability, in the eyes of the association. Cantor also called for more natural gas generation.

The master plan update process kicked off in January 2024. For the March 13 presentation, a 62-page document of slides was used as an organizing tool. The 2019 plan was nearly 300 pages.

The presentation was organized around three scenarios that were deemed “climate pathways.” A problem for some who elect to watch the presentation is its heavy use of jargon and reliance on slides that make use of extensive amounts of text. Little was done to make the presentation more accessible to the average citizen.

A common thread in the three scenarios was a high level of electrification, leading to the same warnings voiced by Maureen Giblin of PSE&G, one of the state’s four distribution utilities. Giblin called for more focus on affordability and reliability and said the current rate problems are largely due to supply problems caused in part by government policy.

The public was told by the BPU presentation that meeting the state’s ambitious goals was possible, but there will be challenges that will require “no regrets” climate actions and that steep reductions in emissions will be needed. Details were not provided.

Those wishing to see the slides and the video of the testimony can do so here. Public comments can be submitted until May 1. Find information on ways to comment here.

Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.