Clean Energy… Without Transparency

Transparency is an easy concept to understand. It simply means that motives and actions are easily perceived and understood. Government officials all lay claim to transparency. It is how they back up those claims that counts. 
So far the push to a newly configured energy future in New Jersey is anything but transparent. In fact one could without much room for argument call it opaque. 
Yes, there have been public hearings and publicly available plans issued by state and federal agencies all aiming to serve as fulfillment of the public right to know. 
The draft environmental impact statement from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was a mere 1400 pages. Easy enough for the citizen who wants to be informed to digest. 
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities issued its Integrated Energy Plan distilled into a 50 slide public webinar presentation that is accessible to anyone trained in cost modeling.  
All of this went into the formation of the New Jersey Energy Management Plan, an almost 300 page document that is a tough read and hardly one that the average citizen has ever seen. 
Just to complete a small part of the total universe of documents, these efforts are in the service of fidelity to the New Jersey Global Warming Response Act, another tome that is less informing than it is purported to be. 
OK, sure, these formal plans and documents are necessary for any task as complex as shifting the future profile of the state’s energy use and doing so in the period of a generation. But that does not mean they fulfill the government’s obligation to inform the public and to listen to that informed public’s concerns. 
What we get instead of an informed public is a confused public. The transition to clean energy is going to be painful. It is going to involve massive changes with real impact on people’s lives. It is also going to significantly alter a number of factors that drive our economy. 
We are promised a bright future, with clean air, renewable energy sources and a vibrant economy with new, well paid jobs and a greater commitment to creating an equal opportunity for each individual. We are not shown the path to this promised land. We are not made aware of the costs. Most importantly the hardships involved are nowhere in view.  
That is the definition of opaqueness not transparency. That is a recipe almost guaranteed to engender public resistance rather than resolve to see a tough task through.
How many of us do you think understand that the Integrated Energy Plan commissioned by the NJBPU calls for increasing the state use of electrical generation from out of state renewable sources? The report calls for increasing the PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland) to New Jersey transmission of energy from 7 to 9 gigawatts. Forget the numbers because they will change. The important issue is increased need for imported electricity if the state is to meet its 2030 and 2050 goals. 
A look specifically at one issue in our own county again demonstrates a lack of transparency. 
While hearings were going on concerning the movement of wind farm transmission lines along a route opposed by municipal and county elected officials, we find a new Executive Order from Governor Phil Murphy that increases the capacity goals on ocean wind development by 50%. It also instructs the NJBPU to study ways to increase that capacity further. 
This is the same BPU that must rule on petitions concerning Ocean City and Cape May County opposition to routes for the transmission lines. The decisions are a forgone conclusion. The Ocean City one has already been announced in favor of the company building the Ocean Wind I. 
Examples abound where we have been told less than we should be told.
New initiatives are underway across the state to install smart meters that promise many advantages, but that also enable capabilities the utilities aren’t talking about. The meters will allow pricing mechanisms that increase the expense for using electric power at peak times. Oh it wasn’t a secret, it was just not talked about. Back in 2019 the Energy Master Plan stated the need for using variable rates to encourage reductions in peak load. You remember that don’t you?
Is time of use pricing a good thing? What will it cost? What are the likely challenges to daily routines? When will we see a rate proposal? The answer to the last question is after the smart meters are all installed and cost recovery for them will be included.
The plan for electric generation, if one can distill it from the many documents, is to maintain nuclear power at its current rate of electrical generation, bring fossil gas down to zero, substitute solar and offshore wind for the loss of gas and then use more solar and wind energy generation, with significant amounts from out of state sources, to increase electrical generation in order to meet new needs. This growing need for electricity is imposed by the overall drive toward electrification of things that now use fossil fuels, especially transportation. 
Even if one finds this to be the best way to deal with carbon emissions and climate change challenges, it is going to cost billions, the transition will be anything but smooth and it is all scheduled to occur at warp speed. 
Where is public awareness? Where is the campaign to increase public support for what will be a very difficult period ahead? 
One does not have to be an opponent of the effort to shift the state’s energy profile to be concerned about how much we are not being told. Elected officials have an obligation to the public that is not obviated by their perception of a crisis. 
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From the Bible: “You, Lord, will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is focused on You because he places his trust, hope and confident in You.  Isaiah 26:3