Senator Anthony M. Bucco asked why Democrats would delay a vote on legislation requiring New Jersey to transition to 100% clean energy by 2035 until after November’s legislative elections if it’s such a great idea.
Sen. Anthony M. Bucco asked why Democrats would delay a vote on legislation requiring New Jersey to transition to 100% clean energy by 2035 until after November’s legislative elections if it’s such a great idea. (©iStock)
“Forcing New Jerseyans to pay higher energy bills for whale-killing wind turbines and asking them to rip out their natural gas furnaces and stoves at great cost is bad public policy,” said Bucco (R-25). “Democrats are afraid that if voters realize they’re going to pay significantly more for less reliable power that requires expensive retrofits of homes, businesses, and public buildings, they’ll be dumped like a dead whale in Raritan Bay. The only reason they’re pushing off consideration of their clean energy bill until after Election Day is to keep voters in the dark until it’s too late.”
Bucco’s comments followed news that the Democrat sponsor of the bill to require New Jersey to obtain 100% of its energy from “zero-carbon” sources admitted that a vote on his legislation is “definitely a post-election thing.”
An independent nonprofit estimated the cost of New Jersey’s total transition to green energy by 2050 as proposed by Governor Murphy in his Energy Master Plan at $1.4 trillion.
In February, the governor announced plans to move up the target date for the transition from 2050 to 2035.
The legislation to enshrine Governor Murphy’s expensive proposal in state law, S-2978, is sponsored by Senator Bob Smith (D-17).
“If the Democrats’ green energy agenda was expected to cost New Jersey families and businesses $1.4 trillion to transition to renewables by 2050, I can’t even imagine what it will cost to do it 15 years faster,” Bucco said. “The wind farm companies already have their hands out for more subsidies from ratepayers saying they can’t make money because the economics of their projects are so bad. It’s a fact that these projects won’t be undertaken or completed unless ratepayers are forced to pay more. Democrats don’t want people to know before November that they’re going to rubberstamp a bill that is guaranteed to drive electric bills and conversion costs for homeowners, businesses, and government agencies through the roof.”
According to Politico, at least one wind farm company is asking the State to hand over $2.8 billion of federal tax incentives instead of using those funds to provide savings to ratepayers as currently planned.
“The State has already spent billions of taxpayer dollars supporting the Governor’s extreme green energy agenda, and it looks like ratepayers will be asked to pay even more,” Bucco added. “New Jerseyans shouldn’t have to wait until after Election Day to learn the expensive truth about what Trenton Democrats have planned.”