Trenton, NJ – On the eve of
critical decisions about New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan and a proposed license
extension for the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, Environment New Jersey
joined public safety and environmental groups to release “Powering New Jersey’s
Future: A Clean Energy Strategy for Replacing the Oyster Creek and Salem
Nuclear Plants.” The report details a
step-by-step plan to replace the Oyster Creek, Salem 1 and 2 nuclear power plants at the end
of their current operating licenses with renewable energy and energy
efficiency.
“Governor Corzine has an
urgent choice to make,” said Suzanne Leta Liou, Global Warming and Clean Energy
Advocate for Environment New Jersey and co-author of the report. “He can ensure New Jersey is on track for a new energy
future or he can continue our reliance on dirty, dangerous sources of
power.”
On March 31st, the
Corzine Administration’s Energy Master Plan committee released draft computer
modeling assumptions for the state’s electricity sector. These assumptions are critical because they
include expectations about power plant operation, transmission lines, clean
energy generation and energy efficiency measures until the year 2020. Currently, the draft assumptions include
twenty-year license extensions for all of the state’s nuclear plants and
dramatic increases of in-state conventional power plant generation and electricity
imports from out-of-state.
“Key components of the Energy
Master Plan’s draft modeling assumptions put public health and safety at risk
and sharply contradict Governor Corzine’s Executive Order to reduce the state’s
global warming pollution,” said Leta Liou.
“The Energy Master Plan committee must make major revisions to these
assumptions to develop a comprehensive clean energy strategy.”
The Oyster Creek, Salem 1 and 2 plants,
which pose environmental, health and safety concerns, are currently scheduled to
retire between 2009 and 2020. Cumulatively,
the three plants account for about 17 percent of New Jersey’s electricity generation
capacity. In the next few months, the
federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to decide on Exelon Corp.’s
proposed twenty-year license extension for Oyster Creek, which, if granted,
would make New Jersey
home to the oldest operating nuclear power plant in the world. Although he has yet to employ them, Governor
Corzine can use several regulatory tools that could necessitate the plant’s
closure at the end of its current operating license in 2009.
“New Jersey can't afford the nuclear option when it
has the chance to have an incredible future through clean energy technology
that not only grows the economy but also makes New Jersey a healthier, safer
place to live,” said Jeff Tittel, Executive Director of the Sierra Club New
Jersey Chapter.
“Powering New Jersey’s Future”
shows that New Jersey can retire the Oyster Creek, Salem 1 and 2 nuclear power
plants without sacrificing the reliability of the state’s electricity system,
without investing in significant new fossil fuel or nuclear power plant
capacity, or relying on additional electricity imports from out-of-state. Specifically, the report outlines the
following clean energy strategies that have the potential to fill the gap left
by the Oyster Creek and Salem
plant closures:
• Energy efficiency
improvements are the cheapest and fastest way to meet New Jersey’s escalating power needs. Taking full advantage of cost-effective
efficiency improvements would reduce peak electricity demand by approximately
4,186 MW by 2020.
• Combined heat and
power – which maximizes energy efficiency by using the waste heat from
electricity generators to provide useful heat to industrial and commercial
buildings – has the potential to alleviate up to 2,100 MW of peak electricity
demand.
• Achieving the
solar power goals of New Jersey’s
renewable portfolio standard would result in 1,500 MW of solar power coming
online by 2020 – enough to reduce peak electricity demand by 750 MW.
• Wind power,
particularly off the Jersey
Shore, has the potential
to supply more than 1,750 MW of power by 2020, enough to offset at least 350 MW
of conventional power plant capacity.
• Demand response
programs – which can use a variety of mechanisms to encourage consumers to
reduce power demand during peak periods – can account for 850 MW of peak demand
reductions by 2020.
“New Jersey can be the beacon for a safe,
clean energy future with alternative power and efficiencies or the harbinger of
doom with increased reliance on coal. However and wherever generated, coal
power is a double whammy against New Jerseyans – killing efforts to stem global
warming and aggravating our state’s already worst in the nation smog that leads
to too many kids in emergency rooms with asthma attacks, too many premature
deaths in the adult population, and too many lost work and school days,” said
David Pringle, Campaign Director of the NJ Environmental Federation.
Achieving the targets in “Powering
New Jersey’s Future” would account for approximately 8,200 MW of electricity
capacity through reduced demand and new efficient and renewable resources –
enough to replace capacity from Oyster Creek, Salem 1 and 2.
“Without more action from Governor Corzine, New Jersey
will become the national test case for a 60-year old nuclear reactor,"
said NJPIRG's Adam Garber. "Its time for the Governor to close these
dinosaurs down and seize our potential for a safe, clean, affordable energy
future.”
New Jersey’s existing Clean Energy Program has been a
beacon for change. The state’s energy
efficiency programs have reduced electricity use by 450 megawatts—the same
amount of electricity generated by a mid-sized power plant. New Jersey’s first coastal wind farm in
Atlantic City is up and running, and New Jersey has emerged as the fastest
growing solar market in the nation, having gone from 6 solar installations to
nearly 2,000 today.
New Jerseyans also understand the benefits of these
programs. A June 2006 poll found that
87% of New Jerseyans think the state
should be doing more to encourage energy efficiency and conservation and 88% think
the state should be doing more to encourage the use of renewable energy sources. 81% pointed to Governor Corzine specifically
as someone who should be doing more.
“New Jerseyans deserve the
clean energy strategy outlined in this report,” said Janet Tauro, Co-Chair of
the citizens’ group Grandmothers, Mothers and More for Energy Safety
(GRAMMES). “We have been shortchanged
for far too long.”
“Along with our successes
come new challenges, and now is the time to raise the bar even higher,” said
Leta Liou.
Powering-New-Jerseys-Future-A-Clean-Energy-Strategy-for-Replacing-the-Oyster-Creek-and-Salem-Nuclear-Plants.pdf