Labor and management don’t always see eye to eye, but on this issue of such great importance to them and us, and the rest of New Jersey, we are totally united.īetween two acronyms, a world of difference for New Jersey solar powerĪugBetween two acronyms, a world of difference for New Jersey solar powerīy Pat Delle Cava, New Jersey Monitor August 16, 2022 It’s time to stop “fixing” things that weren’t broken and get back to the job of putting solar power to work for the people of New Jersey - and putting people to work on solar power. We also need the governor to direct the BPU to provide blanket extensions of commercial operation deadlines for other TREC-registered projects. We need the state Senate to pass the companion measure and then for Gov. The Assembly unanimously passed legislation that would extend the deadlines for TREC-registered, utility-scale solar projects on brownfields and landfills. This story doesn’t have to end unhappily. It’s an appropriately ambitious goal in serious danger of not being met as work on large-scale solar projects dries up. The plan calls for ending reliance on fossil fuels by 2050. That’s bad news all around, including for the state’s clean energy goals under New Jersey’s energy master plan. Now we’re eighth and likely to drop a few more notches, in no small measure due to BPU’s TREC-to-SuSi switcheroo. 1 in the United States in solar installations. It employs nearly 6,000 people, with the potential for many more. Solar energy is a roughly $12 billion industry in New Jersey. One result of these policy changes is that New Jersey is in danger of losing its leadership role in an emerging industry. But BPU won’t - again, for no good reason. The logical response from BPU would be to simply extend those deadlines. They are in danger of missing the project completion deadlines set under TREC. The problem is made worse because some of the projects still tied to TREC are experiencing supply chain delays and other obstacles because of the pandemic and other global disruptions. There are five other locals in the state do the math and you understand that a lot fewer of our members are working under SuSi than did under TREC - for no good reasons. Our local, based in Parsippany, covers eight counties in northern New Jersey. Local 102 of the IBEW, where I’m business manager, had more than twice as many members employed on big solar projects on any given day under the successful TREC program than with the failed SuSi scheme - and the gap is expected to widen. SuSi is so inadequate that developers have all but stopped submitting applications to BPU for large-scale solar projects. Then BPU decided to scrap TREC and introduce a different program, called Successor Solar Incentive Program, or SuSi for short. It helped project developers who were buying land and risking capital for solar projects. They had been offering support for big solar projects through TREC, which stands for Transitional Renewable Energy Certificate. They set the panels into the racks, then ground the units and install inverters that enable the energy being generated to power buildings or be sold to the electric grid.īut the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is changing the rules in the middle of the game, with horrible results. Our members build the racking that supports solar panels. The clean energy industry is the key to a bright future for everyone. And they put food on the tables of electrical workers’ families. These projects are part of the infrastructure improvements that will bring consumers clean, safe, affordable, renewable energy. They’re relied upon for the really big jobs, like the vast solar arrays being sited on landfills and abandoned industrial sites. Increasingly, the skilled electricians who are in our union are working on the installation of huge solar panel assemblies. But to members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, they are all too real and can mean the difference between going to work or collecting unemployment. To most people in New Jersey, TREC and SuSi might sound like characters in a sci-fi movie or maybe an oddball comedy team.
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