NJ-11: Croft's (D) energy agenda: offer free solar, hold data centers and utility executives accountable

[RandySF]

Cammie Croft, one of the many Democrats making an effort to break out in the packed 12-way field for Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s House seat, is releasing an energy affordability agenda today that she says will bring down utility costs in New Jersey and nationwide.

Croft’s policy plan consists of three main prongs: kicking off a nationwide solar energy program, offering free rooftop solar “to every home owner or business that wants it”; forcing data centers, increasingly a culprit in high energy bills, to “pay their fair share”; and tying the compensation that utility executives get to the cost of the utilities they oversee.

“Just paying our utility bills shouldn’t be so dang hard, and Democrats need to be the party that takes bold action to end the corruption that is driving them up, and actually fix the problem of skyrocketing utility bills to massively expand cheaper, cleaner energy supply,” Croft said in a statement.

Croft’s early focus on energy affordability, before many of her primary opponents have released any policy agendas of their own, echoes one of the core campaign messages of the congresswoman she’s trying to succeed. Sherrill, during her gubernatorial campaign, hammered home her proposal to freeze utility rates statewide, which helped to blunt Republican attacks over the state’s rising energy bills.


https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/crofts-nj-11-energy-agenda-offer-free-solar-hold-data-centers-and-utility-executives-accountable/

[pat_k]

1. If there are as many constituents that still use oil heat as I suspect, she also needs ...

... specific proposals that enable those households to transition.

I lived in Westfield, NJ (NJ-7) a little south of Montclair (NJ-11) from 1990 to 2015.

In the late 2010's, we were seeking ways to transition from oil. We later learned that Christie had raided funds that had been set aside to facilitate transition from oil heat -- including funds for removing old oil tanks. No applications for assistance were approved for years. The extent of the misappropriation of funds didn't become clear until later. But in the corridor of towns along the Garden State Parkway, the number of households still using oil heat around 2015 was something like 30%. And oil was insanely expensive at that time.

The biggest barrier, and most expensive piece of the transition, is removing the old oil tank and doing any remediation for leaked oil. It can cost from a low of about $5000 to up to $100,000 for remediation.

Perhaps in the past 10 years there has been a massive transition, but I suspect not. Even if there is a relatively smaller number of households still on oil heat, I think Croft should have some sort of proposal for facilitating transition from oil -- with subsidies for oil tank removal and remediation -- if she is serious about changing constituent's lives.