NJ contends rolling blackouts possible without subsidized power plants

New Jersey joins Maryland as states wanting to get new generation constructed, but being prevented from providing subsudies to make that happen.

NJ contends rolling blackouts possible without subsidized power plants | NJ.com:

New Jersey still faces potential rolling blackouts because of a shortage of generating capacity, making its plans to subsidize new power plants essential, a state lawyer said.

The state’s Board of Public Utilities on Thursday urged the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to resurrect the law that makes subsidies possible, saying the federal judge who struck it down as unconstitutional was mistaken. The plan, signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie in January 2011, could cost state households and businesses $2.1 billion over 15 years, according to the board.

The “law was enacted to solve a very important problem, to provide safe, reliable and more environmentally friendly power to the citizens of New Jersey,” Richard Engel, a lawyer for the utilities board, told the three-judge panel. “There still is a great concern if we don’t do something.”

New Jersey is among states grappling with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over the limits of state and U.S. authorities’ powers in overseeing power generation plants and wholesale market prices. A similar case is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., over subsidized power generation in Maryland.

Continue reading at NJ.com

My opinion is states - or PJM - should be buying/subsidizing old plant for emergency reserve purposes, with unsubsidized markets participants (including CDM) setting the rules for when that reserve can operate.