(Gov.) Christie’s (R-moran) Dim Outlook for Solar Energy in N.J.

[jpak]

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/06/15/christies-dim-outlook-for-solar-energy-in-n-j/?mod=google_news_blog

New Jersey is the second-largest consumer of solar energy in the country, but a draft energy plan introduced last week by Gov. Chris Christie suggests the future is cloudy for the state’s nascent solar industry.

The energy proposal released by the Republican governor discusses solar power in nearly partisan terms. The sector’s costs are described as “socialized” because they are spread out among the bills of all utility customers — even though that’s the case for all types of utility investments. Take, for example, the February proposal by the state’s major utility, Public Service Enterprise Group, to build 1,000 megawatts of natural gas power plants and receive reimbursement via special charges on customers’ bills.

Adam Browning, executive director of Vote Solar, a nonprofit that promotes favorable solar policies, said that “the basic premise behind a utility is in fact a socializing of costs.” He added that when a neighbor buys solar panels and gets a subsidy, “You benefit because peak power costs…are reduced, transmission and distribution investments are reduced and emissions are reduced.”

Christie’s report also says that current support for solar may indicate an “unreasonable transference of wealth from ratepayers at large to solar developers, as well as residential, commercial and industrial participants” and faults the role of government in the solar sector, suggesting that policymakers have had to “pick winners and losers” in the past rather than relying on “the competitive market.”

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The title was correct - "Cristie's Dim" alright

yup