A Slap on the Wrist & a Pat on the Back: NJ Incinerators Rewarded for Bad Behavior

Incinerators have gotten nearly $160 million under New Jersey’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) under the guise that they are “clean” energy. They are anything but. New Jersey’s incinerators emit more pollution than any other facility on the state’s grid today. This pollution is concentrated in EJ communities. Incinerators emit lots of pollution even in years with short total permit violation time.

So reducing payments to incinerator by the percentage of permit violation time, as the current version of the Clean Energy Act of 2024 would do, is not the answer. This will barely put a dent in millions of unwarranted “clean” energy money they get. Instead, incinerators should be totally disqualified for any substantive permit violation.