Environmental Protection AgencyTestimony on the Energy Master Plan UpdateAugust 11, 2015 To the Board o Pu!lic Utilities" Than# you or the opportunity to spea# today$ My name is Mi#e Proto and % am the &ommunications 'irector or the (e) *ersey chapter o Americans or Prosperity$ +n !ehal o the over 2$5 million A,P activists in all 50 states and the 100,000 activists in the -tate o (e) *ersey, % am pleased to have the opportunity to comment on the update to the Energy Master Plan$American.s or Prosperity is committed to sae, aorda!le and relia!le energy across the country and (e) *ersey is no e/ception$ Access to aorda!le energy is not only essential to economic gro)th and 0o!s in the state o (e) *ersey !ut also important to many o those struggling to pay the !ills in a tough economy$ As such A,P is committed to policies that #eep energy aorda!le rather than raising rates though e/pensive government mandates$ Overview%n 2011 (e) *ersey released its Energy Master Plan and outlined 5 goals or energy in the state$ 1$ 'rive do)n the costs o energy or all consumers$ 2$ Promote a diverse portolio o ne), clean, in1-tate generation$ 2$ 3e)ard energy eiciency and energy conservation and reduce pea# demand$ 4$ &apitali5e on emerging technologies or transportation and po)er production$5$ Maintain support or the rene)a!le energy portolio standard o 22$56 o energy rom rene)a!le sources !y 2021$ 7hile these goals sound positive on paper in reality many o these are unrealistic in assumptions and even contradictory$ The RPS is unrealistic and expensive. Around the country states are !eginning to ace reality )hen it comes to their rene)a!le portolio standard$Most 5ero1emission energy sources, e/cluding nuclear energy )hich plays a vital role in (e) *ersey.s energy mi/, are intermittent, meaning that they only provide energy )hen the )ind is !lo)ing or the sun is shining$%n order to maintain grid relia!ility )ind or solararms oten have to construct coal or natural gas po)er plants to provide energy during pea# hours to ensure grid relia!ility$ This reality com!ined )ith the act that solar and )ind technology is still more e/pensive than traditional sources leads to higher prices or consumers$ Aggregating these costs the %nstitute or Energy 3esearch ound that )ind, oshore )ind and solar to !e almost t)ice as high as traditional sources in terms o leveli5ed costs, )hich is a )ay o understanding the lietime costs associated )ith operating a plant$ (ota!ly, leveli5ed costs do not ta#e into account capacity actor, or the percentage o time an energy source produces electricity$ As such, the gap in costs among traditional sources li#e natural gas, )ith a capacity actor o 89 percent, versus solar photovoltaic and onshore, )ith capacity actors o 0ust 25 percent and 29 percent, respectively, is even greater$%n April o 2015 (e) *ersey generated 48:8 ;iga)att