3 New NJ Power Plants Coming, 2 Will Definitely Use Natural Gas

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Three power plants are coming to New Jersey, proposed to open in Newark, Kearny and the Keasbey section of Woodbridge.

NJ Transit wants to open the power plant in Kearny and the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission is pushing for the power plant in Newark.

The Woodbridge power plant will be owned by a private company, Competitive Power Ventures, which is now owned by OPC Energy, a massive international energy conglomerate.

None of the plants have proposed opening dates yet, and there is considerable community push-back to all three being built. The Woodbridge plant will use fracked natural gas, which is natural gas obtained by fracking methods. However, NJ Transit has backed off a plan to use natural gas for its proposed plant in Kearny.

NJ Transit said it has "reimagined (this) project to maximize clean energy and renewables," but was not more specific on what renewable energy sources their plant will use.

Similarly, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission originally planned to use all natural gas, but now says they will use a mix of natural gas and a renewable fuel, with plans to use all renewable energy by 2030.

New Jersey environmental activists say Gov. Phil Murphy hasn't done enough to stop the plants from opening. Murphy's office did not respond for a request for comment for this article.

1. The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission plant in Newark

The power plant will be located next to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission's existing sewage treatment facility in the Ironbound section, at 600 Wilson Avenue in Newark. This is the largest sewage processing facility in the state.

The plant will be owned and operated by the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, which is investing $180 million to build it. The Sewerage Commission said they desperately need a source of back-up power: In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, their sewage treatment facility in Newark flooded, spilling billions of gallons of raw sewage into the Passaic River. Since then, the Commission said it needs to build a plant to provide backup power to their wastewater treatment plant should the grid go down again.

A spokesperson for the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission previously told Patch that the facility would be powered by "the same natural gas that people all across Newark and New Jersey in general use to heat their homes and from which they also obtain electrical power. The plant will use state-of-the-art emission controls with negligible impact to the community."

But now, the Sewerage Commission says it has revised its plans and proposes to start operation of the plant with a mix of natural gas and a renewable fuel. The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission anticipates full conversion to using a 100 percent renewable fuel by 2030.

The Sewerage Commission said they made these "substantial revisions in response to community concerns." They said using a mix of natural gas and renewables will "substantially reduce air emissions from PVSC’s day-to-day operations and improve air quality in the surrounding community."

The Sewerage Commission also planned to run the facility to offset their power needs from the grid at other times, thus lowering their energy costs. However — again due to community concerns — the Commission withdrew its request to the state Department of Environmental Protection for that last July.

In January, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission was scheduled to vote to award a contract to begin building the new power plant. But that same month, a spokesman for Gov. Murphy said he asked the PVSC to postpone the vote, to allow for "a more thorough environmental justice review and robust public engagement process," said Murphy's spokeswoman.

"We're going to move forward in a realistic and environmentally responsible way, Passaic Valley Sewage Commission Chairman Thomas Tucci told Patch at the time.

The Sewerage Commission will now hold a virtual public hearing on the power plant on April 26. If you'd like to attend, here is how to sign up: https://web.pvsc.com/bnews/Sta...

2. The NJ Transit power plant in Kearny

Similar to the Sewerage Commission, NJ Transit says they need to open a power plant in Kearny to provide back-up power for the proposed NJ TransitGrid, a proposed "clean-energy" grid that would power some of the NJ Transit railroad and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.

Just like the Sewerage Commission, NJ Transit says they need the back-up power because they lost all power to run trains and light rail when Sandy hit.

The proposed location for the NJ Transit power plant is in an industrial zone in Kearny. There is no projected opening date, as the power plant is still in design stages.

NJ Transit filed an air permit application for the power plant in Nov. 20, 2018 and it was withdrawn on Jan. 14, 2021. This is because an NJ Transit spokesman said April 8 that the transit agency has "reimagined (this) project to maximize clean energy and renewables."

NJ Transit is currently awaiting design proposals for the plant from four outside firms.

3. The natural gas plant in Woodbridge, owned by a private company

In Woodbridge, Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) seeks to open a 630-megawatt plant.

This would be their second natural gas plant in Keasby and the power company seeks to open it next to their existing plant that is there now. Keasbey has long been an industrial section of Woodbridge.

CPV is currently requesting an air pollution permit from the New Jersey Department of the Environmental Protection.

As of this week, the DEP has not yet approved or rejected their application.

"The DEP is working with the facility on updating their air impact analysis to incorporate the latest version of the air quality model used and the most recent meteorological data," said DEP spokeswoman Caryn Shinske on April 8. "Competitive Power Ventures also is working with the DEP to comply with the requirements of Administrative Order 2021-25."

Some environmental groups against all three plants

There is considerable opposition to the power plants: A environmental non-profit called Food & Water Watch is actively working to stop all three from opening.

According to Food & Water Watch, combined with its existing power plant, the Woodbridge facility would emit 4.6 million tons of greenhouse gases per year — becoming by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

"If approved, the expanded CPV facility would emit more than 2.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses each year, and would be one of the largest single sources of climate-destroying carbon emissions in the entire state," said Charlie Kratovil, of Food & Water Watch. "We are calling on Murphy and his Department of Environmental Protection to reject CPV’s air permit application. If Gov. Murphy wants us to believe he is ready to be a climate leader, he will reject the Keasbey plant."

The group says the Murphy administration should reject all three power plants and find a renewable energy alternative.

"If Gov. Murphy wants to live up to his clean energy, environmental justice, and climate commitments, he must direct PVSC to immediately withdraw its air permit application for this power plant and re-write their proposal," said Bill McClelland with Food & Water Watch on April 8.

And many towns near these proposed plants say they don't want the plants in their backyards, or even nearby: The town of Jersey City, Kearny, Secaucus, Union City, Bayonne, Weehawken and Hoboken have all passed formal resolutions opposing the Newark and Kearny plants. The towns of Livingston, Maplewood and Alpine have passed resolutions opposing the plants, as well.

This week, Highland Park issued a formal resolution against the Woodbridge power plant.

With reporting from Eric Kiefer/Patch

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