Thursday, August 4, 2011

NJ Solar Owners SHOCKED By Lower SREC Prices

It just got worse, if that could be possible, for Union County taxpayers, whose taxpayer-supported towns/cities/counties/agencies/BOEs and whatnot's, got suckered in and signed on for the solar scheme orchestrated by the DeCotiis law firm and, for the most part, guaranteed by Union County taxpayers.  I hate to tell you I told you so, so I won't.  John Bury was all over this scheme as well and with his help, I was able to track it as it concerned Linden.  See Bury series here.  Bury posted all this information on the Voices section of NJ.com, but for whatever reason, NJ.com decided it didn't want this or other information Bury posted.   No matter.  Bury has his own informative blog here.

It appears panic is setting in for NJ solar owners, which we Union County taxpayers are.  The County doesn't seem to mind though and not one elected official has voiced any concern.  Despicable. 

A couple of eye openers for those who believed this would not cost Union County taxpayers a dime and, in fact, taxpayer-supported towns/cities/agencies/BOE's and whatnot's who signed on were were promised a 25% to 35%  and sometimes even a 45% reduction in energy prices.  See here for DeCotiis law firm promise to Morris County and here for the promise to Union County.  Who is speechless now Mr. Jonathan Williams, Esq.? 
  • The market price on the new energy year is 50% lower than the previous energy year.
  • Electric Producers in New Jersey are required by law under the Renewable Portfolio Standard to purchase 442,000 SRECs from solar owners during the June 2011 to May 2012 time period (energy year 2012). There is currently almost enough solar installed to produce that amount of SRECs.
  • At this rate there may be more than a 100,000 oversupply of energy year 2012 SRECs.
You can read how the NJ SREC market went bad here.

Did the DeCotiis law firm, by promoting solar panels, contribute to the over supply?  After all, DeCotiis was giving the same advice to various counties, each of whom were essentially competing with one another, to expand solar development.  In my world, this is an obvious conflict of interest.  Conflicts seem not to exist in Union County, even when it's IN YOUR FACE real.  A total disgrace.

Moving on.

Since the repayment of the bond relies heavily on the sale of SREC's, which obviously we won't be able to meet given the current conditions and trends, who pays?  Will the County sue its own attorney/campaign contributor if we can't make the bond repayments?   Who did Linden Council consult on this matter?  Did Linden rely on its own politically-connected attorneys for advice?  Did any Linden Council person undertake a little due diligence in between worrying about sidewalk repair or shade trees?  Astonishing.  Attorneys are suppose to give LEGAL advice.   Here, we have a law firm fashioning policy, acting as a consultant and the lawyer too! Who cares, right?  If it feels good, do it.

I'm thinking there will be no Phase II of this solar project.  I could be wrong.  There are no boundaries when it comes to stupidity.   

J.B. of the County Watchers, if you are reading this, would you please post how much we bonded for Phase I and what the DeCotiis law firm legal billings are on this project to date.  Thanks.  I don't have any more gas in my tank to go further on this at this time.  I just wanted to get it out there for now.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was going to wait until the July, 2011 billing was posted since that would likely bring DeCotiis over $500,000 and the total over $800,000. Here it is through June, 2011:
http://www.countywatchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/uciarenewableenergy.xls

Can't find much on the bonding except this which has it at $15.3 million with a negative outlook:
http://www.alacrastore.com/research/moodys-global-credit-research-MOODY_S_ASSIGNS_Aaa_TO_UNION_COUNTY_IMPROVEMENT_AUTHORITY_S_NJ_15_3_MILLION_COUNTY_OF_UNION_GUARANTEED_RENEWABLE_ENERGY_PROGRAM_LEASE_REVENUE_BONDS_FEDERALLY_TAXABLE_SERIES_2011_OUTLOOK_REVISED_TO_NEGATIVE_FROM_STABLE-NIR_600028959_16855057

NFS said...

Thanks JB

NFS said...

Are YOU sure C2?

Anonymous said...

In 10 days the Morris County bonds ($21.6 million) have to start being repaid and according to their Official Statement on the bond offering, 57.38% of repayments are to come from SREC revenue with another 20.4% from 'Tax Credits/Benefits'. See page 16 here:

http://media.nj.com/njv_johnbury/other/Morris%20County%20Official%20Statement%20Solar%20Bonding.pdf