Tom Johnson at NJSpotlight writes
New Jersey Invests in Backup Storage for Solar Power and Wind Energy Systems:
The state is funding more than a dozen projects to help make solar and wind power more reliable by providing backup energy-storage systems for the electricity they produce.
These first-ever awards by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities will give nearly $3 million to 13 projects scattered around the state, all of which will supply money to existing solar energy systems. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority grant also will be linked to the facility’s wind system, a familiar sight to tourists arriving at the casino resort.
Energy storage is widely viewed as crucial to promote the development of renewable energy -- especially given the intermittent nature of solar and wind generation. The state’s has set a goal of having 22.5 percent of its electricity delivered from renewable energy sources by 2020, but some want it raised to 80 percent by 2050.
To state officials, the development of energy-storage systems is critical to keeping essential facilities operating even in extreme storms when large parts of the power grid shut down.
“As we all learned through superstorm Sandy, projects that improve resiliency at critical facilities are top priorities,’’ said BPU President Richard Mroz. “New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program now encourages islanded power systems at critical facilities that are otherwise consistent with the programs’ resiliency, environmental, and energy-production goals through a first-of-its kind energy storage incentive program.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2012—Paul Ryan budget would slash nutritional assistance:
House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan's proposed budget would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, by $133.5 billion, or 17 percent, over 10 years. That's a giant cut for a program that provides food, and only food, to people who would otherwise go hungry. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities details what this would mean for beneficiaries:
Cuts in eligibility: If the cuts were to come solely from eliminating eligibility for categories of currently eligible households or individuals, more than 8 million people would need to be cut from the program, if the cuts began taking effect in 2013. If the cuts did not begin until 2016, an average of almost 10 million people would have to be cut from the program in the years from 2016 through 2022 to achieve the required savings. [...]
Cuts in benefits: If the cuts were to come solely from across-the-board benefit cuts, SNAP benefits would have to be cut by about $22 to $27 per person per month in 2016 dollars. This would require setting the maximum benefit at about 86 percent of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), USDA’s estimate of the minimumamount that a family needs to afford a bare-bones, nutritionally adequate diet.
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Those would be our choices, as a nation, if Paul Ryan and his fellow Republicans had their way: cut millions of people off from a source of food, or cut many more people's food assistance to the point where they could not afford even a barely adequate diet.
Tweet of the Day
If cruz is looking for an alternative to O'care- can I suggest he look at Sharon angles idea to barter health care for chickens
— @jamespmanley
On
today's Kagro in the Morning show,
Greg Dworkin rounds the nuz on Cruz, Juz. Jeb: he's not anti-Obamacare enough.
Monte Frank of Team 26 tells us about the 3rd Sandy Hook Ride on Washington, and discusses the national drive for gun violence prevention, so-called "smart guns," etc. Next, we try to make good on missing
Rosalyn MacGregor's MI update, but instead play the (admittedly excellent) February update! Why? Because we're professionals. A procedural explainer on the budget resolution, on which debate begins today in the House. What is the "Queen of the Hill" rule, and why would you use it? KITM listeners are among the few for whom this rule isn't completely new!
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