A federal judge in Trenton, N.J., said a New Jersey statute providing incentives for power plant construction to help lower electricity rates and head off shortages is pre-empted by federal law.
The 2011 Long-term Capacity Agreement Pilot Project, by allowing energy generators participating in the state program to auction off wholesale electricity at a discounted price, effectively sets a new market rate — an authority that has belonged to federal regulators for nearly eight decades, U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan for the District of New Jersey held October 11.
