New Jersey Energy Master Plan Documents
Publication Year: 2011

New Jersey Energy Master Plan Documents

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has asked the Center for Energy, Economics and Environmental Policy (CEEEP) along with the Rutgers Economic Advisory Service (RECONTM), both part of the Bloustein School of Planning and Policy, Rutgers University to provide data collection and analysis as New Jersey updates and revises its Energy Master Plan (EMP).

In this brief introduction, the role of data collection, analysis and uncertainty in energy planning, raised in CEEEP’s Modeling Report for the New Jersey Energy Master Plan 1 (2008), is discussed. Readers are encouraged to revisit that document as well as its many other reports, which contain similar discussions. In the context of the EMP, planning should be an iterative process that articulates fundamental objectives, establishes measurable targets, assigns resources and responsibilities for meeting those targets, and reevaluates and adjusts the EMP’s strategies over time. In the remainder of this introduction, the role of data collection and analysis is discussed, the importance of acknowledging uncertainty is raised, and a short description of CEEEP and RECONTM’s approach is provided.