Batteries for clean energy will need ratepayer subsidies too

New Jersey ratepayers and taxpayers have poured a lot of money into giving the northern, often cloudy state lots of solar panels and what will be hundreds of wind turbines offshore.The state’s 163,000 solar panel installations have the potential to product 4.1 gigawatts of clean energy. The current goal for offshore wind projects is the potential to produce 11 gigawatts.This is not potential in the ordinary use of the word, though, since solar and offshore wind will seldom if ever produce that much electricity. There usually are some clouds in New Jersey skies, often enough to blot out the sun. Wind is more reliable out in the ocean but not guaranteed, and when there is wind its speed varies and therefore so does the power produced by giant turbines.One thing reliable to the point of certainty is that New Jersey residents and businesses need electricity all of the…

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