Another power plant is proposed for the Meadowlands, this time by NJ Transit

NJ Transit is proposing to build a gas-fired power plant in the Meadowlands, a move that promises to keep local and Amtrak rail lines reliably powered even during extreme weather, but would add another major source of greenhouse gas emissions to the region.

Slated to be built along the Hackensack River in Kearny, the 140 megawatt plant would emit 383,000 to 571,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to NJ Transit documents. 

That would rank it among the top 15 single largest sources of greenhouse gases in New Jersey, based on 2017 federal emissions data.

Critics say the proposal runs counter to Gov. Phil Murphy's clean energy goals and would place another power plant in a densely-populated region that is recovering from decades of environmental degradation.

NJ Transit executives said Thursday that they have limited options to generate enough electricity to power a key — and vulnerable — section of their rail network that was knocked out for several days following Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The $526 million Transitgrid project would be the "most modern and sustainable traction power system" in the nation, according to the agency. It would operate around the clock to provide electricity to the Northeast Corridor between New York Penn Station and New Brunswick; the Morris & Essex line between Hoboken Terminal and Maplewood Station; and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.

The vast majority of the funds for the project come from the federal government rather than NJ Transit customers.

The Meadowlands is already home to one of the state's largest power plants — PSE&G's Bergen Generating Station, located seven miles north in Ridgefield. Another gas-fired power plant is proposed for nearby North Bergen. 

Bill Sheehan, head of the Hackensack Riverkeeper, called the proposal "ridiculous" in light of Murphy's recently released plan for New Jersey to draw 50 percent of its electricity needs from clean sources by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.

The Meadowlands is especially vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme weather events caused by an greenhouse gases warming the globe. 

"We're supposed to be moving toward clean energy and now we get this," Sheehan said. "Once the infrastructure is built, this is something that is going to last 60, 70 years and we're supposed to be at 100 percent clean energy by 2050?" 

The plant would be built on a portion of the vacant, 170-acre Koppers Koke property.

NJ Transit executives said they do not have enough room in the region to build the number of solar panels and wind turbines needed to produce enough electricity to meet the agency's demands.

NJ Transit said the new plant could help reduce reliance on aging coal and gas plants in other states that generate electricity for the PJM grid that New Jersey draws power from. That in turn could theoretically reduce greenhouse gases from those less efficient plants by as much as 199,500 tons, the agency argued.

The 571,000 tons of carbon dioxide listed in NJ Transit's environmental impact report would rank the plant ahead of other power plants in the state, like those in Lakewood, Sayreville and Bayonne, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rankings of large greenhouse gas emitters in New Jersey. 

An NJ Transit spokesman said the plant is estimated to release 383,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually on a normal operating schedule, which would rank it 14th based on EPA data. 

"You cannot be resilient if you are building more fossil fuel infrastructure," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "This agency wants a natural gas plant for their microgrid instead of using renewable energy. It’s sort of like having a horse pull your Tesla."

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The proposal coincides with a separate plan by a subsidiary of Mitsubishi to build an even larger gas-fired power plant about six miles north along a tributary of the Hackensack River in North Bergen. 

The North Bergen Liberty Generating plant would emit about 2.6 million tons of carbon dioxide, tying it for the most in New Jersey with the Phillips 66 Bayway refinery.

That proposal, which would supply electricity exclusively to New York, had been under review by the state Department of Environmental Protection but has been put on hold after the company wanted to change information about the technology that would be used at the plant. 

"The company simply informed the DEP that it is adding information to and amending the current air permit application to reflect possible technology changes," a company statement released Thursday said.