New Initiative Towards Making New Jersey a National Clean Energy Leader
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) recently launched its Energy Manager Training Program for state employees. Every state agency is now required to have an Energy Manager to manage its energy use and costs. The Energy Manager is responsible for developing an energy pl...
Third Circuit Finds That Statute of Limitations Period on Civil Rights Claim Arising From Wrongful Conviction Did Not Begin Until Conviction Was Vacated
The plaintiff Yasmine Coello was convicted of harassment in 2007. Over a decade later, she was successful in having her conviction vacated. Within two years later, she filed a civil rights action to recover for various abuses she alleged to have suffered during her criminal proceedi...
Insufficient Basis Found to File Late Tort Claim Notice in COVID-Related Death
Plaintiff’s deceased husband Bernard Waddell contracted COVID-19 in March 2020 while he was working as a Corrections Officer at the Hudson County Correctional Center. He died from viral pneumonia secondary to COVID-19 on April 1, 2020. Plaintiff, Sheliah Waddell, Bernard’s wife file...
Biden Declares Climate Change an “Existential Threat”
On July 20 2022, President Joe Biden called climate change an “existential threat” and unveiled new policies to fight its effects in response to Senator Joe Manchin’s objection to the Biden Administration’s proposed Federal wind legislation, which would create thousands of union jobs...
The Proposed New Inflation Reduction Act Could Become the Biggest Climate Investment in US History
In addition to investments in clean energy, the bill called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (H.R. 5376) includes tax and health care provisions designed to reduce the federal budget deficit and limit inflation. However, much of the media’s attention has been on the climate provisi...
New Jersey Recently Surpassed 4 Gigawatts of Solar-Generated Electricity
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) recently announced that New Jersey recently surpassed 4 gigawatts of solar-generated electricity produced by more than 157,000 solar installations statewide. This is enough “clean energy” to provide electricity to over 500,000 New Jerse...
New Jersey Defendants Carry the Burden of Differentiating Between Multiple Potential Causes of a Plaintiff’s Injury.
When a plaintiff pleads in her Complaint that an accident aggravated a pre-existing injury, it is the plaintiff’s burden to provide a comparative analysis of the two injuries – the prior injury and the aggravation – in order to succeed on her claim that the accident caused the aggrava...
An Insurance Company’s Actions Within an Insurance Contract Not Sufficient to Bring Negligence Action for Denial of Benefits
In Moravia Motorcycle, Inc. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83043 (W.D. Pa. May 9, 2022), the United States District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania dismissed an insured’s negligence claim against its insurer carrier but upheld a bad faith claim for the insur...
Separating Elevations Risks Under Labor Law § 240 (1) From Other Conditions That Could Cause an Employee’s Injury
By: Erika Vasant, Law Clerk Editor: Patrick J. Graham, Esq. In Schutt v. Dynasty Transp. of Ohio, Inc., 203 A.D.3d 858 (2022), the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, Second Department reaffirmed the State’s current understanding of Labor Law §240(1). In this case, plai...
Solar Update Regarding Extension Requests of Transition Incentive Program Deadlines
On June 8, 2022, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities issued an Order conditionally granting a petition which requested an extension to the project’s solar Transition Incentive (“TI”) Program registration deadline. As part of this Order, the Board has defined a set of criteria to...
Biden Administration Invokes Defense Production Act to Boost Domestic Manufacturing in Clean Energy Sectors
On June 6, 2022, the White House released a statement authorizing the use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to build up domestic production of solar panels, electric transformers, heat pumps, insulation and hydrogen-related equipment. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) could sup...
Update on NJ Solar Incentive Program
In August 2021, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities ("NJBPU") launched the Administratively Determined Incentive (“ADI”) Program megawatt ("MW"). The program provides incentives to eligible solar facilities that are net metered residential, net metered non-residential 5 megawatts...
New Jersey Workers' Compensation Manual
John H. Geaney, Esq. publishes a yearly manual aimed on providing practitioners, adjusters and employers with key information on Workers’ Compensation in the State of New Jersey.