(upbeat music) - From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

- Hello and thanks for joining us tonight.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

Coming up in the broadcast, I speak with Congresswoman LaMonica McIver about the latest on her assault charges, as well as why she's taking on developers building AI data centers in the state.

Plus, the World Cup countdown is on.

Joanna Gaggis talks with the New York/New Jersey host committee CEO about the final preps and pushback on pricing.

And later, is offshore wind dead in New Jersey?

We look at the future of renewable energy in the state.

First, though, let's get a check of the headlines from Joanna Gaggis.

Jo.

Thanks, Bri.

Well, it's officially happening.

The final contract to build the Gateway Tunnel has been awarded.

It's a $1.3 billion construction project that'll design and build one mile of new rail tubes under the Hudson River.

The current rail tubes for NJ Transit, Amtrak, and the PATH are more than 100 years old.

This project will modernize transit between New Jersey and New York, which is used by hundreds of thousands of passengers every day.

The contract agreement comes after months of uncertainty, triggered by a federal funding freeze that temporarily put the whole project on pause.

The state won a legal battle over that freeze, and officials say the project is back on schedule.

Leaders in New Jersey and New York are calling this a turning point, not just for commuters but for the entire Northeast corridor that's dealt with delays and disruptions because of the old infrastructure.

Construction is expected to ramp up in phases with the tunnel portion still a few years away.

That's what we've got for headlines.

Back to you Brie.

Coming up we talk with Congresswoman Monica MacIver about the latest on her assault charges in this case and the issues she's taking on in Washington.

That's next.

Funding for NJ Spotlight News provided by the members of the New Jersey Education Association and RWJBarnabas Health.

Learn more at RWJBH.org.

Well, New Jersey Congresswoman LaMonica McIver is at the center of several major national and local issues right now, from new legislation aimed at increasing transparency around AI data centers to taking on ice and preparing for a high stakes federal appeals hearing connected to charges from an incident at a Newark detention facility.

Representative McIver has had no shortage of high profile events during her first term, and she joins us now from D.C.

Congresswoman, it's really good to see you.

Welcome.

Thank you for coming back on the show.

You recently, as I mentioned, proposed new legislation called the AI Data Center Site Selection Transparency Act.

But basically, if I'm understanding it correctly, it'll require developers to disclose their plans earlier in the process.

What problem are you trying to solve here that you've seen happen in New Jersey?

Well, we've been hearing from New Jerseyans about how they find out about these AI data centers via social media.

Literally, they have no advance notice about these centers coming to their neighborhoods.

And I think that's unfair.

Residents should have the right to know about these facilities that are coming way in advance, and they should have the ability to add input, right, to talk about if they wanted to be in their community or not.

That's how we have transparency on the things that come to our community rather it's businesses in this case a data centers to make sure that they can weigh in and have advanced notice of these centers coming.

I think it's very unfair when they have to find out through social media or you know overnight about these facilities that are being built in their communities which can potentially cause rise in costs from electricity to water and it's very unfair to them.

Well how early in the process would those local residents be able to be involved and who would enforce it?

So it would it would literally require them to have 180 days notice of letting the residents know that these centers are coming, which is way in advance time for them to be able to be notified.

And once again, it's about transparency and making sure that the residents in New Jersey's 10th and quite frankly in this country, which we're seeing this problem happening all over, make sure that they have advance notice that, you know, these centers are coming and that residents can voice their opinions about these centers coming as well.

Yeah, I mean, I know we've seen a lot of this pop up in South Jersey, Kenilworth more recently, whereas you said folks said that they didn't learn about these projects until they went on to a social media platform.

But I wonder too, if you have any concerns about pushing these investments out of the state with legislation, because they do bring in revenue and they do bring jobs.

But look, all money is not good money, right?

That's the bottom line.

And to constituents and residents in these neighborhoods, some of these centers are costing an influx on costs for them.

Rather, once again, rather it's electricity.

We've been hearing a lot more water costs, right?

And it's unfair.

These days, right now, Brianna, in this country, people are out -- out cost on so many things, right?

They are literally paying more for everything under the sun, groceries.

Rent is high.

Mortgage is high.

I mean, and they can't afford extra costs or disruption to where they live.

And they shouldn't have to be subjected to this, especially without advance notice.

And so this is what this bill is about.

It's about making sure that we're transparent with these AI data centers.

There are a lot of bills out there around the AI centers coming all over the country.

But this one specifically is really focused on making sure residents get the respect that they deserve by being notified about these centers coming.

You also congresswoman recently introduced legislation around ice limits and involvement when it comes to the World Cup games that are being hosted here.

What's your goal there.

What's your proposal to do.

Well the one thing is to protect families and you know folks who are coming here to watch the World Cup.

We've seen so many threats happening around how ice is going to be a part of security how they're going to have a function with the FIFA World Cup games and we know we do not want ice engaged in any of that type of activity on a you know event that is supposed to be fun you know fun fanfare and we don't want people to be scared to death about coming to really enjoy the games and so we know that ice will you know use an event like the World Cup to come and basically you know be cruel you know arrest people detain them and create you know chaos for the people that are attending the games and I want to protect families and protect our children and our communities and fans from that because it's really about a great event coming to New Jersey that we're super proud of you know that's going to be super fun and bring a lot of you know economic boost to the state and we don't want that to be interrupted by Trump's cruel you know immigration agenda.

Is it part of though a broader push about how ice operates nationally.

You have said in the past that ice is out of control.

Do you still believe that.

Oh absolutely.

I mean I think all of us who are watching the cruel behavior of ice agents all across this country see how rogue they can be and how they're operating.

They're totally out of control.

And while this bill is specifically dealing with the FIFA World Cup there are many bills that you know I've sponsored and been been a part of to try to reel in how ice agents are performing each and every day in our neighborhoods and quite frankly scaring the crap out of the people that I represent.

And we don't want that.

We do not want that in New Jersey.

Quite frankly we don't want that anywhere around this country because it's very frightening.

It's a fear tactic that they try to put on our communities.

And we're better than this in New Jersey.

And that's why I introduced this bill to make sure that we can protect the World Cup.

And I'll continue to support bills that put a put limits on what ICE is doing in our communities.

Well, I want to ask you, because you are heading to an appeals hearing June 23rd in Delaware, stemming from charges that you face from an incident outside Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center in Newark from last year.

What is your argument heading into that appeals case?

Because as I don't have to tell you, the violations that you're facing are very serious, up to 17 years in prison if convicted.

Very serious.

And we're taking them very serious.

The argument is still the same.

Look, I should have legislative immunity as a member of Congress, which I showed up there to do my job.

And basically this Trump administration is trying to penalize me for doing such.

And so we're going in support just with that same argument.

Look, this is a legislative immunity for me as a member of Congress to do my job on behalf of the people of the 10th Congressional District to protect them and fight for them.

And secondly, this is politically motivated charges because the Trump administration wants to try to silence me from holding them accountable and being a critic of their agenda for their policies.

Is that a crime?

Absolutely not.

That's my freedom to do so, to speak out against this administration.

And I'm going to do that.

I'm going to do my job on behalf of the people of the 10th Congressional District to protect them and fight for them.

And secondly, this is politically motivated charges because the Trump administration wants to try to silence me from holding them accountable and being a critic of their agenda for their policies.

Is that a crime?

Absolutely not.

That's my freedom to do so, to speak out against this administration and not be targeted for such.

How has this case, Congresswoman, affected your work in Congress and just your last year of life?

Well, it's definitely affected my last year of life, for sure, Brianna.

It's been extremely stressful.

You know, this case is something that I have to constantly, you know, raise dollars for to fight.

I don't get free pro bono legal help.

And so the process itself, which is the Trump administration's agenda, is to drain me and make it extremely painful to a new member of Congress that they think they can bully and intimidate.

And so it has been extremely difficult on that front.

But no work has stopped here, Brianna, for my residents of the 10th Congressional District.

I'm still delivering dollars back for my district, still representing them, still, you know, focusing on casework, focusing on delivering for them, and, more importantly, focusing on protecting and fighting for them, which I will not stop doing, no matter what this administration tries to throw my way.

You know, the Trump administration didn't appoint me to be the congresswoman.

The people of the 10th Congressional District elected me to be their representative.

And I intend to be their voice here in the halls of Congress and protect them each and every way as we continue to fight this administration.

Representative LaMonica McIver thanks so much for your time.

We appreciate it.

Thank you so much.

Good to see you.

The countdown is on T minus 46 days until the first match of the World Cup at MetLife Stadium or as they're calling it New York New Jersey Stadium.

The state is in the midst of final preparations as one million fans are expected to travel in for the games.

The tournament's expected to generate over three billion dollars in economic activity for the region.

But the cost of transporting fans to and from the games has created a whole lot of controversy.

Lately at the center of it all is the New York New Jersey host committee.

And I'm joined now by its s CEO Alex Lazari.

Alex thanks for being here.

Thanks so much for having me.

Before we get into that controversy which we'll talk about a bit I just want to get a sense what type of coordination has been required when it comes to preparing for these games.

When you're looking at what is going to be the largest sporting event that probably the world has ever seen this is the first World Cup with an expanded field across multiple different countries and doing it inherently in the United States is going to lead to a even bigger scale and scope for the game.

And then especially doing it right here in New York New Jersey.

Luckily we've got a region that's seen it all.

And so constant coordination between city of New York state of New York state of New Jersey and our federal partners.

This is a true public private partnership and one where I think everyone's been working incredibly well to ensure that this is going to be the most successful games that that FIFA has ever put on.

You recently held a press conference with NJ Transit CEO Chris Calori among others folks from Amtrak and state police coordination between all of those agencies.

Can you just lay out for us what the transit path will look like for folks if they're coming from New York or if they're coming from New Jersey to get to New York, New Jersey Stadium?

So we've we announced just a few weeks ago kind of the host committee mobility plan coordinating with New Jersey Transit Amtrak and all of our partners in New York and New Jersey.

What will be those points of entry.

So those points of entry will be you can take New Jersey Transit either from Penn Station right to Secaucus and then transfer that to MetLife or any other way through New Jersey Transit to get you to Secaucus Junction.

That'll then take you to MetLife Stadium.

The host committee is also running a shuttle that'll have three starting points to a New York and one in New Jersey.

So that'll be at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in Clifton.

Those are 80 dollar round trip tickets.

So that'll be a park and ride.

You park at Hackensack and then get on a shuttle.

It'll take you right to the stadium.

Ride share will be at the Meadowlands racetrack.

And so those are kind of the three host committee approved modes of transportation.

Some folks have paid a premium to stay at hotels near the stadium.

Will they be able to walk to the stadium or will they have to go around to see caucus and come through like everyone else who's ticketed.

So it is my understanding that it is illegal to walk to MetLife Stadium.

So what will what will be required is if you're taking if you're at a hotel near the stadium ride share should be much cheaper than if you're taking ride share from say New York City or somewhere else.

Otherwise yes you'll have to either take the train or drive where there will be parking at Adam.

There might be parking at American Dream as the host committee.

Well let me just set the stage.

We've got one hundred fifty dollar tickets for round trip.

And that's if you're taking NJ transit.

You have to go the way you came, right.

You cannot take an alternate form of transit home.

So if you took the train there you take the train home.

One hundred fifty dollars for those tickets.

Do I have it right.

Eighty dollars for the shuttle.

Yes.

And ride share whatever you're being charged by Uber or Lyft or whatever form of transit you take.

Some folks are pushing back on that price.

Fans are upset.

NJ transit and the governor here in New Jersey say this is what we have to do.

We're not going to shoulder the cost as the host committee.

Have you taken a position on this.

Are you pushing one way or the other for FIFA to subsidize as some are calling for it.

These decisions on transit pricing and you know kind of anything through through government are done at the local level and at the and at the state level and I think we all empathize with with you know kind of what the governor has to go through to in order to make these tough decisions I think she's been very clear that this will not be something that will be shouldered by the taxpayers but that's also why the host committee is doing what it can to ensure that we're also providing affordable and accessible modes of transportation.

So that's why we have our host committee shuttle to ensure that we're providing alternate options for people.

Again New Jersey transit is going to be one of the most efficient and quickest ways to get to the stadium.

If you're looking to get to the game in the most efficient and quickest way the transit the train is probably going to be one of them.

And so you know I think you're looking at that or our shuttle or ride share is kind of the three ways and to ensure that you're able to get to the stadium on time.

And and again I think what we're also looking to do is provide affordable and accessible experiences outside the stadium.

That's what makes this World Cup so unique.

The fan fests.

The fan fests the fan zones everything that's kind of happening all around New York and New Jersey trying to show fans and local residents and authentically New York and New Jersey experience to make sure that the World Cup is brought directly to the fans and all the areas.

Let me ask you this some lawmakers in New Jersey have a lot of questions in terms of one what is this actually going to cost the state and two how much economic revenue is actually coming in to New Jersey versus New York is there an imbalance of New Jersey shouldering the cost not gaining the economic benefit some are calling for a hearing a joint hearing of the Assembly and Senate in New Jersey asking you to come in as the host committee do you intend to participate in those hearings I think what what we're looking at when we're looking at the economic impact of a games like this and why this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity is when you look at something like the Super Bowl a Final Four or anything those are over the course of a weekend we have the course of 40 days and most people who are coming for the World Cup are staying on average of five to seven days and so while we have eight matches at MetLife Stadium I think when you look at how the governor has said how she wants to make sure that the economic impact is spread all across the state it's why she's put forward that five million dollars of EDA grants to to stand up and help build out watch parties all across the state to ensure that people are able to get there it's very accessible to get to all parts of New Jersey to visit all of these and we've also got our small business program Rewards program where you will be able to earn points by visiting local communities and visiting small businesses all across the state With some grand prizes as even the opportunity to win an invitation to come to the final With the host committee so lots of ways that we are trying to make sure that that the World Cup economic impact is realized by all people across New Jersey.

Would you bring this to a hearing and sit down in front of the legislature?

No we'll be talking to the governor's office and we'll obviously do whatever they're asked.

So communication with the governor's office only as of right now?

We've talked with the legislature we've talked to the governor's office I am open to talking to whoever and what whoever wants to talk to me we want to make sure that this is something that is felt all across the state of New Jersey and that everyone feels that this is a success for the people of New Jersey.

And at the end of the day just a few seconds left.

You believe New Jersey will see major economic benefit from this event.

I do.

I think this is going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

It's not something that's just going to happen because we want it to.

It's something that we've got to work towards.

And it's why we're putting on watch parties all across the state.

It's why we're trying to make sure that we're providing affordable and accessible experiences for fans who are coming here to visit and why we're working with with all of our partners to ensure that they get the authentically New Jersey experience that they deserve.

All right.

We have to leave it there.

Alex Lassery CEO of the New York New Jersey host committee with the FIFA World Cup Games.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

The Sherrill administration has promised to lower energy costs for New Jersey residents.

For many years, offshore wind was thought by some to be the answer to generating more clean energy in the state.

But after many fits and starts, the industry sputtered out.

Recently, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities moved to terminate its investment into offshore wind infrastructure in a deal that they had called the state agreement approach.

So does offshore wind have any future in New Jersey.

I recently spoke with Evan Vaughn executive director of Merrick the Mid Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition about the issue.

Here's that conversation.

Evan so great to have you with us.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to talk.

I just want to ask you quickly what is the Mid Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition or Merrick.

Hi Joanna.

Glad to be here.

Merrick is the Mid Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition.

We represent utility scale wind solar and battery storage developers in New Jersey and across PGM.

So we know that the Board of Public Utilities made this announcement this week.

What does it mean that they are ending their state agreement approach in New Jersey.

What does that mean.

The state agreement approach fundamentally was a way to build the necessary power lines in order to strengthen the grid and incorporate offshore wind onto the grid in an effective way.

So the state agreement approach was a way to plan for transmission lines that connect all of our homes and businesses and to bring offshore wind on from offshore.

So let me ask you this.

We've seen the state really struggle to get offshore wind off the ground.

This predates the Trump administration coming in.

Can you just give us some perspective here.

Why has it been difficult to get an offshore wind industry going in the first place.

Yeah it's a great question.

Look these are very long term investments in large amounts of capital infrastructure.

We're talking the power lines, we're talking the offshore wind turbines, substations, any kind of large capital investment like this takes time and it takes a lot of money.

And so when we look back to 2022 and 2023, which is when offshore wind was mostly in the news in New Jersey, having hit some financial problems as a result of inflation, the war in Ukraine, etc.

That really became a perfect storm when you had the Trump administration coming in and really pursuing an illegal plan to stop all permitting for wind farms, solar projects across the country.

And so when you add those two things together it makes it very difficult for any business including wind farm companies to build these projects.

So we know.

Yeah we know that there were companies here in New Jersey that talked about inflation as impacting their global supply chain and making it much more costly than I guess originally thought of to get their their offshore wind mills going.

When it comes to the Trump administration and federal permitting is there no path forward for New Jersey right now to create offshore wind even on its own state owned land.

It's also a great question.

So New Jersey's jurisdiction extends out three miles offshore.

All of these projects that are proposed in New Jersey are farther than three miles.

It falls into the Outer Continental Shelf which is federal lands much the same as those that you would find out west and people might be more familiar with.

And so unless the federal government is willing to move these projects forward there's really no path to get a permit for these projects at this time.

Doesn't mean the resource potential is not there.

It just means that the federal government has to really truly adopt and all of the above energy strategy and start to move these projects forward.

So as you were explaining New Jersey really was looking to invest in infrastructure that would take energy from some of these offshore offshore wind locations right and funnel it through one location.

Since that is no longer an investment that the state is willing to make or can make at this point.

And now the BP has made that announcement.

Is there any path for any type of offshore wind or any other type of renewable energy.

Let's start with offshore wind.

Sure this definitely isn't the end for offshore wind in New Jersey.

The industry is definitely down but not out.

As I mentioned really there was a perfect storm of circumstances which continue to be perpetuated by the federal government stopping these projects from moving forward.

But where we've seen offshore wind happen in other states those projects got out of the gate and started construction a little bit before the federal government put the full brakes on the industry.

And so we've seen offshore wind farms come on in places like Virginia and New England and are already producing reliable, affordable power to the grid today, which is really helping consumers head off some of these price increases that we're seeing as a result of an imbalance in supply and demand.

And so even though the state agreement approach, which was a well-intentioned and forward-thinking policy pursued by the New Jersey government, will not allow for these lines to be aggregated into a single landing point on the shore, you can still connect offshore wind on a more traditional basis, which would be every project looking for their own place to plug into the grid.

And so I think until the state revitalizes some kind of a collective transmission solution that's what you're going to see is projects having to find their own path.

You know you mentioned Virginia and New England as having success.

But there are many what we'd consider red states right.

Republican led states that are also utilizing offshore wind.

This is actually when it comes to states a less partisan issue than one might believe if they're just looking at what's coming out of the federal government.

Why have those states been able to move forward.

Yeah you know I actually worked in the national wind industry when the Trump administration 1.0 was in office and believe it or not at that time Secretary Ryan Zinke advanced new leasing for offshore wind off the coast of the United States under Governor Youngkin a Republican in Virginia actually saw the CVAL project start construction the CVAL project being the Virginia offshore wind farm and in the heartland in Texas and Iowa you see land-based wind really going gangbusters and being one of the most affordable energy sources out there.

And it's just down to economics.

New Jersey customers right now are worried about their bills going up every month.

And the beautiful thing about wind and solar is that they have a stable fixed price.

And so even if the investment up front causes your bills to rise slightly the fact that consumers won't be jump scared by spikes in their electricity bills going forward has a ton of value.

Of course we know there are many many towns along New Jersey's coast that are pushing back on offshore wind.

They don't want to see them.

The wind farms.

So we know that that there's some political pressure there here in the state.

Do you see any path forward under this administration the Sherrill administration to maybe relocate onto maybe land based farms.

Just a couple of seconds left.

Yeah I think the Sherrill administration has taken some really critical steps with the Garden State Energy Storage Program and with incentivizing solar on land.

And I think that this administration will likely return to offshore wind as the federal headwinds clean up.

I think this resource has a tremendous fundamental potential for New Jersey and I think it's going to be part of any future energy mix for the state.

All right.

We've got to leave it there.

But Evan Vaughn executive director of Merrick the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition appreciate the That is going to do it for us tonight.

I'm Briana Vannozzi for the entire NJ Spotlight News team.

Thanks for being with us.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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