and it was a critical day for environmental advocates in Trenton who showed up in Force at the State House to protest and support the clean energy bill the guidelines for how New Jersey will transition to Governor Murphy's goal of 100% clean energy by 2035 a senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports Watchdogs claim there's a dirty loophole lurking in the legislation and they're bound to remove it what do we want clean energy when do we want it now a coalition of clean energy groups rallied outside the state house today ahead of a joint hearing on a bill that would have New Jersey reach 100% clean energy by 2035 something these groups say is critical enshrining this commitment into law to achieve 100% clean energy by 2035 I believe is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we can do to protect the environment and our future this is about People's Health this is about people's lives we're talking about 11,000 jobs we're talking about energy security do you know the most secure energy the Sun that falls in New Jersey the wind blows in New Jersey several representatives from New Jersey's utilities and unions spoke about what they're already doing to switch to renewable energy sources like solar but when asked whether they endorsed this plan they said they just need the state to form a plan if this is the goal and we've got it set up and everyone knows what the rules are we'll make it happen we need a a multi-year plan like 10 20 year plan with all these all the players involved so we talk about this stuff and try to figure out the right safe reliable most coste efficient way to get it done what we are worried about is later on in this decade a supply demand mismatch so we're seeing a lot of fossil leave the system we got to get that fossil replaced by these renewable resources that are trying to find their way onto the system um in order for supply and demand to match and the Crux of this issue is infrastructure investments into the state's energy grid says Republican assemblyman Chris baranco who referenced another bill discussed today that addresses that issue it doesn't matter how much power you generate if you do not have the distribution system to get that power where it needs to be so these two bills Mr chairman have a chicken and egg problem right we cannot talk about uh revising the state's renewable energy portfolio until we talk about the electric grid modernization modernization plan the question is how do you get there how do modernize the grid so it's ready to handle energy from renewable sources several speakers today brought recommendations batteries hot water heaters energy storage or um EVS all have an enormous amount of flexibility as to when they operate but we need the right incentive programs to unlock that flexibility it can substantially reduce the scale of investment and the cost of grid modernization while connecting and taking advantage of more carbon- free resources you know when I think about grid mod we really think about three different types of investment first is the expansion of traditional utility infrastructure what I often refer to as the poles and wires solution uh so a grimon can look and say what do we need in terms of additional infrastructure and then have the utilities build it the second is utility deployment of Advanced Technologies on the distribution system that may reduce the need for more poles and wires and the third says Columbia University's Abe Silverman are investments into brand new infrastructure that incentivizes companies and customers to move away from wires altogether after hours of testimony here's what assembly committee chair Wayne D'Angelo walked away with I hear that we don't generate enough electricity for what we use now currently in the state of New Jersey that we get some from outside the state what I hear is that on the outside hey we want more electric vehicle charging stations we need to promote electric vehicle use throughout the state there was no vote on the bills and today's testimony highlighted the work that still needs to be done in Trenton I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight news