Governor Phil Murphy • Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver |
NJ Home | Services A to Z | Departments/Agencies | FAQs |
For Immediate Release: | Contact: Peter Peretzman |
Date: 11/10/2022 | 609-900-5626 |
Board Staff to Begin Rule Making Process to Implement the Report’s Four Near-Term Recommendations
The State’s grid modernization initiative included research into similar state programs and emerging technologies, organization and execution of a comprehensive series of stakeholder meetings, and data requests for specific information from New Jersey’s Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs), which all culminated in the Report’s recommendations to modify certain interconnection standards. Modifying these standards will enable greater adoption of clean energy resources needed to meet New Jersey’s clean energy goals by improving how they are connected to the electric grid.
“This Report and its recommendations are vital to the process of modernizing the grid so that our many new sources of clean energy like solar, as well as energy storage, can more easily connect now and into the future,” said NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso. “I would like to thank Board Staff and our consultant Guidehouse for their hard work on an extremely important topic, and to our stakeholder community who provided invaluable feedback throughout the process.”
Further, the Board directed staff to release for public comment a draft of the proposed rule changes needed to implement recommendations 1 through 4 in the Report that would modify the interconnection rules. These modifications would provide near-term relief from the issues that impede higher rates of interconnection approval for Distributed Energy Resources (DER), such as solar and energy storage.
Staff has also been directed to initiate the analysis and stakeholder input process needed to kickstart the rule making process for recommendations 5-9, which are longer term recommendations. These recommendations are generally more complex and will require additional analysis and stakeholder input prior to being incorporated into a second rulemaking proceeding. Some of these longer-term improvements may require legislative action.
The Final Report was developed by Guidehouse, Inc. who developed the document through a robust public process, which included five stakeholder meetings over the last 12 months.
Near-term recommendations from the Report include:
Long-term recommendations from the Report include:
Proposed rule changes for the recommendations will be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the New Jersey Register. The Board will consider public comments received before adopting final rule changes and publishing them in the New Jersey Register.
The rule proposal for the near-term recommendations will be submitted to OAL after receiving public comment on the draft rule language. The rule proposal for the long-term recommendations will be developed following a robust stakeholder engagement process and submitted when the proposal is developed.
About the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU)
NJBPU is a state agency and regulatory authority mandated to ensure safe, adequate and proper utility services at reasonable rates for New Jersey customers. Critical services regulated by NJBPU include natural gas, electricity, water, wastewater, telecommunications and cable television. The Board has general oversight and responsibility for monitoring utility service, responding to consumer complaints, and investigating utility accidents. To find out more about NJBPU, visit our website at www.nj.gov/bpu.
About New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program (NJCEP)
NJCEP, established on January 22, 2003, in accordance with the Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act (EDECA), provides financial and other incentives to the State's residential customers, businesses and schools that install high-efficiency or renewable energy technologies, thereby reducing energy usage, lowering customers' energy bills and reducing environmental impacts. The program is authorized and overseen by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU), and its website is www.NJCleanEnergy.com.