Bill Text: NJ A1672 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Establishes "Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program."

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-04 - Reported out of Assembly Comm. with Amendments, 2nd Reading [A1672 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2016-A1672-Introduced.html

ASSEMBLY, No. 1672

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

217th LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  GARY S. SCHAER

District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblyman  WAYNE P. DEANGELO

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Assemblywoman  ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

Assemblyman  DANIEL R. BENSON

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes "Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program."

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

  


An Act concerning solar energy projects, and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program Act."

 

     2.    As used in P.L.    , c.   (C.       ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

     "Board" and "electric public utility" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).

     "Customer" means a residential or non-residential customer of an electric public utility.

     "Solar panel" means an elevated panel or plate, or a canopy or array thereof, that captures and converts solar radiation to produce power, and includes flat plate, focusing solar collectors, or photovoltaic solar cells and excludes the base or foundation of the panel, plate, canopy, or array, and is approved by the board to be included in the Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program.

     "Solar energy project" means a system containing one or more solar panels and associated equipment.

 

     3.    a. The board shall establish the "Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program" to permit customers of an electric public utility to invest in solar energy projects.

     b.    (1) The board shall permit a customer of an electric public utility to invest in a solar energy project in a manner and at a price that is determined by the owner of a solar energy project, provided that the solar energy project is connected to the electric grid and located in the service territory of the electric public utility which services the investing customer.  A customer who has invested in a solar energy project shall be permitted a credit on the customer's electric utility bill for the amount of energy that the customer's investment has produced, provided that the credit is less than or equal to the customer's annual electric usage in the previous energy year.  A customer shall be compensated for any credits each billing period or at the end of the annual billing period.

     (2) As determined by the board, the board shall require the owner of a solar energy project to provide a copy of its agreement with its investing customer to the customer's electric public utility, report the amount of energy produced by the customer's investment each billing period to the customer's electric public utility, and notify the customer's electric public utility once the agreement between the owner of the solar energy project and the customer has been terminated.

     c.     The board shall make available on its Internet website information on solar energy projects whose owners are seeking investors.

     d.    The board shall establish standards and an application process for owners of solar energy projects who wish to be included in the Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program. The standards for the Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program, shall include, but not be limited to, a verification process to ensure that solar energy projects are producing an amount of energy that is greater than or equal to the amount of energy that is being credited to its investors' electric utility bills pursuant to subsection b. of this section.

 

     4.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill establishes the "Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program" to permit customers of an electric public utility to invest in solar energy projects.

     Under the bill, the Board of Public Utilities (board) board is to permit a customer of an electric public utility to invest in a solar energy project in a manner and at a price that is determined by the owner of a solar energy project, provided that the solar energy project is connected to the electric grid and located in the service territory of the electric public utility which services the investing customer.  A customer who has invested in a solar energy project is to be permitted a credit on the customer's electric utility bill for the amount of energy that the customer's investment has produced, provided that the credit is less than or equal to the customer's annual electric usage in the previous energy year.  A customer is to be compensated for any credits each billing period or at the end of the annual billing period.

     As determined by the board, the board is to require the owner of a solar energy project to provide a copy of its agreement with its investing customer to the customer's electric public utility, report the amount of energy produced by the customer's investment each billing period to the customer's electric public utility, and notify the customer's electric public utility once the agreement between the owner of the solar energy project and the customer has been terminated.

     The bill provides that the board is to make available on its Internet website information on solar energy projects whose owners are seeking investors.

     The bill requires the board to establish standards and an application process for owners of solar energy projects who wish to be included in the Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program.  The standards for the Neighborhood Solar Energy Investment Program are to include, but not be limited to, a verification process to ensure that solar energy projects are producing an amount of energy that is greater than or equal to the amount of energy that is being credited to its investors' electric utility bills.

feedback