Bill Text: NJ A3589 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires new electric distribution lines to be located or relocated underground wherever practicable.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-12-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee [A3589 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A3589-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MICHAEL PATRICK CARROLL
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires new electric distribution lines to be located or relocated underground wherever practicable.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning new electric distribution line installations, supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes, and amending P.L.1999, c.23.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) Sections 1 through 4 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be known and may be cited as the "Underground Power Lines Act."
2. (New section) As used in this act:
"Board" means the Board of Public Utilities or any successor agency.
"Electric distribution line" means an electric line, cable, or wire and any appurtenant connecting equipment or facilities other than an electric transmission line.
"Electric public utility" means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, that transmits and distributes electricity to end users within this State.
"Electric transmission line" means an electric line, cable, or wire and any appurtenant connecting equipment or facilities which are part of an electric public utility's transmission and subtransmission system, which provides a direct connection between an electric generating station or any substation of the electric public utility and another substation of the electric public utility, a substation of or interconnection point with another interconnecting electric public utility, or a substation of a high-load customer of the utility.
3. (New section) It is the public policy of this State that every electric distribution line of an electric public utility installed after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be located underground, wherever practicable.
4. (New section) a. The board shall promulgate rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), directing each electric public utility to relocate every above-ground electric distribution line underground, wherever practicable. In adopting rules and regulations, the board shall consider applicable industry codes, national electric industry practices, and sound engineering judgment.
b. Until the board certifies that every above-ground electric distribution line in the State that may be practicably relocated underground is relocated underground, the board shall utilize all monies collected through the societal benefits charge, established pursuant to section 12 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-60), to reimburse any electric public utility for the cost of relocating electric distribution lines underground. After the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), monies collected or made available through the societal benefits charge shall not be allocated for the purposes described in paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (5) of subsection a. and subsection b. of section 12 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-60) unless the board determines that an urgent need exists for those monies to be spent for those purposes and that the monies are spent in an efficient manner.
5. Section 12 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-60) is amended to read as follows:
12. a. Simultaneously with the starting date for the implementation of retail choice as determined by the board pursuant to subsection a. of section 5 of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-53) and consistent with the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board shall permit each electric public utility and gas public utility to recover some or all of the following costs through a societal benefits charge that shall be collected as a non-bypassable charge imposed on all electric public utility customers and gas public utility customers, as appropriate:
(1) The costs for the social programs for which rate recovery was approved by the board prior to April 30, 1997. For the purpose of establishing initial unbundled rates pursuant to section 4 of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-52), the societal benefits charge shall be set to recover the same level of social program costs as is being collected in the bundled rates of the electric public utility on the effective date of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.). The board may subsequently order, pursuant to its rules and regulations, an increase or decrease in the societal benefits charge to reflect changes in the costs to the utility of administering existing social programs. Nothing in [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.) shall be construed to abolish or change any social program required by statute or board order or rule or regulation to be provided by an electric public utility. Any such social program shall continue to be provided by the utility until otherwise provided by law, unless the board determines that it is no longer appropriate for the electric public utility to provide the program, or the board chooses to modify the program;
(2) Nuclear plant decommissioning costs;
(3) The costs of demand side management programs that were approved by the board pursuant to its demand side management regulations prior to April 30, 1997. For the purpose of establishing initial unbundled rates pursuant to section 4 of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-52), the societal benefits charge shall be set to recover the same level of demand side management program costs as is being collected in the bundled rates of the electric public utility on the effective date of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.). Within four months of the effective date of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.), and every four years thereafter, the board shall initiate a proceeding and cause to be undertaken a comprehensive resource analysis of energy programs, and within eight months of initiating such proceeding and after notice, provision of the opportunity for public comment, and public hearing, the board, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, shall determine the appropriate level of funding for energy efficiency and Class I renewable energy programs that provide environmental benefits above and beyond those provided by standard offer or similar programs in effect as of the effective date of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.); provided that the funding for such programs be no less than [50%] 50 percent of the total Statewide amount being collected in public electric and gas utility rates for demand side management programs on the effective date of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.) for an initial period of four years from the issuance of the first comprehensive resource analysis following the effective date of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.), and provided that [25%] 25 percent of this amount shall be used to provide funding for Class I renewable energy projects in the State. In each of the following fifth through eighth years, the Statewide funding for such programs shall be no less than 50 percent of the total Statewide amount being collected in public electric and gas utility rates for demand side management programs on the effective date of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.), except that as additional funds are made available as a result of the expiration of past standard offer or similar commitments, the minimum amount of funding for such programs shall increase by an additional amount equal to 50 percent of the additional funds made available, until the minimum amount of funding dedicated to such programs reaches $140,000,000 total. After the eighth year, the board shall make a determination as to the appropriate level of funding for these programs. Such programs shall include a program to provide financial incentives for the installation of Class I renewable energy projects in the State, and the board, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, shall determine the level and total amount of such incentives as well as the renewable technologies eligible for such incentives which shall include, at a minimum, photovoltaic, wind, and fuel cells. The board shall simultaneously determine, as a result of the comprehensive resource analysis, the programs to be funded by the societal benefits charge, the level of cost recovery and performance incentives for old and new programs and whether the recovery of demand side management programs' costs currently approved by the board may be reduced or extended over a longer period of time. The board shall make these determinations taking into consideration existing market barriers and environmental benefits, with the objective of transforming markets, capturing lost opportunities, making energy services more affordable for low income customers and eliminating subsidies for programs that can be delivered in the marketplace without electric public utility and gas public utility customer funding;
(4) Manufactured gas plant remediation costs, which shall be determined initially in a manner consistent with mechanisms in the remediation adjustment clauses for the electric public utility and gas public utility adopted by the board; [and]
(5) The cost, of consumer education, as determined by the board, which shall be in an amount that, together with the consumer education surcharge imposed on electric power supplier license fees pursuant to subsection h. of section 29 of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-78) and the consumer education surcharge imposed on gas supplier license fees pursuant to subsection g. of section 30 of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-79), shall be sufficient to fund the consumer education program established pursuant to section 36 of [this act] P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-85); and
(6) The cost of reimbursing electric public utilities for the relocation of an electric distribution line underground pursuant to section 4 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. There is established in the Board of Public Utilities a nonlapsing fund to be known as the "Universal Service Fund." The board shall determine: the level of funding and the appropriate administration of the fund; the purposes and programs to be funded with monies from the fund; which social programs shall be provided by an electric public utility as part of the provision of its regulated services which provide a public benefit; whether the funds appropriated to fund the "Lifeline Credit Program" established pursuant to P.L.1979, c.197 (C.48:2-29.15 et seq.), the "Tenants' Lifeline Assistance Program" established pursuant to P.L.1981, c.210 (C.48:2-29.31 et seq.), the funds received pursuant to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. s.8621 et seq., and funds collected by electric and [natural] gas public utilities, as authorized by the board, to offset uncollectible electricity and natural gas bills should be deposited in the fund; and whether new charges should be imposed to fund new or expanded social programs.
(cf: P.L.1999, c.23, s.12)
6. This act shall take effect on the 90th day after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
The bill establishes that it is the public policy of this State that all new electric distribution lines shall be placed underground, wherever practicable. The Board of Public Utilities (board), in adopting rules and regulations to implement this requirement, shall consider applicable industry codes, national electric industry practices, and sound engineering judgment. Finally, the bill directs the board to utilize monies collected through the societal benefits charge to reimburse electric public utilities for the cost of relocating their electric distribution lines underground until the board certifies that every above-ground electric distribution line in the State that may be practicably relocated underground is relocated underground. After the effective date of the bill, monies collected or are made available through the societal benefits charge shall not be allocated for social programs for which rate recovery was approved by the board prior to April 30, 1997, demand side management programs that were approved by the board pursuant to its demand side management regulations prior to April 30, 1997, manufactured gas plant remediation costs, consumer education costs, or costs for providing assistance from, and the administration of, the "Universal Service Fund," unless the board determines that an urgent need exists for those monies to be spent for those purposes and that the monies are spent in an efficient manner.
