Bill Text: NJ A4328 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Revises criteria for remote net metering program established by BPU.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-06-30 - Substituted by S2848 (SCS/2R) [A4328 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A4328-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Revises criteria for remote net metering program established by BPU.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning remote net metering and amending P.L.2018, c.17.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 6 of P.L.2018, c.17 (C.48:3-87.12) is amended to read as follows:
6. a. No later than 120 days after the date of enactment of [P.L.2018, c.17 (C.48:3-87.8 et al.)] P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board shall establish an application and approval process to certify public entities to act as a host customer for remote net metering generating capacity. [A public entity certified to act as a host customer may allocate credits to other public entities within the same electric public utility service territory. A copy of the agreement between the public entity certified to act as a host customer and other public entities designated to receive credits shall be provided to the electric public utility before remote net metering credits may be applied to a customer bill.]
A public entity certified to act as a host customer may individually, or collectively with one or more other public entities, host a solar energy project with a capacity up to 10 megawatts, as measured in direct current, to accommodate the total [average] usage of the electric public utility accounts for the host public entity customer ; and the solar energy project shall:
(1) be located on land owned, licensed, or leased by any public entity or on any suitable private property within the electric distribution company's service territory, including, but not limited to, rooftops of commercial buildings, parking lots, brownfields for which a final remediation document has been issued, or properly closed sanitary landfill facilities; and
(2) have a facility size calculated based upon the total aggregate electricity usage of the receiving public entity customer utility accounts to be served by the project, based on the total usage of each proposed customer account over the previous twelve months .
b. The board shall establish a remote net metering application process to [approve as the primary account holder a certified public entity that is the host customer and the other public entities designated to receive credits] certify public entities to act as a host customer for remote net metering generating capacity. The process shall be modeled after the relevant rules and regulations adopted by the board for community solar energy program pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2018, c.17 (C.48:3-87.11), including, but not limited to, the calculation of the value of the net metering credit .
c. [The board shall require the owner of a solar energy project to pay a certified public entity a pro-rated public sponsor fee of $10,000 per megawatt, up to a 10-megawatt allowance for each public entity. The board shall require each participating customer to pay at least 50 percent of the societal benefits charge established pursuant to section 12 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-60).] (Deleted by amendment, P.L. , c. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)
d. The electric distribution company that serves the location of a solar energy project approved pursuant to this section shall be responsible for reviewing and approving the interconnection of the solar energy project.
(cf: P.L.2018, c.17, s.6)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would amend current law concerning remote net metering.
Section 6 of P.L.2018, c.17 (C.48:3-87.12) directed the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to establish an application and approval process to certify public entities to act as a host customer for remote net metering generating capacity. The BPU established a remote meter metering program by board order dated September 17, 2018.
Under the bill, a public entity certified to act as a host customer may individually, or collectively with one or more other public entities, host a solar energy project with a capacity up to 10 megawatts, as measured in direct current, to accommodate the total usage of the electric public utility accounts for the host public entity customer. The solar energy project would be required to:
(1) be located on land owned, licensed, or leased by any public entity or on any suitable private property within the electric public utility's service territory, including, but not limited to, rooftops of commercial buildings, parking lots, brownfields for which a final remediation document has been issued, or properly closed sanitary landfill facilities; and
(2) have a facility size calculated based upon the total aggregate electricity usage of the receiving public entity customer utility accounts to be served by the project, based on the total usage of each proposed customer account over the previous twelve months.
The bill would delete the provisions in current law that:
(1) allow a public entity certified to act as a host customer to allocate credits to other public entities within the same utility service territory;
(2) require the owner of a solar energy project to pay a certified public entity a pro-rated public sponsor fee of $10,000 per megawatt, up to a 10-megawatt allowance for each public entity; and
(3) require each participating customer to pay at least 50 percent of the societal benefits charge established pursuant to section 12 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-60).
Lastly, the bill would provide that an electric distribution company that serves the location of a solar energy project approved pursuant to the bill is responsible for reviewing and approving the interconnection of the remote net metering solar energy project.
