This bill mandates the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to establish standards for the privacy and use of customer energy usage data (CEUD) collected through advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). It asserts that customers have full ownership and control over their CEUD, which can only be disclosed to authorized third parties with the customer's informed consent. The bill outlines that electric public utilities must use CEUD solely for providing utility services and must implement security measures to protect this data from unauthorized access or disclosure. In the event of a data breach, utilities are required to notify affected customers, the BPU, and law enforcement if necessary.

Within 90 days of the bill's effective date, the BPU is tasked with creating standardized privacy requirements that utilities must adopt in their data access plans. These plans must ensure customers have real-time access to their CEUD, provide clear information about third-party data usage, and include measures to enhance the reliability of electricity distribution and support state clean energy goals. The BPU will have 30 days to review and approve these plans, which will be automatically approved if not acted upon within that timeframe. The bill also clarifies that utilities can use anonymized CEUD for analysis and reporting, and it does not restrict customers from sharing their data with third parties not governed by this legislation.