This bill amends New Jersey's renewable energy incentive programs with a particular emphasis on solar energy projects. It introduces new definitions such as "co-location," "community solar program," and "contaminated site," and allows for the co-location of solar facilities on landfills, brownfields, or mining sites without size or power output restrictions. The bill also establishes a timeline for these projects to achieve commercial operation, extending deadlines in cases of utility-caused delays. Additionally, developers with projects previously approved under the Transition Renewable Energy Certificate (TREC) program are required to register their projects in the community solar or remote net metering programs within 90 days of the bill's enactment.

Moreover, the bill mandates that electric public utilities process interconnection applications for community solar or remote net metering facilities within specific timeframes, imposing a penalty of $5,000 per day for delays. It expands the definition of renewable energy facilities to include battery storage technology and allows previously awarded but unused TREC incentives to be applied to renewable energy projects. The bill also raises the maximum project size for the remote net metering program from five megawatts to 20 megawatts and modifies the types of properties eligible for hosting these facilities, aiming to streamline the development of solar energy projects and enhance New Jersey's renewable energy infrastructure.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 40:55D-66.11, 40:55D-66.16, 40A:11-5, 48:3-87.12