ASSEMBLY SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 4483

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

      The Assembly Special Committee on Infrastructure and Natural Resources reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 4483.

      This bill would require a study of the ocean’s energy potential in the State, and it would further provide for the State’s clean energy plans and goals to be updated to incorporate new goals related to the generation of wave and tidal energy, which are both forms of clean energy that are derived from untapped and inexhaustible ocean resources.

      Specifically, the bill would require the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), within 30 days after the bill’s effective date, to commence a comprehensive, collaborative study to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of using wave and tidal energy as forms of clean energy in the State.  The BPU and DEP would be required, in conducting the study, to:  (1) evaluate various factors related to the increased use of wave and tidal energy in the State; and (2) authorize individuals and entities to engage in pilot wave and tidal energy projects in the State.

      Not more than three months after the bill’s effective date, the President of the BPU and the DEP Commissioner would be required to cooperatively prepare and submit a written report, to the Governor and the Legislature, identifying the findings from the wave and tidal energy study, and providing recommendations for legislative, executive, and other actions that can be taken to facilitate, encourage, and promote the development and increased use of wave and tidal energy technologies, infrastructure, and facilities in the State.  Among other things, the report would be required to include a strategic plan for the deployment of wave and tidal energy technologies, infrastructure, and facilities in the State.  The strategic plan is to identify, at a minimum, specific wave energy generation goals, tidal energy generation goals, or both, in megawatts (MW), that the State should endeavor to meet by 2030, 2040, and 2050, in order to ensure the timely and effective deployment of wave and tidal energy technologies and the sufficient incorporation of wave and tidal energy into the State’s energy portfolio.

      The bill would require the Energy Master Plan Committee, in its adoption of the first update of the State’s Energy Master Plan following the bill’s effective date, to incorporate, into the Energy Master Plan, information regarding the wave and tidal energy strategic plan developed under the bill, and, to the extent practicable, the wave and tidal energy generation goals recommended by the strategic plan.

      The bill would require the BPU to solicit and approve applications for, and to take appropriate action to facilitate, the initiation of pilot wave and tidal energy projects in the State as part of the wave and tidal energy study conducted under the bill, with data from the pilot projects to be included in the study, as well as in the report that is prepared pursuant to the bill.  The bill would further require the BPU, acting in accordance with the recommendations set forth in the report, to solicit and approve applications for, and to take other appropriate action to facilitate, through the use of renewable energy credits or other financial or non-financial incentives, the continuation of pilot projects commenced under the study, as well as the initiation of new wave and tidal energy projects that will result in a positive net economic and environmental benefit to the State.  The BPU would further be required to take certain other affirmative agency actions to facilitate the development of the wave and tidal energy sectors in this State. 

      The BPU would be required to coordinate with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the U.S. Department of the Interior to facilitate the leasing or permitting of offshore areas, under federal jurisdiction, for wave or tidal energy projects, and it would be required to coordinate with the DEP to facilitate the leasing or permitting of coastal or onshore areas, under State jurisdiction, for such purposes.