ASSEMBLY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 5463

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 15, 2025

      The Assembly State and Local Government Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 5463.

This bill requires electric public utilities to file an annual report on recorded votes at meetings of PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) to the Board of Public Utilities (board).

     Under the bill, an electric public utility is required to file a report no later than February 1 of each year, in a form and manner to be specified by the board.  The report is required to:  (1) list each recorded vote cast by the electric public utility, and by any affiliate of the utility, at a meeting of PJM during the immediately preceding calendar year, regardless of whether the vote is disclosed by PJM; (2) include a brief description of what transpired at the meeting, including the purpose of the meeting, the meeting agenda, if any, and what role the electric public utility, or its affiliate, played at the meeting; and (3) include a brief description explaining how each vote that was cast furthers the State’s goals of prioritizing the affordability, reliability, and sustainability of electricity production, consumption, and conservation.  The board is required to submit an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature summarizing the information received from each electric public utility.

     Under the bill, “meeting” is defined to include a meeting of any committee, user group, task force, or other similar body of PJM.  A “recorded vote” is defined as a vote that is tabulated, either individually or as part of an industry sector, for any purpose at a meeting, regardless of whether:  (1) the vote represents a final position of the entity casting the vote; or (2) the entity casting the vote possesses decision-making authority.  “Recorded vote” also includes proposals that were endorsed by acclamation when the electric public utility was in attendance.

     It is the sponsor’s intent that this bill will close current gaps in accountability and increase public transparency concerning the content of PJM meetings, including how meeting participants vote on issues that utilize ratepayer dollars, by requiring electric public utilities to file an annual report on recorded voting to the board.  In so far as electric public utilities are subject to oversight by the board, it is within the board’s purview, and in the public interest, to increase public accountability by making such voting records and PJM meeting information a matter of public record.