Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DAVID BAILEY, JR.
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Assemblyman ROY FREIMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires BPU to study effects of data centers on electricity rates.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring the Board of Public Utilities to study the effects of data centers on electricity rates in the State.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"Board" means the Board of Public Utilities.
"Electric public utility" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).
"Data center" means a facility: (1) whose primary services are the storage, management, and processing of digital data; and (2) that is used to house computer and network systems, including associated components such as servers, network equipment and appliances, telecommunications, and data storage systems, systems for monitoring and managing infrastructure performance, Internet-related equipment and services, data communications connections, environmental controls, fire protection systems, and security systems and services.
b. No later than one year of the effective date of this section, the board shall carry out a study on the effect of electricity usage by data centers on electricity rates in the State. The board shall:
(1) determine if the current allocation of costs among different customer classifications of electric public utilities in the State requires customers that are not data centers to unreasonably subsidize the costs of customers that are data centers;
(2) determine whether ratepayers incur unreasonable rate increases to support new transmission, distribution, or generation facilities that are needed solely or primarily to serve customers that are data centers;
(3) estimate the total current portion of the average residential electricity rate that is attributable to the demand imposed by data centers;
(4) estimate the portion of the average residential electricity rate that will be attributable to the demand imposed by data centers in the next 20 years, assuming a range of likely scenarios concerning the number of data centers in the region; and
(5) assess various policy alternatives, including the use of a special tariff to be applied to data centers, that could be used to mitigate or avoid rate increases caused by increased electricity demand by data centers.
c. No later than 15 months
after the effective date of this section, the board shall submit to the
Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164
(C.52:14-19.1), a report that presents the findings of the study.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire 30 days after the Board of Public Utilities submits the report required pursuant to subsection c. of section 1 of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would direct the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to carry out a study, within one year after the bill's enactment, on the effect of electricity usage by data centers on electricity rates in the State.
The bill would contain certain specific items to be studied by the BPU, including an estimate of the portion of the average residential electricity rate that will be attributable to the demand imposed by data centers in the next 20 years, assuming a range of likely scenarios concerning the number of data centers in the region. The bill would also require the BPU to assess various policies that could be used to protect ratepayers from increased costs caused by data center expansion in the region. The bill would require the BPU to transmit a report to the Governor and the Legislature, within 15 months after the bill's enactment, which presents its findings and recommendations.