ASSEMBLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND UTILITIES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 3969

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  FEBRUARY 12, 2026

      The Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 3969.

As amended and reported, this bill establishes a new goal of incentivizing the development of at least 750 megawatts per year of new residential, commercial, industrial, and grid-scale solar power generation until 2035 under the SREC-II program.  Under current law, the program’s goal is to incentivize the development of at least 3,750 megawatts of new solar power generation by 2026.

     The SREC-II program includes a small solar facilities incentive program.  Currently, the small solar facilities incentive program awards SREC-IIs to community solar facilities, solar facilities less than five megawatts in size that participate in the remote net metering program established pursuant to N.J.S.A.48:3-87.12, and net metered solar facilities less than five megawatts in size.  This bill expands the goal of the small solar facilities incentive program to provide, for the duration of the SREC-II program, SREC-IIs for the generation of at least 300 megawatts of net-metered solar facilities per year, 3,000 megawatts of community solar facilities between October 1, 2025 and December 31, 2029, and at least 150 megawatts of community solar facilities per year thereafter, and 50 megawatts of solar facilities in the remote net metering program.

     This bill modifies the SREC-II program’s competitive solicitation process for the award of SREC-IIs to net metered solar facilities greater than five megawatts in size and to grid supply solar facilities by permitting the Board of Public Utilities to establish cost containment measures when conducting a competitive solicitation.  This bill extends the minimum duration of the competitive solicitation process until 2035.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2026-2027 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:  

      (1)  modify the new target for the SREC-II program from 6,500 megawatts of solar power generation by 2035 to 750 megawatts per year until 2035; and

      (2)  make a technical change.