ASSEMBLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND UTILITIES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 3974

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 13, 2026

      The Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 3974.

      As amended and reported, this bill modifies various provisions of the State’s renewable energy incentive programs and requires electric public utilities to interconnect certain solar projects.

      Specifically, the bill authorizes the co-location of solar facilities that are either registered, or seeking registration or participation in, the SREC-II program, including the administratively determined incentive portion and the competitive solicitation incentive portion, the community solar program, the remote net metering program, or any combination of those programs.  The bill also exempts solar facilities that are located on landfills, brownfields, contaminated sites, or mining sites from size or power output restrictions for the purposes of eligibility under the community solar program or the remote net metering program.

      The bill provides that a project sited on a landfill, brownfield, contaminated site, or mining site that is participating in the community solar program or the remote net metering program is to have at least 33 months from the date of registration in the applicable program to achieve commercial operation.

      The bill requires electric public utilities to accept, process, and approve interconnection applications, upon receipt, for community solar or remote net metering facilities on any electric line that is sized 34.5 kilovolts or less.  The bill also provides that any electric line maintained by an electric public utility that is sized at 34.5 kilovolts or less is to be considered a distribution line, subject to Board of Public Utilities (BPU) jurisdiction, and eligible for interconnection by any project participating in a State-sponsored solar electricity incentive program or battery energy storage program.

      The bill amends a section of current law that provides that certain renewable energy facilities are permitted uses in municipal industrial districts in order to include energy storage facilities within the definition of “renewable energy facility.”  Similarly, the bill amends a section of current law that provides that solar facilities sited on landfills and closed resource extraction operations are permitted uses within every municipality.  The bill broadens this section to include battery storage and other renewable energy facilities and to extend to facilities sited on brownfields, contaminated sites, and mining sites.

      The bill exempts the purchase of remote net metering credits, similar renewable energy credits, or renewable energy production credits pursuant to a program administered by the BPU from the public bidding requirements of the “Local Public Contracts Law.”

      Finally, the bill amends the State’s remote net metering program under current law to:  (1) raise the maximum size of projects allowed in the program from five megawatts to 20 megawatts; and (2) modify the types of properties suitable to host remote net metering solar facilities, which are listed in the statute.

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

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to: 

(1) remove a provision from the bill that would have required the developer of a previously-approved project under the TREC program that has not achieved commercial operations as of the bill’s effective date to register the project, within 90 days of the bill’s effective date, in the community solar program, remote net metering program, or both programs if the project is a co-located facility under certain circumstances;

(2) require an electric public utility to accept, process, and approve interconnection applications for community solar and remote net metering facilities on certain electric lines upon receipt of a complete interconnection application rather than within 90 days of the utility’s receipt of such application;

(3) remove a provision from the bill that would have required an electric public utility to interconnect community solar and remote net metering facilities on certain electric lines within 30 days of having received written notification from the developer that the project is ready for interconnection;

(4) remove a provision from the bill that would have permitted renewable energy facilities to utilize previously-awarded but unused TREC incentives; and

(5) make technical changes.