ASSEMBLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND UTILITIES COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 5188
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 4, 2026
The Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5188.
As amended and reported, this bill, to be known as the “Advanced Grid Technologies Act,” requires an electric public utility (utility) to apply to the Board of Public Utilities (board) for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (certificate) before constructing a supplemental transmission project (project) in New Jersey. The bill provides for two application review processes. As part of the application, the utility is to request that its application be reviewed under the first application process or the second application process, and the board has 30 days from receiving an application to determine whether to review the application under the first application review process or under the second application review process. Under the bill, the board is to review an application under the first application review process only if the utility shows that the project meets certain grid performance benchmarks described in the bill. If a utility does not show that a project meets the benchmarks, the board is to review the application under the second review process. However, the bill clarifies that nothing in the bill is to authorize the board to conduct a siting review of a project, or to review the environmental impact of a project, regardless of whether the project is reviewed under the first or second process.
A utility may apply under the first application review process, and the board is required to approve the application, if the board finds that: (1) the project meets applicable grid performance benchmarks established by the board under the bill through the proposed deployment of advanced transmission technologies (ATTs) or the utility is concurrently deploying advanced distribution technologies (ADTs) of a scope and at a scale reasonably commensurate with the project that meets the grid performance benchmarks applicable to ADTs and that the ADTs address an identified distribution-system reliability constraint, distributed energy resource integration limitation, or load management need within the service area affected by any distribution component of the project; (2) the utility can efficiently manage and supervise the construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure adequate and efficient construction and supervision of the construction; and (3) the utility can finance the proposed construction without significant adverse financial consequences for the utility or its customers and, with respect to distribution capital spending, the financing is aligned with the most recent approved distribution capital structure. The board is required to issue an order with its determination under the first application review process within 120 days of receiving a completed application and may extend this period by up to 30 days in certain circumstances.
Alternatively, a utility may apply under the second application review process, and the board is required to approve an application, after notice and hearing, if the board finds that: (1) the project is necessary to provide safe, adequate, and reliable service to the utility’s customers and is a reasonable and cost-effective means of satisfying those service needs; or is a reasonable and cost-effective means of promoting the development of a competitive electricity market that operates efficiently and is equitable to all customers; (2) the utility can efficiently manage and supervise the construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure adequate and efficient construction and supervision of the construction; and (3) the utility can finance the proposed construction without significant adverse financial consequences for the utility or its customers and, with respect to distribution capital spending, the financing is aligned with the most recent approved distribution capital structure. The board is required to issue an order with its determination under the second application review process within 180 days of receiving a completed application and may extend this period by up to 90 days. Under the bill, the board is to charge an application fee to cover the costs of the board’s review under the second application review process, which fee may be recovered by a utility through the rates charged to its customers.
The board is required to allow the public to participate in, and have access to, a utility’s project application with certain confidentiality restrictions outlined in the bill. Under the bill, a utility is prohibited from filing an application until PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) completes its review of the project under Attachment M-3 of the PJM Open Access Transmission Tariff.
Finally, the board is required to establish grid performance benchmarks that incorporate certain federal guidance and industry consensus standards. The board is required to identify which grid performance benchmarks apply to ATTs and which apply to ADTs and to review and update the benchmarks at least once every three years.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
(1) change the findings and declarations of the bill;
(2) change the following definitions: “advanced power flow control technology”; “cost effective”; “dynamic line rating”; and “supplemental transmission project”;
(3) add a definition for North American Electric Reliability Corporation;
(4) remove a provision that prohibits a utility from recovering costs related to the third-party analysis through rates charged to its customers;
(5) authorize an electric public utility to recover the costs of an application fee for a certificate under the second review process through rate recovery;
(6) remove a provision prohibiting interlocutory appeal prior to final agency decision to issue a certificate;
(7) authorize an electric public utility to deploy advanced transmission technologies outside the State “to the extent applicable”;
(8) require the board to review a project “to the extent applicable” when any component of a project is located outside of the State;
(9) require, under the first review process, that an electric public utility is to address identified load management need within the service area affected by any distribution component of a project for advanced distribution technologies, rather than the load management need within the service area affected by the project;
(10) require, under both review processes, that an electric public utility is to show by the preponderance of the evidence, rather than by substantial evidence, that certain provisions of the utility’s application are supported;
(11) require the board, in approving an application under both review processes, to find that the financing for any distribution capital spending is aligned with the most recent approved distribution capital structure;
(12) require the board to issue an order no later than 120 days, instead of 90 days, after the submission of a completed application under the first review process;
(13) provide that, for the second review process, the board is to consider whether and to what extent the project enhances reliability and resilience of the utility’s transmission and distribution system, rather than whether and to what extent the project enhances the reliability and resilience of the bulk power system, considering any reliability determination from PJM;
(14) disallow the board from conducting a siting review of a supplemental project or from considering the environmental impacts of a supplemental project in the board’s determination under the bill under both review processes;
(15) confine the board’s review of an application under the second review process to the enumerated criteria in the bill;
(16) require that any grid performance benchmarks established by the board are not to conflict with any federally-established grid performance benchmarks;
(17) remove a section of the bill permitting the board to establish mechanisms for cost recovery or deployment of incentives for the deployment of advanced transmission technologies and advanced distribution technologies;
(18) include rules and regulations promulgated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in a list of rules, laws, and regulations that the bill not to supersede;
(19) clarify the board’s authority under the bill is not to include matters within federal jurisdiction, including determinations made pursuant to federal law by NERC, FERC, PJM, or the Secretary of Energy, and cost allocation determinations adopted pursuant to the Federal Power Act and FERC orders;
(20) provide that certain provisions of the bill are to be undertaken solely for the purposes of determining public convenience and necessity, in a manner consistent with federal law, and are not to constitute rate regulation or the exercise of planning authority over electric transmission facilities. As introduced, these provisions of the bill were to be solely for the purposes of determining public convenience and necessity and were not to constitute rate regulation;
(21) provide that board’s rules and regulations are to include the categories of information that an electric public utility is required to submit with the application for a certificate; and
(22) make technical changes.