SENATE ECONOMIC GROWTH COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 731

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  FEBRUARY 12, 2026

      The Senate Economic Growth Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 731.

      As amended and reported, this bill requires each electric public utility in the State to develop and submit to the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) a tariff for large load customers.

      As defined by the bill, “large load customer” means a commercial customer for retail electric service that is a centralized facility or facilities with a monthly demand of more than 100 megawatts.

      The bill requires the tariff to be designed to:  (1) ensure that other electric public utility customers do not subsidize large load customers and all costs attributable to the electric public utility’s large load customers are assigned to the large load customers; (2) contain protections necessary to ensure that other electric public utility customers are not placed at risk for paying stranded costs associated with the electric public utility serving the large load customer; and (3) incentivize large load customers to develop and utilize methods to increase energy efficiency, including through the use of technologies that capture and utilize the heat produced by the large load customer.  Beginning one year after the bill’s enactment, an electric public utility is to apply the tariff to each large load customer located in the electric public utility’s service area.

      The bill also provides that all rates, terms, and conditions established by the BPU for large load customers are to reasonably protect other electric public utility customers against increased costs resulting solely or primarily from serving large load customers.  The bill requires the BPU to impose certain requirements on electric public utilities to protect other electric public utility customers, including ensuring that any new large load customer provides adequate financial guarantees that the large load customer will pay for at least 85 percent of service requested for a period of not less than 10 years from when service commences.

      This bill was prefiled 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)  expand the scope of the bill to include all large load customers, rather than large load data centers only;

      (2)  replace the definition of “large load data center” with a new definition of “large load customer”;

      (3)  modify the provisions that the large load customer tariff is required to contain;

      (4)  authorize the BPU to require that any new large load customer provides adequate financial guarantees that the customers will pay for, rather than take, at least 85 percent of service they request for a period of 10 years;

      (5)  clarify the bill’s requirement that the tariff protecting electric public utility customers, other than large load customers, from certain cost increases related to a large load customer; and

      (6)  make technical and clarifying changes.