SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 3183
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 16, 2026
The Senate Environment and Energy Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3183.
As amended, this bill would modify various provisions of the State’s renewable energy incentive programs and require electric public utilities to interconnect certain solar projects.
Specifically, the bill would authorize, upon petition to the Board of Public Utilities (BPU), 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 (ADI) portion and the competitive solicitation incentive (CSI) portion, the community solar program, the remote net metering program, or any combination of those programs. As used in the bill, “co-location” means siting two or more SREC-II eligible solar facilities on the same property or on contiguous properties. The bill would also provide that solar facilities with a capacity of up to 20 megawatts that are located on landfills, brownfields, contaminated sites, or mining sites would be eligible for registration in the community solar program until December 31, 2028.
The bill would provide that a project sited on a commercial or industrial rooftop, landfill, brownfield, contaminated site, or mining site that is participating in the community solar program or the remote net metering program would have no less than 33 months from the date of registration in the applicable program to achieve commercial operation.
The bill would require 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 would also provide that any electric line maintained by an electric public utility that is sized at 34.5 kilovolts or less would be considered to be distribution lines, would be subject to BPU jurisdiction, and any project participating a State-sponsored solar electricity incentive program or battery energy storage program would be allowed to interconnect to the line.
The bill would amend a section of current law that provides that certain renewable energy facilities are permitted uses in municipal industrial districts, in order to reduce the acreage threshold from 20 acres to 10 acres, and to include energy storage facilities within the definition of “renewable energy facility.” Similarly, the bill would amend 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 would broaden this section to include battery storage and other renewable energy facilities, and to extend to facilities sited on commercial or industrial rooftops, brownfields, contaminated sites, and mining sites.
The bill would create an exemption for 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," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.).
Finally, the bill would amend the statute establishing the State’s remote net metering program, section 6 of P.L.2018, c.17 (C.48:3-87.12), to raise the maximum size of projects allowed in the program from five megawatts in direct current (DC) to 20 megawatts in alternating current (AC). The bill would also modify the types of properties suitable to host remote net metering solar facilities, to include contaminated sites, landfills, and mining sites, subject to certain environmental restrictions involving the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
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:
(1) revise the definitions of "co-location" and "mining site," and add a definition of "FERC";
(2) require developers to petition the BPU to allow the co-location of solar facilities, and require the petition to show that the co-location is being proposed because of interconnection constraints;
(3) provide that only solar facilities located on landfills, brownfields, contaminated sites, or mining sites that are less than 20 megawatts may qualify for the community solar program, and only until December 31, 2028;
(4) provide solar projects sited on commercial or industrial rooftops 33 months to achieve commercial operation, and allow projects that do not meet the deadline to re-register;
(5) provide an exception to the bill's requirement that all electric lines that are 34.5 kilovolts or less are to be considered distribution lines, in the case that FERC or a court has ruled that the line is a transmission line;
(6) provide that renewable energy facilities on parcels of land comprising 10 or more, rather than 20 or more, contiguous acres are to be considered a permitted use within every industrial district of a municipality;
(7) provide that solar, battery storage, and renewable energy facilities and associated structures located on commercial or industrial rooftops are to be considered a permitted use within every municipality;
(8) provide that the maximum size of remote net metering projects is should be measured in terms of alternating current, rather than direct current;
(9) add certain DEP-related requirements for solar projects located on brownfields, contaminated sites, landfills, or mining sites that wish to participate in the remote net metering program;
(10) provide that remote net metering solar facilities located on a landfill, brownfield, contaminated site, or mining site may include associated or contiguous lands developed as part of the same project; and
(11) make technical and clarifying changes.