S3370

An Act requiring BPU to investigate electricity load forecasting and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Load Forecast Accountability Act.”

2. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) predicts that by 2030, 32 GW of load will be added to the electric grid. While some of this load is attributable to the electrification of vehicles and buildings, and other large-load additions, PJM reports that approximately 30 GW is attributable to data centers.

b. PJM relies upon load forecasts submitted by electric public utilities in the State to establish system planning needs and capacity requirements, as well as their associated costs.

c. Accurate load forecasting is essential to ensure the adequacy of electric supply and to maintain system reliability. Accurate load forecasting also protects New Jersey consumers from unnecessary costs caused by the overbuilding or underbuilding of system resources.

d. However, the method in which PJM collects load forecast information from electric public utilities is opaque. The lack of transparency undermines the confidence that policymakers, regulators, and stakeholders need in order to rely upon the results of such forecasts.

e. Therefore, there is a critical need for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to review load forecast information from New Jersey utilities to address this issue, and to coordinate with PJM and neighboring state regulators for system-wide planning and to prevent duplicative counting of projects and customer contracts.

3. a. As used in this section:

“Board” means the Board of Public Utilities or its successor agency.

“Electric public utility” means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, that transmits and distributes electricity to end users within the State.

“Load-forecasting information” means any information used to estimate future peak demand within an electric public utility’s service territory that is provided by that electric public utility to PJM and utilized by PJM in establishing the reliability requirement in PJM’s capacity market. “Load-forecasting information” shall not include short-term or day-ahead forecasting information.

“PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.” or “PJM” means the same as` the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).

“Regulatory authorities” means state electric utility regulatory agencies with regulatory jurisdiction within the PJM region.

b. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the board shall require each electric public utility to provide to the board any load-forecasting information provided by the electric public utility to PJM. The board shall further require each electric public utility to provide to the board, on a periodic basis, all load-forecasting information available to the electric public utility.

c. The board shall review the load-forecasting information provided by electric public utilities pursuant to subsection b. of this section and shall analyze the potential impact of the load-forecasting information on load-forecasting in the State.

d. The board shall coordinate with PJM to ensure load-forecasting information from the State is incorporated into PJM’s regional planning in a fair, accurate, and non-duplicative manner. The board shall further coordinate with PJM and other regulatory authorities to ensure that new large loads and customer contracts are accounted for in a non-duplicative manner.

e. Beginning in 2026 the board shall submit, no later than June 30 of each year, an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), summarizing and updating the information received pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the board’s analysis of the information received pursuant to subsection c. of this section, and the board’s efforts to implement the provisions of subsection d. of this section.

f. The board shall adopt, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), including rules and regulations on the handling of confidential information received from electric public utilities.

4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire in 2035 upon submission of the board’s report in that calendar year, as required pursuant to subsection e. of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Board of Public Utilities (board) to collect load-forecasting information from electric public utilities. The bill further requires the board to analyze the potential impact of the load-forecasting information on load-forecasting for the State. Additionally, the bill requires the board to coordinate with: (1) PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) to ensure load-forecasting information is incorporated into PJM’s regional planning in a fair, accurate, and non-duplicative manner; and (2) PJM and other regulatory authorities to ensure that new large loads and customer contracts are accounted for in a non-duplicative manner.

The bill also requires the board to provide annual reports to the Governor and to the Legislature that include a summary of the load-forecasting information collected, the board’s analysis of the load-forecasting information, and the board’s efforts to coordinate with PJM and other regulatory authorities.

As used in this bill, “load-forecasting information” means any information used to estimate future peak demand within an electric public utility’s service territory that is provided by that electric public utility to PJM and utilized by PJM in establishing the reliability requirement in PJM’s capacity market. Under the bill, “load-forecasting information” does not include short-term or day-ahead forecasts.