2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes
Title 48 - Public Utilities
Section 48:3-87.12 - Application, approval process.

48:3-87.12 Application, approval process.

6. a. No later than 120 days after the date of enactment of P.L.2023, c.190, the board shall establish an application and approval process for remote net metered solar energy projects serving public entities as receiving customers.

A remote net metered solar energy project shall:

(1) have a capacity up to five megawatts, as measured in direct current;

(2) exclusively serve public entities certified by the board to act as receiving customers and located within the same electric distribution company service territory as the project;

(3) be located on any property owned, licensed, or leased by any public entity or on any suitable private property, including, but not limited to, rooftops of commercial buildings, parking lots, brownfields for which a final remediation document has been issued, or properly closed sanitary landfill facilities;

(4) not be sited on:

(a) land preserved under the Green Acres Program;

(b) land designated as freshwater wetlands as defined pursuant to P.L.1987, c.156 (C.13:9B-1 et seq.), or coastal wetlands as defined pursuant to P.L.1970, c.272 (C.13:9A-1 et seq.);

(c) forested lands, as defined by the board in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection; or

d) prime agricultural soils and soils of Statewide importance, as identified by the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, which are located in Agricultural Development Areas certified by the State Agricultural Development Committee;

(5) have a facility size calculated based upon the total aggregate electricity usage of the receiving public entity customer utility accounts to be served by the project, based on the total usage of each proposed customer account over the previous twelve months; and

(6) be metered separately.

b. The board shall establish a remote net metering application process to approve remote net metered solar energy projects and certify public entities to act as receiving customers for remote net metering generating capacity. The process shall be modeled after the relevant rules and regulations adopted by the board for the community solar energy program pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2018, c.17 (C.48:3-87.11), including, but not limited to, the calculation of the value of the net metering credit. An electric public utility shall be entitled to full and timely cost recovery, including the full value of public remote net metering credits provided to customers and billing system investments, associated with public remote net metering consistent with the Community Solar provisions pursuant to subsection e. of section 5 of P.L.2018, c.17 (C.48:3-87.11).

c. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2023, c.190)

d. The electric distribution company that serves the location of a solar energy project approved pursuant to this section shall be responsible for reviewing and approving the interconnection of the solar energy project.

L.2018, c.17, s.6; amended 2023, c.190, s.1.