The Tri County Community Solar Array in Delanco, New Jersey – developed by Soltage.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has approved an expansion of New Jersey’s Community Solar Energy Program (CSEP) by opening a 250 MW capacity block. Since the first capacity allocation of the CSEP in November 2023, more than 500 MW of the community projects in the entire state have registered in the program.
“The National Solar Energy program of New Jersey has and will continue to deliver millions in cost savings for those participating,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “By opening a new round of projects, we promote a smart policy that secures 20% savings for anyone who subscribes, regardless of income, whether your roof is suitable for sun or not, or if you rent out, ultimately helps to achieve affordability in reach for more households in New Jersey. Use the households of New Jersey. NJBPU’s Community Solar Project Finder To find existing projects in your area and to save money. “
CSEP is one of the most effective and fastest ways to lower energy bills. Community Solar subscribers receive guaranteed savings for participation in the CSEP with discounts of 15% or more about community credits of the community that are applied to their accounts. CSEP currently serves more than 28,000 New Jersey subscribers, who have received more than $ 37 million in billing credits since the start of the pilot program with net savings of more than $ 7 million. Opening an extra capacity block of 250 megawatts is the key to help affordability within reach for more New Jersey ratepayers.
Community Solar sets utility customers that may not possess their roof or house, rent out the prior costs of solar energy or cannot afford to participate in a community Solar Energy Project that must reserve in their service area for electric utility companies and reserve at least 51% of the capacity of the capacity). In addition to opening a different capacity block for new projects, programmatic changes were made to the CSEP to streamline participation and reduce barriers for cost savings. CSEP enables LMI customers to offer themselves their suitability. In addition, local authorities can now submit registrations for automatic registration projects, whereby municipalities can select households that are difficult to reach to be subscribed directly to community projects for the community and to receive savings without residents taking action. The board has also recently implemented consolidated invoicing, whereby subscribers will see both subscription costs and their net savings on their utility accounts, without the need for individual accounts from the community deliverer.
The new capacity block of 250 MW will open on April 30, 2025 for new project registrations. Based on those who come first, it is the first time, except that project registrations submitted during an initial registration period of 10 working days must be submitted at the same time and must be submitted on the basis of the highest discounts and are granted on the basis of the highest discounts offered to subscribers. In addition to opening another capacity block, the board has also updated the registration requirements, permitted electric distribution companies (EDCs) to revise inactive applications and a six -month blanket extension that has already been registered in the CSEP.
News item from the NJBPU
