New Jersey
The future of renewable energy is a growing topic in New Jersey. Earlier this year the legislature implemented deals and policies geared towards advancing solar energy production. Although not known to be the sunniest state in the nation, New Jersey has been an early solar leader and the state’s solar potential is widely discussed. It currently sits in the #5 spot amongst the highest solar producing states and has completed several high scale solar projects over the past several years.
Solar Energy Future Reports
Current and Recent Initiatives
- Assembly Bill 258 / Senate Bill 3134 – New State Building Requirement
Requires all new State buildings to have solar or geothermal energy systems, where feasible.
- Assembly Bill 974 – Residential Solar Panel Requirements
Requires construction of all new residential properties to include solar panels.
- Assembly Bill 2458 / Senate Bill 1924 – State Building Distributed Energy Resources
Requires state to include distributed energy resource in certain new state buildings and consider retrofitting certain existing state buildings with distributed energy resources.
- Assembly Bill 3352 – Newly Constructed Warehouses
Requires all newly constructed warehouses to be solar-ready buildings.
- New Jersey Seals the Deal on Its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
Earlier this year, the New Jersey legislature passed a bill which increases the state’s RPS. Bill A3723 requires 50% of New Jersey’s energy to come from renewable sources by 2030. The bill also schedules the closure of the state’s Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) program in 2021, and directs regulators to being a process to come up with a new program to support distributed solar, and an “orderly transition” from SRECs.
- Forbes calls New Jersey ‘The United States’ Hottest Clean Energy Economy’
Now part of an exclusive ‘50×30’ club, New Jersey sits among the highest-ranking states in the renewable energy industry. Other ‘50×30’ members are New York, Hawaii, California, and Vermont, all of which require 50% renewable energy by 2030.