New Jersey Board Approves Clean Energy Initiatives, Including 3-Gigawatt Community Solar Expansion

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on March 4 approved a series of actions to expand clean energy generation, improve grid reliability, and help control electricity costs for households and businesses across the state. The measures include incentives for large-scale battery storage, new solar awards under the Competitive Solar Incentive Program, or CSIP, and a major expansion of community solar capacity.

The regulator approved incentives for three battery storage projects totaling 355 megawatts (MW) under the first solicitation of the Garden State Energy Storage Program. The selected projects include a 200 MW facility in Sayreville in Middlesex County, a 150 MW project in Ridgefield in Bergen County, and a 5 MW facility in Bordentown in Burlington County. The storage resources are expected to supply flexible power to the regional grid and help ease capacity shortages that have contributed to higher electricity prices. The agency estimates the projects could generate more than $169 million in long-term ratepayer savings as additional capacity moderates wholesale power prices during peak demand periods.

The board also launched a second competitive solicitation for 645 MW of additional storage capacity, moving the state toward the statutory target of 1 gigawatt (GW) of transmission-scale storage and the broader goal of deploying 2 GW of energy storage by 2030.

Separately, the regulator awarded incentives for three solar projects totaling about 24 MW under the third round of the CSIP, including a floating solar project at the Wanaque Reservoir in Passaic County that could become the largest facility of its kind in the U.S. The agency also opened a fourth solicitation round to maintain a steady pipeline of solar development.

The regulator also authorized a 3-GW expansion of the Community Solar Energy Program, the largest allocation in state history. The expansion could provide bill savings to roughly 450,000 subscribers, with at least 51 percent of capacity reserved for low- and moderate-income households.

These actions align with directives issued by Governor Mikie Sherrill earlier this year to address rising electricity costs and strengthen in-state power supply. Shortly after taking office in January 2026, Governor Sherrill ordered the board to expand solar and battery storage deployment and accelerate grid modernization to address growing electricity demand.