New Jersey Nears Milestone for Solar Program Phase-Out

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities issued a report on March 31, forecasting that 5.1 percent of electricity sold in the state will be supplied by qualified solar generation facilities around or before May 2020. The forecast for the attainment of 5.1 percent, the threshold set by legislation enacted in 2018 to phase out the solar renewable energy certificate, or SREC program, has shifted forward since the previous projection of June 2020.

The board is currently in the process of designing a successor to the legacy SREC program. In December, the board approved a transition incentive to bridge the gap between the legacy and successor programs. The incentive consists of factorized, fixed-price, 15-year Transition Renewable Energy Certificates available to projects that are in the SREC pipeline after Oct. 29, 2018, but have not yet reached commercial operation at the time the 5.1 percent milestone is reached.

A report release on March 20 shows that 447 megawatts of solar capacity came online in 2019, setting a new record for solar installation in a single year. This brings the state’s total capacity to 3,190 megawatts, which represents five percent of its energy needs. The previous record was set in 2011, when 446.8 megawatts of solar capacity entered into commercial operations.

New Jersey is currently ranked seventh in installed solar capacity, despite having the fifth-smallest land area, and ninth in clean energy jobs with nearly 9,000 solar industry jobs across the state.