The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities staff issued a straw proposal to phase out the current Solar Renewable Energy Certificate or SREC Program following legislation enacted in May 2018, which closes the program when 5.1 percent of electricity sold in the state comes from distributed solar, and transition to a new system, according to a Dec. 26 press release. The board staff proposes to divide the solar credits into legacy SRECs for projects that come online before the transition point, pipeline SRECs for projects that have not started operations until that point, and SREC successor program for projects that seek registration after the 5.1 percent threshold. The proposal puts forth a series of stakeholder questions to provide input on the transition and successor program.

On Dec. 18, the board adopted a rule initiating the process of transitioning to a new model that will build upon the state’s current solar process. New Jersey recently completed 100,000 installations, a landmark in the state’s thriving solar industry which has benefitted from net metering, a renewable portfolio standard, and the solar credit market. The state’s solar program is financed through SRECs which are tradable commodities generated by solar projects for the energy they generate and then sold to electricity suppliers.

The first public stakeholder meeting is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2019.