New Jersey expands community solar program by 250 MW

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 another capacity block of 250 MW. Since the CSEP’s first capacity allocation in November 2023, more than 500 MW of community solar projects around the state have registered in the program.

“New Jersey’s nation-leading Community Solar Energy Program has and continues to deliver millions in cost savings for those who participate,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “By opening another round of projects, we are advancing smart policies that secure 20% savings for anyone who subscribes regardless of income, whether your roof is suitable for solar or not, or if you rent, ultimately helping putting affordability in reach for more New Jersey households. Use the NJBPU’s Community Solar Project Finder to find existing projects near you and start saving money.”

CSEP is one of the most effective and quickest ways to reduce energy bills. Community solar subscribers receive guaranteed savings for participating in the CSEP with discounts of 15% or more on community solar credits applied to their bills. CSEP currently serves more than 28,000 New Jersey subscribers, who have received more than $37 million in bill credits with net savings of more than $7 million since the start of the pilot program. Opening an additional capacity block of 250 megawatts is key to helping put affordability within reach for more New Jersey ratepayers.

Community solar enables utility customers who may not own their roof or home, rent or cannot afford the upfront cost of solar to participate in a community solar energy project that is located within their electric utility service area and must reserve at least 51% of capacity for low- and moderate-income (LMI) subscribers. On top of opening another capacity block for new projects, programmatic changes were made to the CSEP to streamline participation and reduce barriers to cost savings. CSEP allows LMI customers to self-attest to their eligibility. In addition, local governments may now submit registrations for automatic enrollment projects, whereby municipalities may select hard-to-reach households to be directly subscribed to community solar projects and receive savings without residents needing to take action. The Board also recently implemented consolidated billing, where subscribers will see both subscription charges and their net savings on their utility bills, without the need for separate bills from the community solar provider.

The new 250 MW capacity block will open to new project registrations on April 30, 2025. Projects will be accepted into the CSEP on a first-come, first-served basis, except that project registrations submitted during an initial registration period of 10 business days should be considered to be submitted at the same time and awarded based on the highest discounts offered to subscribers. In addition to opening another capacity block, the Board also updated the registration requirements, permitted Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) to review inactive applications and granted a six-month blanket extension to projects already registered in the CSEP.

A coalition of elected officials, business, political and environmental leaders celebrated the expansion at an event a week later at an East Brunswick community solar project.

“We applaud Governor Murphy and his administration for taking a concrete step to tackle high energy prices by expanding access to a program that creates local jobs while fighting climate change,” said Allison McLeod, Deputy Director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. “Community solar represents a win for the environment, a win for the businesses who benefit from hosting solar projects, a win for workers and, most important, a win for working families who will see their monthly energy bills dramatically decrease as they plug into clean, renewable energy.”

News item from the NJBPU. Updated on April 29.