Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law two pieces of legislation intended to address the regional energy cost crisis by putting New Jersey on a path to nearly double its capacity to deliver renewable energy by 2030.
This legislation is intended to facilitate the expansion of solar access for 450,000 more New Jerseyans, including 250,000 low-income families, which will enable the equivalent of 1 million households to receive solar power by 2028. These bills are intended to also help lower energy costs by accelerating the construction of energy storage facilities across the state.
S4530/A5768 directs the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to open registration by Oct. 1, 2025, for an additional 3,000 megawatts of community solar projects that the administration says will help hardworking families and businesses save money on their monthly electric bills.
Another bill, A5267/S4289, establishes a transmission-scale energy storage incentive program to achieve New Jersey’s goal of 2,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030. The program seeks to rapidly install new clean energy capacity and reduce costs for New Jersey’s energy customers.
The administration says solar capacity has increased from 2.4 gigawatts to 5.2 gigawatts under the Murphy administration, with solar powering the equivalent of over 600,000 homes.
“By accelerating the process for bringing new sources of energy online and rapidly building new energy storage facilities, we will meet growing demand while also making life more affordable for our state’s families,” said Murphy. “As part of this process, we are going to create good-paying, union jobs and build a cleaner, more resilient future for every New Jerseyan.”
The prime sponsors of S4530/A5768 are state Sens. Vin Gopal and John F. McKeon and Assemblymembers Luanne Peterpaul, Margie Donlon, and Robert Karabinchak. The prime sponsors of A5267/S4289 are state Sens. Bob Smith and John J. Burzichelli and Assemblymembers Wayne P. DeAngelo, Dave Bailey Jr., and John V. Egan.