New Jersey BPU Publishes Guidance on SREC Market Closure & Transition Program

Posted January 2nd, 2019 by SRECTrade.

As per The Clean Energy Act, which was signed by the New Jersey Governor into law in May, “the [New Jersey Board of Public Utilities] shall adopt rules and regulations to close the SREC program to new applications upon the attainment of 5.1 percent of the kilowatt-hours sold in the State by each electric power supplier and each basic generation provider from solar electric power generators”. On December 26th, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (“BPU”) published a straw proposal which provides further guidance to the closure of the current SREC program and implementation of a “transition program” in New Jersey. The proposal provides the following guidance:

  • Provide maximum benefit to ratepayers at the lowest cost
  • Support the continued growth of the solar industry
  • Ensure that prior investments retain value
  • Meet the Governor’s commitment of 50% Class I Renewable Energy Certificates (“RECs”) by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2050
  • Provide insight and information to stakeholders through a transparent process for developing the Solar Transition and Successor Program
  • Comply fully with the statute, including the implications of the cost cap
  • Provide disclosure and notification to developers that certain projects may not be guaranteed participation in the current SREC program, and continue updates on market conditions via the New Jersey Clean Energy Program (“NJCEP”) SREC Registration Program (“SRP”) Solar Activity Reports

In addition, the proposal schedules a robust stakeholder process for the 2019 calendar year to discuss the logistics of the closure of the current SREC program and implementation of the subsequent transition program. Specifically, the BPU requests that stakeholders provide input on:

  • How the attainment of 5.1% of electricity sales coming from solar will be calculated
  • How the pipeline projects (non-operational assets with SRPs) will be treated at market closure
  • Ensuring cost caps are not exceeded during an “18-month period”

SRECTrade will continue to monitor this process and provide updates accordingly.

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