The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) released a request for information (RFI) to the state’s four electric distribution companies (EDCs) — Atlantic City Electric, Jersey Central Power & Light, Public Service Electric & Gas and Rockland Electric Company — to explore opportunities to modernize New Jersey’s electric grid and accelerate the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs).
The RFI, issued in response to Governor Mikie Sherrill’s Executive Order No. 2 signed on Jan. 20, directs the EDCs to provide comprehensive written responses within 30 days addressing compliance with interconnection regulations, opportunities to improve efficiency and strategies to support DER development on constrained circuits.
“Addressing interconnection challenges is critical to lowering costs and getting clean energy online faster,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “This RFI is the first step toward meeting Gov. Sherrill’s executive orders and advancing grid modernization in New Jersey.”
New Jersey and the larger PJM Interconnection LLC. region face unprecedented electricity demand growth from data centers, which has contributed to high electricity rates across the region and country. There is an urgent need for new electricity generation and capacity resources to address these affordability challenges for New Jersey residents and businesses.
New Jersey, historically a net importer of electricity, has an opportunity to combat these high energy prices by increasing the amount of energy generated in-state. DERs, such as solar photovoltaic systems and energy storage systems (ESS), can interconnect to the distribution grid and support local sources of load.
New Jersey has seen a rapid expansion of solar deployment through board initiatives such as the Community Solar Energy Program and Competitive Solar Incentive program. However, this progress is hindered by an electric distribution grid with severe hosting capacity constraints on key circuits.
Hosting capacity is the amount of DER that can be accommodated on an electric grid without adversely impacting safety and reliability. Hosting capacity can be increased through infrastructure upgrades, such as substation upgrades and tailored control configurations using smart inverter technologies.
The board has taken measures to increase the number of DERs interconnected to New Jersey’s electric distribution grid, including the adoption of amendments and new rules at N.J.A.C. 14:8-5, which governs interconnection requirements and protocols.
Gov. Sherrill’s Executive Order No. 2 directs the board to ensure these regulations are being fully implemented and to identify additional opportunities to streamline the interconnection process.
The RFI requires EDCs to address five key areas:
- Compliance with NJBPU’s interconnection regulations at N.J.A.C. 14:8-5, including implementation of the Pre-Application Verification and Evaluation (PAVE) process and standardized protocols for system impact studies
- Identification of opportunities for the board to modify or waive existing regulations to improve the efficiency and speed of interconnecting new projects
- Strategies to improve hosting capacity maps and ensure projects can connect to 34.5 kV distribution lines, with updates provided monthly
- Identification of constrained circuits that receive high numbers of interconnection applications and circuits with poor reliability performance that should be prioritized for infrastructure upgrades
- Implementation plans for energy storage system interconnection, utilization of smart inverter functionalities and incorporation of flexible interconnection protocols to increase grid capacity.
The deadline to submit responses to the RFI is 5 p.m. on March 5. All public comments should be filed under Docket No. QO24030199 and are linked here.
