Establishes tax credits and financial grant related to construction and operation of advanced nuclear energy facilities.

A1533

ASSEMBLY, No. 1533

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE

District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes tax credits and financial grant related
to construction and operation of advanced nuclear energy facilities.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
establishing tax credits for advanced nuclear energy
facilities and supplementing and amending various sections of statutory law.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� (New section)�� a. A
taxpayer that is a manufacturer of equipment and components for advanced
nuclear facilities licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed pursuant to section 5 of
P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5), in an amount equal to 15 percent of the amount
paid during the privilege period for:

���� (1)� new manufacturing
equipment installed at a new or existing manufacturing facility located within
the State; and

���� (2)� the acquisition,
construction, reconstruction, installation, or erection of improvements or
additions that result in the renovation, modernization, or expansion of a
manufacturing facility located within the State.

���� b.��� If a taxpayer relocates
its business operations to this State from another state within six months
prior to the taxpayer�s initial application for the credit, the amount of the
credit allowed pursuant to this section shall increase to 25 percent of the amount
paid for each of the first three privilege periods for which the taxpayer is
eligible to receive the credit. A taxpayer that qualifies for an increased
credit pursuant to this subsection shall not be eligible for an increased
credit pursuant to subsection c. of this section.

���� c.��� If a taxpayer is
certified by the State as a "minority business" or a "women's
business" pursuant to P.L.1986, c.195 (C.52:27H-21.17 et seq.) or
qualifies as a "veteran-owned business" pursuant to P.L.2011, c.147
(C.52:32-50 et seq.), the amount of the credit allowed pursuant to this section
shall increase to 25 percent of the amount paid during the privilege period.� A
taxpayer that qualifies for an increased credit pursuant to this subsection
shall not be eligible for an increased credit pursuant to subsection b. of this
section.

���� d.��� A credit shall not be
allowed under P.L.1993, c.170 (C.54:10A-5.4 et seq.), P.L.1993, c.171
(C.54:10A-5.16 et al.), P.L.1993, c.175 (C.54:10A-5.24), or P.L.2001, c.321
(C.54:10A-5.31 et seq.) for expenditures for which a credit is allowed pursuant
to this section.

���� e.��� The order of the
application of the credits allowed under this section and any other credits
allowed by law shall be based on the order in which completed applications are
received by the Department of the Treasury.� The amount of the credit applied
under this section against the tax imposed pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945,
c.162 (C.54:10A-5) for a privilege period, together with any other credits
allowed against the tax imposed pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162
(C.54:10A-5), shall not exceed 50 percent of the tax liability otherwise due
and shall not reduce the tax liability to an amount less than the statutory
minimum provided in subsection (e) of section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162
(C.54:10A-5).

���� f.���� An unused credit may be
carried forward, if necessary, for use in the seven privilege periods following
the privilege period for which the credit is allowed.�

���� g.��� As used in this section:

���� "Manufacturing
equipment" means machinery, apparatus, or equipment used in the production
of equipment and components for advanced nuclear reactors licensed by the
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

���� "Manufacturing
facility" means a business location, including, but not limited to, a
factory, mill, or plant, at which more than 50 percent of the business personal
property that is housed in the facility is manufacturing equipment.���������

���� 2.� (New section)�� a.� The
New Jersey Advanced Nuclear Energy Development Program is hereby established as
a program under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Economic Development
Authority.� The authority, in consultation with the Board of Public Utilities,
shall administer the program to encourage the construction of advanced nuclear
energy facilities in the State through the provision of incentive tax credit
awards to developers for the construction of facilities and production of
energy at those facilities upon completion.� The board may approve the award of
tax credits to a developer upon application to the authority.

���� b.��� A developer shall be
eligible to receive an incentive tax credit for a facility project only if the
developer demonstrates to the authority at the time of the application that:

���� (1)� without the incentive tax
credit, the facility project is not economically feasible;

���� (2)� a project financing gap
exists, or the authority determines that the facility project will generate a
below market rate of return;

���� (3)� the facility project is
located at a current or decommissioned commercial nuclear generating facility
in the State with a license that is or was previously issued by the United
States Nuclear Regulatory Commission;

���� (4)� except for demolition and
site remediation activities, the developer has not commenced any construction
at the site of the facility project prior to submitting an application, unless
the authority determines that the facility project would not be completed
otherwise or, in the event the facility project is to be undertaken in phases,
the requested incentive tax credit is limited to only phases for which
construction has not yet commenced;

���� (5) the facility project shall
comply with minimum environmental and sustainability standards;

���� (6) the facility project shall
comply with the authority�s affirmative action requirements, adopted pursuant
to section 4 of P.L.1979, c.303 (C.34:1B-5.4);

���� (7) during the eligibility
period, each worker employed to perform construction work or building services
work at the facility project shall be paid not less than the prevailing wage
rate for the worker�s craft or trade, as determined by the Commissioner of
Labor and Workforce Development pursuant to P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et
seq.) and P.L.2005, c.379 (C.34:11-56.58 et seq.);

���� (8)� the developer intends to
initiate the process for acquisition of a license for the construction of an
advanced nuclear reactor with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
by the end of calendar year 2023 and be issued an operator license for the
facility by 2030; and

���� (9)� the developer has
complied with all requirements for filing tax and information returns and for
paying or remitting required State taxes and fees by submitting, as a part of
the application, a tax clearance certificate, as described in section 1 of
P.L.2007, c.101 (C.54:50-39).

���� In addition to the
requirements set forth in this subsection, for a facility project to qualify
for an incentive tax credit the developer shall contribute capital of at least
20 percent of the total project cost.

���� c.��� (1)� For a facility
project eligible pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the developer shall
submit an application to the authority in a form an manner prescribed in
regulations adopted by the authority pursuant to the provisions of the
�Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.). The
authority shall accept applications for incentive tax credits during the grant
periods established pursuant to subsection d. of this section.

���� (2)� The authority shall not
consider an application for the advanced nuclear facility unless the developer
submits a letter evidencing support for the project from the governing body of
the municipality in which the commercial project is located with the
application.

���� (3)� The authority shall
review the project cost, evaluate and validate the project financing gap
estimated by the developer, and conduct a State fiscal impact analysis to
ensure that the overall public assistance provided to the project will result
in a net positive benefit to the State.� In determining whether a project will
result in a net positive benefit to the State, the authority shall not consider
the value of any taxes exempted, abated, rebated, or retained under the
�Five-Year Exemption and Abatement Law,� P.L.1991, c.441 (C.40A:21-1 et seq.),
the �Long Term Tax Exemption Law,� P.L.1991, c.431 (C.40A:20-1 et al.), the
�New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Act,� P.L.1983, c.303 (C.52:27H-60 et seq.),
or any other law that has the effect of lowering or eliminating the developer�s
State or local tax liability. The determination made pursuant to this
subsection shall be based on the potential tax liability of the developer
without regard for potential tax losses if the developer were to locate in
another state. The authority shall assess the cost of these reviews to the
applicant. A developer shall pay to the authority the full amount of the direct
costs of an analysis concerning the developer�s application for a tax credit
that a third party retained by the authority performs, if the authority deems
such retention to be necessary. The authority shall evaluate the net economic
benefits on a present value basis under which the requested tax credit
allocation amount is discounted to present value at the same discount rate as
the projected benefits from the implementation of the proposed facility project
for which an award of tax credits is being sought.

���� (4)� For a facility project
subject to the requirement of paragraph 3 of subsection c. of this section to
be eligible for any tax credits under the program, a developer shall
demonstrate to the authority that the award of tax credits will yield a net
positive benefit to the State equaling an amount determined by the authority
through regulation that exceeds the requested tax credit amount. The developer
shall certify, under the penalty of perjury, that all documents submitted, and
factual assertions made, to the authority to demonstrate that the award of tax
credits will yield a net positive benefit to the State in accordance with this
subsection are true and accurate at the time of submission.

���� (5)� If at any time during the
eligibility period the authority determines that the developer made a material
misrepresentation on the developer�s application, the developer shall forfeit
the incentive tax credit award.

���� (6)� If circumstances require
a developer to amend its application to the authority, then the developer, or
an authorized agent of the developer, shall certify to the authority that the
information provided in its amended application is true under the penalty of
perjury.

���� d.��� (1)� For the facility
project eligible pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the authority shall
award the incentive tax credit based on the order in which complete, qualifying
applications were received by the authority.

���� (2)� Prior to allocating an
incentive tax credit award to the facility project, the authority shall confirm
with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Department of
Environmental Protection, and the Department of the Treasury that the developer
is in substantial good standing with the respective department, or a developer
not in substantial good standing with each department has entered into an
agreement with the respective department that includes a practical corrective
action plan for the developer, and that the developer shall confirm that each
contractor or subcontractor performing work at the facility project: (1) is
registered as required by �The Public Works Contractor Registration Act,�
P.L.1999, c.238 (C.34:11-56.48 et seq.); (2) has not been debarred by
Department of Labor and Workforce Development from engaging in or bidding on
Public Works Contracts in the State; and (3) possesses a tax clearance
certificate issued by the Division of Taxation in the Department of the
Treasury. The authority may also contract with an independent third party to
perform a background check on the developer. Provided that the developer, and
all contractors and subcontractors, are in compliance with this subsection, the
authority shall allocate incentive tax credit to the facility project according
to the facility project�s score and until either the available incentive tax
credits are exhausted. If insufficient funding exists to fully fund the
facility project, the project may be offered partial funding.

���� e.� (1)� Following approval
and selection of an application pursuant to subsections c. and d. of this
section, the authority shall enter into an incentive tax credit award agreement
with the developer. The chief executive officer of the authority shall
negotiate the terms and conditions of the incentive tax credit award agreement
on behalf of the State.� For a phased project, the incentive tax credit award
agreement shall set forth, for each phase of the project and for the total
project, the capital investment requirements and the time periods in which each
phase of the project shall be commenced and completed. The awarding of tax
credits shall be conditioned on the developer�s compliance with the
requirements of the agreement.

���� (2)� An incentive tax credit award
agreement shall also specify that the amount of the credit shall be $1 million
for each megawatt of energy produced by the facility upon completion and the
duration of the eligibility period, which shall not exceed 20 years.� The
incentive tax credit award agreement shall provide an estimated date of
completion and include a requirement for periodic progress reports, including
the submittal of executed financing commitments and documents that evidence
site control. If the authority does not receive periodic progress reports, or
if the progress reports demonstrate unsatisfactory progress, then the authority
may rescind the incentive tax credit. If the authority rescinds an incentive tax
credit in the same calendar year in which the authority approved the incentive tax
credit award, then the authority may assign the incentive tax credit to another
applicant. The incentive tax credit award agreement may also provide for a
verification of the financing gap at the time the developer provides executed
financing commitments to the authority and a verification of the developer�s
projected cash flow at the time of certification that the project is completed.�
Upon completion of construction of the project, the incentive tax credit award
agreement shall provide for the distribution of a portion of the incentive tax
credit in $1 million increments for each megawatt of energy produced by the
facility.

���� (3)� To ensure the protection
of taxpayer money, if the authority determines at project certification that
the actual capital financing approach utilized by the project has resulted in a
financing gap that is smaller than the financing gap determined at board
approval, the authority shall reduce the amount of the tax credit or accept
payment from the developer on a pro rata basis. If there is no project
financing gap due to the actual capital financing approach utilized by the
project, then the developer shall forfeit the incentive tax credit. At the end
of the seventh year of the eligibility period, the authority shall evaluate the
developer�s rate of return on investment and compare that rate of return on
investment to the reasonable and appropriate rate of return at the time of
board approval. If the actual rate of return on investment exceeds the
reasonable and appropriate rate of return on investment at the time of board
approval by more than 15 percent, the authority shall require the developer to
pay up to 20 percent of the amount in excess of the reasonable and appropriate
rate of return on investment. The authority shall require an escrow account to
be held by the authority until the end of the eligibility period. Following the
final year of the eligibility period, the authority shall determine if the
developer�s rate of return exceeded the reasonable and appropriate rate of
return determined at board approval. If the final rate of return does not
exceed the reasonable and appropriate rate of return determined at board
approval, the authority shall release to the developer the escrowed funds. If
the project final rate of return exceeds the reasonable and appropriate rate of
return determined at board approval, the authority shall require the developer
to pay up to 20 percent of the amount of the excess, which shall include the
funds held in escrow, and such funds shall be deposited in the State General
Fund.

���� (4)� The incentive tax credit award
agreement shall also include a provision that the developer shall forfeit the
incentive tax credit in any year in which the developer is found by the
authority to not be in substantial good standing with the Department of Labor
and Workforce Development, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the
Department of the Treasury or has entered into a practical corrective action
plan. The incentive tax credit award agreement shall also require a developer
to engage in on-site consultations with the Division of Workplace Safety and
Health in the Department of Health.

���� (5)� A developer shall submit,
prior to the first disbursement of tax credits under the incentive tax credit
agreement, but no later than six months following project completion,
satisfactory evidence of actual project costs, as certified by a certified
public accountant, evidence of project completion that begins during the
eligibility period indicated in the incentive tax credit agreement. The
developer, or an authorized agent of the developer, shall certify that the
information provided pursuant to this subsection is true under the penalty of
perjury. Claims, records, or statements submitted by a developer to the
authority in order to receive tax credits shall not be considered claims,
records, or statements made in connection with State tax laws.

���� (6)� The incentive tax credit
award agreement shall include a provision allowing the authority to extend, in
individual cases, the deadline for any annual reporting or certification
requirement.

���� f.� (1)� A developer approved
for an incentive tax credit pursuant to subsections b. and c. of this section
and that enters an incentive tax credit award agreement pursuant to subsection
e. of this section shall submit annually, commencing in the year in which the
incentive tax credit is issued and for the remainder of the eligibility period,
a report indicating whether the developer is aware of any condition, event, or
act that would cause the developer not to be in compliance with the incentive tax
credit award agreement or the provisions of this section and any additional
reporting requirements contained in the incentive tax credit award agreement or
tax credit certificate. The developer, or an authorized agent of the developer,
shall certify that the information provided pursuant to this subsection is true
under the penalty of perjury.

���� (2)� Upon receipt and review
of each report submitted during the eligibility period, the authority shall
provide to the developer and the director a certificate of compliance
indicating the amount of tax credits that the developer may apply against the
developer�s tax liability.� Upon receipt by the director of the certificate of
compliance, the director shall allow the developer a credit against the tax
imposed pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5). A developer
shall apply the credit awarded against the developer�s liability under section
5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5), sections 2 and 3 of P.L.1945, c.132
(C.54:18A-2 and C.54:18A-3), section 1 of P.L.1950, c.231 (C.17:32-15), or
N.J.S.17B:23-5 for the privilege period during which the director allows the
developer a tax credit pursuant to this subsection. A developer shall not carry
forward an unused credit unless the developer was unable to use the credit
because the developer�s facility project was directly impacted due to a natural
disaster, state emergency, national emergency, or a situation that was out of
the developer�s control that impacted the developer�s use of the credit that
year, in which case the developer is permitted to carry forward an unused
credit for up to two years upon submitting evidence of the developer�s facility
project being directly impacted by such a circumstance and receiving approval
from the authority. Credits granted to a partnership shall be passed through to
the partners, members, or owners, respectively, pro-rata, or pursuant to an
executed agreement among the partners, members, or owners documenting an
alternate distribution method provided to the director accompanied by any
additional information as the director may prescribe.

���� The director shall prescribe
the order of priority of the application of the credit allowed under this
section and any other credits allowed by law against the tax imposed under
section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5). The amount of the credit applied under
this section against the tax imposed pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162
(C.54:10A-5) for a privilege period, together with any other credits allowed by
law, shall not reduce the tax liability to an amount less than the statutory
minimum provided in subsection (e) of section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162
(C.54:10A-5).

���� g.��� (1)� A developer may
apply to the director and the chief executive officer of the authority for an
incentive tax credit transfer certificate, covering one or more years, in lieu
of the developer being allowed any amount of the credit against the tax
liability of the developer. The incentive tax credit transfer certificate, upon
receipt thereof by the developer from the director and the chief executive
officer of the authority, may be sold or assigned, in full or in part in an
amount not less than $25,000, in the privilege period during which the
developer receives the incentive tax credit transfer certificate from the
director, to another person, who may apply the credit against a tax liability
pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5), sections 2 and 3 of
P.L.1945, c.132 (C.54:18A-2 and C.54:18A-3), section 1 of P.L.1950, c.231
(C.17:32-15), or N.J.S.17B:23-5. The certificate provided to the developer
shall include a statement waiving the developer�s right to claim the amount of
the credit that the developer has elected to sell or assign against the
developer�s tax liability.

���� (2)� The developer shall not
sell or assign, including a collateral assignment, an incentive tax credit
transfer certificate allowed under this section for consideration received by
the developer of less than 85 percent of the transferred credit amount before
considering any further discounting to present value which shall be permitted.

���� (3)� A purchaser or assignee
of an incentive tax credit transfer certificate pursuant to this section shall
not make any subsequent transfers, assignments, or sales of the tax credit
transfer certificate.

���� (4)� The authority shall
publish on its Internet website the following information concerning each
incentive tax credit transfer certificate approved by the authority and the
director pursuant to this section:

���� the name of the transferrer;

���� the name of the transferee;

���� the value of the tax credit
transfer certificate; and

���� the consideration received by
the transferrer.

���� h.� (1)� A developer who has
entered into an incentive tax credit agreement pursuant to subsection e. of
this section may, upon notice to and written consent of the authority and State
Treasurer, pledge, assign, transfer, or sell any or all of its right, title,
and interest in and to the incentive tax credit agreement and in the incentive tax
credits under the incentive tax credit agreement, and the right to receive the
incentive tax credits, along with the rights and remedies provided to the
developer under the incentive tax credit agreement. Any assignment shall be an
absolute assignment for all purposes, including the federal bankruptcy code.

���� (2)� Any pledge of an
incentive tax credit made by the developer shall be valid and binding from the
time the pledge is made and filed in the records of the authority. The
incentive tax credit pledged and thereafter received by the developer shall
immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery
thereof or further act, and the lien of any pledge shall be valid and binding
against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise
against the developer irrespective of whether the parties have notice thereof.
As a condition of any incentive tax credit, the recipient, assignee, pledgee or
subsequent holder of the incentive tax credit shall immediately file notice of
the same with the clerk of the county in which the project is located.

���� (3)� The authority shall
publish on its Internet website the following information concerning each
pledge, assignment, transfer, or sale approved by the authority pursuant to
this section:

���� the name of the person or
entity offering the pledge, assignment, transfer, or sale of a right, title, or
interest in an incentive tax credit agreement;

���� the name of the person or
entity receiving the pledge, assignment, transfer, or sale of a right, title,
or interest in the incentive tax credit agreement;

���� the value of the right, title,
or interest in the incentive tax credit agreement; and

���� the consideration received by
the person or entity offering the pledge, assignment, transfer, or sale of the
right, title, or interest in the incentive tax credit agreement.

���� i.���� Notwithstanding the
provisions of the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1
et seq.), to the contrary, the chief executive officer of the authority may
adopt, immediately, upon filing with the Office of Administrative Law,
regulations that the chief executive officer deems necessary to implement the
provisions of this section which regulations shall be effective for a period
not to exceed 180 days from the date of the filing. The chief executive officer
shall thereafter amend, adopt, or readopt the regulations in accordance with
the requirements of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).

���� 3.��� Section 3 of P.L.1999,
c.23 (C.48:3-51) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.��� As used in P.L.1999,
c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.):

����
�Advanced nuclear energy
credit� means the financial credit provided by the board to the first advanced
nuclear energy facility operating in the State, on an annual basis for the
first 25 years of facility operations, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

����
�Advanced nuclear energy
facility� means a reactor, or a facility containing a reactor, that produces
electricity through the use of nuclear fusion; or a reactor, or a facility
containing a reactor, that produces electricity through the use of nuclear fission
and incorporates generational improvements, with respect to coolants, fuels,
neutron moderators, or other components used in the fission process, which
enable the fission reactor to operate more safely, efficiently, or effectively,
or to have a smaller footprint, than the Generation III, Generation III+, or
earlier-generation nuclear fission reactors that are currently in operation in
the State as of the effective date of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill).

���� "Assignee" means a
person to which an electric public utility or another assignee assigns, sells,
or transfers, other than as security, all or a portion of its right to or
interest in bondable transition property.� Except as specifically provided in
P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.), an assignee shall not be subject to the
public utility requirements of Title 48 or any rules or regulations adopted
pursuant thereto.

���� "Base load electric power
generation facility" means an electric power generation facility intended
to be operated at a greater than 50 percent capacity factor including, but not
limited to, a combined cycle power facility and a combined heat and power
facility.

���� "Base residual
auction" means the auction conducted by PJM, as part of PJM's reliability
pricing model, three years prior to the start of the delivery year to secure
electrical capacity as necessary to satisfy the capacity requirements for that
delivery year.

���� "Basic gas supply
service" means gas supply service that is provided to any customer that
has not chosen an alternative gas supplier, whether or not the customer has
received offers as to competitive supply options, including, but not limited to,
any customer that cannot obtain such service for any reason, including
non-payment for services.� Basic gas supply service is not a competitive
service and shall be fully regulated by the board.

���� "Basic generation
service" or "BGS" means electric generation service that is
provided, to any customer that has not chosen an alternative electric power
supplier, whether or not the customer has received offers for competitive
supply options, including, but not limited to, any customer that cannot obtain
such service from an electric power supplier for any reason, including
non-payment for services.� Basic generation service is not a competitive
service and shall be fully regulated by the board.

���� "Basic generation service
provider" or "provider" means a provider of basic generation
service.

���� "Basic generation service
transition costs" means the amount by which the payments by an electric
public utility for the procurement of power for basic generation service and
related ancillary and administrative costs exceeds the net revenues from the
basic generation service charge established by the board pursuant to section 9
of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-57) during the transition period, together with
interest on the balance at the board-approved rate, that is reflected in a
deferred balance account approved by the board in an order addressing the
electric public utility's unbundled rates, stranded costs, and restructuring
filings pursuant to P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.).� Basic generation
service transition costs shall include, but are not limited to, costs of
purchases from the spot market, bilateral contracts, contracts with non-utility
generators, parting contracts with the purchaser of the electric public
utility's divested generation assets, short-term advance purchases, and
financial instruments such as hedging, forward contracts, and options.� Basic
generation service transition costs shall also include the payments by an
electric public utility pursuant to a competitive procurement process for basic
generation service supply during the transition period, and costs of any such
process used to procure the basic generation service supply.

���� "Board" means the
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities or any successor agency.

���� "Bondable stranded
costs" means any stranded costs or basic generation service transition
costs of an electric public utility approved by the board for recovery pursuant
to the provisions of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.), together with, as approved
by the board: (1) the cost of retiring existing debt or equity capital of the
electric public utility, including accrued interest, premium and other fees,
costs, and charges relating thereto, with the proceeds of the financing of
bondable transition property; (2) if requested by an electric public utility in
its application for a bondable stranded costs rate order, federal, State, and
local tax liabilities associated with stranded costs recovery, basic generation
service transition cost recovery, or the transfer or financing of the property,
or both, including taxes, whose recovery period is modified by the effect of a
stranded costs recovery order, a bondable stranded costs rate order, or both;
and (3) the costs incurred to issue, service, or refinance transition bonds,
including interest, acquisition, or redemption premium, and other financing
costs, whether paid upon issuance or over the life of the transition bonds,
including, but not limited to, credit enhancements, service charges,
overcollateralization, interest rate cap, swap or collar, yield maintenance,
maturity guarantee or other hedging agreements, equity investments, operating
costs, and other related fees, costs, and charges, or to assign, sell, or
otherwise transfer bondable transition property.

���� "Bondable stranded costs
rate order" means one or more irrevocable written orders issued by the
board pursuant to P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.) which determines the amount
of bondable stranded costs and the initial amount of transition bond charges
authorized to be imposed to recover the bondable stranded costs, including the
costs to be financed from the proceeds of the transition bonds, as well as
on-going costs associated with servicing and credit enhancing the transition
bonds, and provides the electric public utility specific authority to issue or
cause to be issued, directly or indirectly, transition bonds through a
financing entity and related matters as provided in P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49
et al.), which order shall become effective immediately upon the written
consent of the related electric public utility to the order as provided in
P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.).

���� "Bondable transition
property" means the property consisting of the irrevocable right to
charge, collect, and receive, and be paid from collections of, transition bond
charges in the amount necessary to provide for the full recovery of bondable
stranded costs which are determined to be recoverable in a bondable stranded
costs rate order, all rights of the related electric public utility under the
bondable stranded costs rate order including, without limitation, all rights to
obtain periodic adjustments of the related transition bond charges pursuant to
subsection b. of section 15 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-64), and all revenues,
collections, payments, money, and proceeds arising under, or with respect to,
all of the foregoing.

���� "British thermal
unit" or "Btu" means the amount of heat required to increase the
temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

���� "Broker" means a
duly licensed electric power supplier that assumes the contractual and legal
responsibility for the sale of electric generation service, transmission, or
other services to end-use retail customers, but does not take title to any of
the power sold, or a duly licensed gas supplier that assumes the contractual
and legal obligation to provide gas supply service to end-use retail customers,
but does not take title to the gas.

���� "Brownfield" means
any former or current commercial or industrial site that is currently vacant or
underutilized and on which there has been, or there is suspected to have been,
a discharge of a contaminant.

���� "Buydown" means an
arrangement or arrangements involving the buyer and seller in a given power
purchase contract and, in some cases third parties, for consideration to be
given by the buyer in order to effectuate a reduction in the pricing, or the
restructuring of other terms to reduce the overall cost of the power contract,
for the remaining succeeding period of the purchased power arrangement or
arrangements.

���� "Buyout" means an
arrangement or arrangements involving the buyer and seller in a given power
purchase contract and, in some cases third parties, for consideration to be
given by the buyer in order to effectuate a termination of such power purchase
contract.

���� "Class I renewable
energy" means electric energy produced from solar technologies,
photovoltaic technologies, wind energy, fuel cells, geothermal technologies,
wave or tidal action, small scale hydropower facilities with a capacity of
three megawatts or less and put into service after the effective date of
P.L.2012, c.24, methane gas from landfills, methane gas from a biomass facility
provided that the biomass is cultivated and harvested in a sustainable manner,
or methane gas from a composting or anaerobic or aerobic digestion facility
that converts food waste or other organic waste to energy.

���� "Class II renewable
energy" means electric energy produced at a hydropower facility with a
capacity of greater than three megawatts, but less than 30 megawatts, or a
resource recovery facility, provided that the facility is located where retail
competition is permitted and provided further that the Commissioner of
Environmental Protection has determined that the facility meets the highest
environmental standards and minimizes any impacts to the environment and local
communities.� Class II renewable energy shall not include electric energy
produced at a hydropower facility with a capacity of greater than 30 megawatts
on or after the effective date of P.L.2015, c.51.

���� "Co-generation"
means the sequential production of electricity and steam or other forms of
useful energy used for industrial or commercial heating and cooling purposes.

���� "Combined cycle power
facility" means a generation facility that combines two or more
thermodynamic cycles, by producing electric power via the combustion of fuel
and then routing the resulting waste heat by-product to a conventional boiler
or to a heat recovery steam generator for use by a steam turbine to produce
electric power, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the generating
facility.

���� "Combined heat and power
facility" or "co-generation facility" means a generation
facility which produces electric energy and steam or other forms of useful
energy such as heat, which are used for industrial or commercial heating or cooling
purposes.� A combined heat and power facility or co-generation facility shall
not be considered a public utility.

���� "Competitive
service" means any service offered by an electric public utility or a gas
public utility that the board determines to be competitive pursuant to section
8 or section 10 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-56 or C.48:3-58) or that is not regulated
by the board.

���� "Commercial and
industrial energy pricing class customer" or "CIEP class
customer" means that group of non-residential customers with high peak
demand, as determined by periodic board order, which either is eligible or
which would be eligible, as determined by periodic board order, to receive
funds from the Retail Margin Fund established pursuant to section 9 of
P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-57) and for which basic generation service is
hourly-priced.

���� "Comprehensive resource
analysis" means an analysis including, but not limited to, an assessment
of existing market barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency and
renewable technologies that are not or cannot be delivered to customers through
a competitive marketplace.

���� "Community solar
facility" means a solar electric power generation facility participating
in the Community Solar Energy Pilot Program or the Community Solar Energy
Program developed by the board pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2018, c.17
(C.48:3-87.11).

���� "Connected to the
distribution system" means, for a solar electric power generation
facility, that the facility is: (1) connected to a net metering customer's side
of a meter, regardless of the voltage at which that customer connects to the
electric grid; (2) an on-site generation facility; (3) qualified for net
metering aggregation as provided pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection e. of
section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87); (4) owned or operated by an electric
public utility and approved by the board pursuant to section 13 of P.L.2007,
c.340 (C.48:3-98.1); (5) directly connected to the electric grid at 69
kilovolts or less, regardless of how an electric public utility classifies that
portion of its electric grid, and is designated as "connected to the
distribution system" by the board pursuant to subsections q. through s. of
section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87); or (6) is certified by the board, in
consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, as being located
on a brownfield, on an area of historic fill, or on a properly closed sanitary
landfill facility.� Any solar electric power generation facility, other than
that of a net metering customer on the customer's side of the meter, connected
above 69 kilovolts shall not be considered connected to the distribution
system.

���� "Contaminated site or
landfill" means: (1) any currently contaminated portion of a property on
which industrial or commercial operations were conducted and a discharge
occurred, and its associated disturbed areas, where "discharge" means
the same as the term is defined in section 23 of P.L.1993, c.139 (C.58:10B-1);
or (2) a properly closed sanitary landfill facility and its associated
disturbed areas.

���� "Customer" means any
person that is an end user and is connected to any part of the transmission and
distribution system within an electric public utility's service territory or a
gas public utility's service territory within this State.

���� "Customer account
service" means metering, billing, or such other administrative activity
associated with maintaining a customer account.

���� "Delivery year" or
"DY" means the 12-month period from June 1st through May 31st,
numbered according to the calendar year in which it ends.

���� "Demand side
management" means the management of customer demand for energy service
through the implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency technologies,
including, but not limited to, installed conservation, load management, and
energy efficiency measures on and in the residential, commercial, industrial,
institutional, and governmental premises and facilities in this State.

���� "Electric generation
service" means the provision of retail electric energy and capacity which
is generated off-site from the location at which the consumption of such
electric energy and capacity is metered for retail billing purposes, including
agreements and arrangements related thereto.

���� "Electric power
generator" means an entity that proposes to construct, own, lease, or
operate, or currently owns, leases, or operates, an electric power production
facility that will sell or does sell at least 90 percent of its output, either
directly or through a marketer, to a customer or customers located at sites
that are not on or contiguous to the site on which the facility will be located
or is located.� The designation of an entity as an electric power generator for
the purposes of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.) shall not, in and of itself,
affect the entity's status as an exempt wholesale generator under the Public
Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, 15 U.S.C. s.79 et seq., or its successor
act.

���� "Electric power
supplier" means a person or entity that is duly licensed pursuant to the
provisions of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.) to offer and to assume the
contractual and legal responsibility to provide electric generation service to
retail customers, and includes load serving entities, marketers, and brokers
that offer or provide electric generation service to retail customers.� The
term excludes an electric public utility that provides electric generation
service only as a basic generation service pursuant to section 9 of P.L.1999,
c.23 (C.48:3-57).

���� "Electric public
utility" means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13,
that transmits and distributes electricity to end users within this State.

���� "Electric related
service" means a service that is directly related to the consumption of
electricity by an end user, including, but not limited to, the installation of
demand side management measures at the end user's premises, the maintenance,
repair, or replacement of appliances, lighting, motors, or other
energy-consuming devices at the end user's premises, and the provision of
energy consumption measurement and billing services.

���� "Electronic
signature" means an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to, or
logically associated with, a contract or other record, and executed or adopted
by a person with the intent to sign the record.

���� "Eligible generator"
means a developer of a base load or mid-merit electric power generation
facility including, but not limited to, an on-site generation facility that
qualifies as a capacity resource under PJM criteria and that commences construction
after the effective date of P.L.2011, c.9 (C.48:3-98.2 et al.).

���� "Energy agent" means
a person that is duly registered pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1999, c.23
(C.48:3-49 et al.), that arranges the sale of retail electricity or electric
related services, or retail gas supply or gas related services, between
government aggregators or private aggregators and electric power suppliers or
gas suppliers, but does not take title to the electric or gas sold.

���� "Energy consumer"
means a business or residential consumer of electric generation service or gas
supply service located within the territorial jurisdiction of a government
aggregator.

���� "Energy efficiency
portfolio standard" means a requirement to procure a specified amount of
energy efficiency or demand side management resources as a means of managing
and reducing energy usage and demand by customers.

���� "Energy year" or
"EY" means the 12-month period from June 1st through May 31st,
numbered according to the calendar year in which it ends.

���� "Existing business
relationship" means a relationship formed by a voluntary two-way
communication between an electric power supplier, gas supplier, broker, energy
agent, marketer, private aggregator, sales representative, or telemarketer and
a customer, regardless of an exchange of consideration, on the basis of an
inquiry, application, purchase, or transaction initiated by the customer
regarding products or services offered by the electric power supplier, gas
supplier, broker, energy agent, marketer, private aggregator, sales
representative, or telemarketer; however, a consumer's use of electric
generation service or gas supply service through the consumer's electric public
utility or gas public utility shall not constitute or establish an existing
business relationship for the purpose of P.L.2013, c.263.

���� "Farmland" means
land actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use that is valued,
assessed, and taxed pursuant to the "Farmland Assessment Act of
1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.).

���� "Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission" or "FERC" means the federal agency
established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. s.7171 et seq. to regulate the interstate
transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil.

���� "Final remediation
document" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of
P.L.1976, c.141 (C.58:10-23.11b).

���� "Financing entity"
means an electric public utility, a special purpose entity, or any other
assignee of bondable transition property, which issues transition bonds.�
Except as specifically provided in P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.), a financing
entity which is not itself an electric public utility shall not be subject to
the public utility requirements of Title 48 of the Revised Statutes or any
rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

���� "Gas public utility"
means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, that
distributes gas to end users within this State.

���� "Gas related
service" means a service that is directly related to the consumption of
gas by an end user, including, but not limited to, the installation of demand
side management measures at the end user's premises, the maintenance, repair or
replacement of appliances or other energy-consuming devices at the end user's
premises, and the provision of energy consumption measurement and billing
services.

���� "Gas supplier" means
a person that is duly licensed pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1999, c.23
(C.48:3-49 et al.) to offer and assume the contractual and legal obligation to
provide gas supply service to retail customers, and includes, but is not
limited to, marketers and brokers. A non-public utility affiliate of a public
utility holding company may be a gas supplier, but a gas public utility or any
subsidiary of a gas utility is not a gas supplier.� In the event that a gas
public utility is not part of a holding company legal structure, a related
competitive business segment of that gas public utility may be a gas supplier,
provided that related competitive business segment is structurally separated
from the gas public utility, and provided that the interactions between the gas
public utility and the related competitive business segment are subject to the
affiliate relations standards adopted by the board pursuant to subsection k. of
section 10 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-58).

���� "Gas supply service"
means the provision to customers of the retail commodity of gas, but does not
include any regulated distribution service.

���� "Government
aggregator" means any government entity subject to the requirements of the
"Local Public Contracts Law," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.),
the "Public School Contracts Law," N.J.S.18A:18A-1 et seq., or the "County
College Contracts Law," P.L.1982, c.189 (C.18A:64A-25.1 et seq.), that
enters into a written contract with a licensed electric power supplier or a
licensed gas supplier for: (1) the provision of electric generation service,
electric related service, gas supply service, or gas related service for its
own use or the use of other government aggregators; or (2) if a municipal or
county government, the provision of electric generation service or gas supply
service on behalf of business or residential customers within its territorial jurisdiction.

���� "Government energy
aggregation program" means a program and procedure pursuant to which a
government aggregator enters into a written contract for the provision of
electric generation service or gas supply service on behalf of business or
residential customers within its territorial jurisdiction.

���� "Governmental
entity" means any federal, state, municipal, local, or other governmental
department, commission, board, agency, court, authority, or instrumentality
having competent jurisdiction.

���� "Green Acres
program" means the program for the acquisition of lands for recreation and
conservation purposes pursuant to P.L.1961, c.45 (C.13:8A-1 et seq.), P.L.1971,
c.419 (C.13:8A-19 et seq.), P.L.1975, c.155 (C.13:8A-35 et seq.), any Green Acres
bond act, P.L.1999, c.152 (C.13:8C-1 et seq.), and P.L.2016, c.12 (C.13:8C-43
et seq.).

���� "Greenhouse gas emissions
portfolio standard" means a requirement that addresses or limits the
amount of carbon dioxide emissions indirectly resulting from the use of
electricity as applied to any electric power suppliers and basic generation service
providers of electricity.

���� "Grid supply solar
facility" means a solar electric power generation facility that sells
electricity at wholesale and is connected to the State's electric distribution
or transmission systems.� "Grid supply solar facility" does not include:
(1) a net metered solar facility; (2) an on-site generation facility; (3) a
facility participating in net metering aggregation pursuant to section 38 of
P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87); (4) a facility participating in remote net
metering; or (5) a community solar facility.

���� "Historic fill"
means generally large volumes of non-indigenous material, no matter what date
they were emplaced on the site, used to raise the topographic elevation of a
site, which were contaminated prior to emplacement and are in no way connected
with the operations at the location of emplacement and which include, but are
not limited to, construction debris, dredge spoils, incinerator residue,
demolition debris, fly ash, and non-hazardous solid waste.� "Historic
fill" shall not include any material which is substantially chromate
chemical production waste or any other chemical production waste or waste from
processing of metal or mineral ores, residues, slags, or tailings.

���� "Incremental
auction" means an auction conducted by PJM, as part of PJM's reliability
pricing model, prior to the start of the delivery year to secure electric
capacity as necessary to satisfy the capacity requirements for that delivery
year, that is not otherwise provided for in the base residual auction.

���� "Leakage" means an
increase in greenhouse gas emissions related to generation sources located
outside of the State that are not subject to a state, interstate, or regional
greenhouse gas emissions cap or standard that applies to generation sources
located within the State.

���� "Locational
deliverability area" or "LDA" means one or more of the zones
within the PJM region which are used to evaluate area transmission constraints
and reliability issues including electric public utility company zones,
sub-zones, and combinations of zones.

���� "Long-term capacity
agreement pilot program" or "LCAPP" means a pilot program
established by the board that includes participation by eligible generators, to
seek offers for financially-settled standard offer capacity agreements with eligible
generators pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2011, c.9 (C.48:3-98.2 et al.).

���� "Market transition
charge" means a charge imposed pursuant to section 13 of P.L.1999, c.23
(C.48:3-61) by an electric public utility, at a level determined by the board,
on the electric public utility customers for a limited duration transition
period to recover stranded costs created as a result of the introduction of
electric power supply competition pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1999, c.23
(C.48:3-49 et al.).

���� "Marketer" means a
duly licensed electric power supplier that takes title to electric energy and
capacity, transmission, and other services from electric power generators and
other wholesale suppliers and then assumes the contractual and legal obligation
to provide electric generation service, and may include transmission and other
services, to an end-use retail customer or customers, or a duly licensed gas
supplier that takes title to gas and then assumes the contractual and legal
obligation to provide gas supply service to an end-use customer or customers.

���� "Mid-merit electric power
generation facility" means a generation facility that operates at a
capacity factor between baseload generation facilities and peaker generation
facilities.

���� "Net metered solar
facility" means a solar electric power generation facility participating
in the net metering program developed by the board pursuant to subsection e. of
section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87) or in a substantially similar program
operated by a utility owned or operated by a local government unit.

���� "Net metering
aggregation" means a procedure for calculating the combination of the
annual energy usage for all facilities owned by a single customer where such
customer is a State entity, school district, county, county agency, county
authority, municipality, municipal agency, or municipal authority, and which
are served by a solar electric power generating facility as provided pursuant
to paragraph (4) of subsection e. of section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87).

���� "Net proceeds" means
proceeds less transaction and other related costs as determined by the board.

���� "Net revenues" means
revenues less related expenses, including applicable taxes, as determined by
the board.

���� "Offshore wind
energy" means electric energy produced by a qualified offshore wind
project.

���� "Offshore wind renewable
energy certificate" or "OREC" means a certificate, issued by the
board or its designee, representing the e

environmental attributes of one
megawatt hour of electric generation from a qualified offshore wind project.

���� "Off-site end use thermal
energy services customer" means an end use customer that purchases thermal
energy services from an on-site generation facility, combined heat and power
facility, or co-generation facility, and that is located on property that is
separated from the property on which the on-site generation facility, combined
heat and power facility, or co-generation facility is located by more than one
easement, public thoroughfare, or transportation or utility-owned right-of-way.

���� "On-site generation
facility" means a generation facility, including, but not limited to, a
generation facility that produces Class I or Class II renewable energy, and
equipment and services appurtenant to electric sales by such facility to the
end use customer located on the property or on property contiguous to the
property on which the end user is located.� An on-site generation facility
shall not be considered a public utility.� The property of the end use customer
and the property on which the on-site generation facility is located shall be
considered contiguous if they are geographically located next to each other,
but may be otherwise separated by an easement, public thoroughfare,
transportation or utility-owned right-of-way, or if the end use customer is
purchasing thermal energy services produced by the on-site generation facility,
for use for heating or cooling, or both, regardless of whether the customer is
located on property that is separated from the property on which the on-site
generation facility is located by more than one easement, public thoroughfare,
or transportation or utility-owned right-of-way.

���� "Open access offshore
wind transmission facility" means an open access transmission facility,
located either in the Atlantic Ocean or offshore, used to facilitate the
collection of offshore wind energy or its delivery to the electronic transmission
system in this State.

���� "Person" means an
individual, partnership, corporation, association, trust, limited liability
company, governmental entity, or other legal entity.

���� "PJM Interconnection,
L.L.C." or "PJM" means the privately-held, limited liability
corporation that serves as a FERC-approved Regional Transmission Organization,
or its successor, that manages the regional, high-voltage electricity grid
serving all or parts of 13 states including New Jersey and the District of
Columbia, operates the regional competitive wholesale electric market, manages
the regional transmission planning process, and establishes systems and rules
to ensure that the regional and in-State energy markets operate fairly and
efficiently.

���� "Preliminary
assessment" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of
P.L.1976, c.141 (C.58:10-23.11b).

���� "Preserved farmland"
means land on which a development easement was conveyed to, or retained by, the
State Agriculture Development Committee, a county agriculture development
board, or a qualifying tax exempt nonprofit organization pursuant to the
provisions of section 24 of P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-31), section 5 of P.L.1988,
c.4 (C.4:1C-31.1), section 1 of P.L.1989, c.28 (C.4:1C-38), section 1 of
P.L.1999, c.180 (C.4:1C-43.1), sections 37 through 40 of P.L.1999, c.152
(C.13:8C-37 through C.13:8C-40), or any other State law enacted for farmland
preservation purposes.

���� "Private aggregator"
means a non-government aggregator that is a duly-organized business or
non-profit organization authorized to do business in this State that enters
into a contract with a duly licensed electric power supplier for the purchase
of electric energy and capacity, or with a duly licensed gas supplier for the
purchase of gas supply service, on behalf of multiple end-use customers by
combining the loads of those customers.

���� "Properly closed sanitary
landfill facility" means a sanitary landfill facility, or a portion of a
sanitary landfill facility, for which performance is complete with respect to
all activities associated with the design, installation, purchase, or
construction of all measures, structures, or equipment required by the
Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to law, in order to prevent,
minimize, or monitor pollution or health hazards resulting from a sanitary
landfill facility subsequent to the termination of operations at any portion
thereof, including, but not necessarily limited to, the placement of earthen or
vegetative cover, and the installation of methane gas vents or monitors and
leachate monitoring wells or collection systems at the site of any sanitary
landfill facility.

���� "Public utility holding
company" means: (1) any company that, directly or indirectly, owns,
controls, or holds with power to vote, 10 percent or more of the outstanding
voting securities of an electric public utility or a gas public utility or of a
company which is a public utility holding company by virtue of this definition,
unless the Securities and Exchange Commission, or its successor, by order
declares such company not to be a public utility holding company under the
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, 15 U.S.C. s.79 et seq., or its
successor; or (2) any person that the Securities and Exchange Commission, or
its successor, determines, after notice and opportunity for hearing, directly
or indirectly, to exercise, either alone or pursuant to an arrangement or
understanding with one or more other persons, such a controlling influence over
the management or policies of an electric public utility or a gas public
utility or public utility holding company as to make it necessary or
appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors or
consumers that such person be subject to the obligations, duties, and
liabilities imposed in the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, 15
U.S.C. s.79 et seq., or its successor act.

���� "Qualified offshore wind
project" means a wind turbine electricity generation facility in the
Atlantic Ocean and connected to the electric transmission system in this State,
and includes the associated transmission-related interconnection facilities and
equipment, and approved by the board pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2010, c.57
(C.48:3-87.1).

���� "Registration
program" means an administrative process developed by the board pursuant
to subsection u. of section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87) that requires all
owners of solar electric power generation facilities connected to the distribution
system that intend to generate SRECs, to file with the board documents
detailing the size, location, interconnection plan, land use, and other project
information as required by the board.

���� "Regulatory asset"
means an asset recorded on the books of an electric public utility or gas
public utility pursuant to the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, No.
71, entitled "Accounting for the Effects of Certain Types of Regulation,"
or any successor standard and as deemed recoverable by the board.

���� "Related competitive
business segment of an electric public utility or gas public utility"
means any business venture of an electric public utility or gas public utility
including, but not limited to, functionally separate business units, joint
ventures, and partnerships, that offers to provide or provides competitive
services.

���� "Related competitive
business segment of a public utility holding company" means any business
venture of a public utility holding company, including, but not limited to,
functionally separate business units, joint ventures, and partnerships and
subsidiaries, that offers to provide or provides competitive services, but does
not include any related competitive business segments of an electric public
utility or gas public utility.

���� "Reliability pricing
model" or "RPM" means PJM's capacity-market model, and its
successors, that secures capacity on behalf of electric load serving entities
to satisfy load obligations not satisfied through the output of electric generation
facilities owned by those entities, or otherwise secured by those entities
through bilateral contracts.

���� "Renewable energy
certificate" or "REC" means a certificate representing the
environmental benefits or attributes of one megawatt-hour of generation from a
generating facility that produces Class I or Class II renewable energy, but shall
not include a solar renewable energy certificate or an offshore wind renewable
energy certificate.

���� "Resource clearing
price" or "RCP" means the clearing price established for the
applicable locational deliverability area by the base residual auction or
incremental auction, as determined by the optimization algorithm for each
auction, conducted by PJM as part of PJM's reliability pricing model.

���� "Resource recovery
facility" means a solid waste facility constructed and operated for the
incineration of solid waste for energy production and the recovery of metals
and other materials for reuse, which the Department of Environmental Protection
has determined to be in compliance with current environmental standards,
including, but not limited to, all applicable requirements of the federal
"Clean Air Act" (42 U.S.C. s.7401 et seq.).

���� "Restructuring related
costs" means reasonably incurred costs directly related to the
restructuring of the electric power industry, including the closure, sale,
functional separation, and divestiture of generation and other competitive
utility assets by a public utility, or the provision of competitive services as
those costs are determined by the board, and which are not stranded costs as
defined in P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.) but may include, but not be
limited to, investments in management information systems, and which shall
include expenses related to employees affected by restructuring which result in
efficiencies and which result in benefits to ratepayers, such as training or
retraining at the level equivalent to one year's training at a vocational or
technical school or county community college, the provision of severance pay of
two weeks of base pay for each year of full-time employment, and a maximum of
24 months' continued health care coverage.� Except as to expenses related to
employees affected by restructuring, "restructuring related costs"
shall not include going forward costs.

���� "Retail choice"
means the ability of retail customers to shop for electric generation or gas
supply service from electric power or gas suppliers, or opt to receive basic
generation service or basic gas service, and the ability of an electric power
or gas supplier to offer electric generation service or gas supply service to
retail customers, consistent with the provisions of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49
et al.).

���� "Retail margin"
means an amount, reflecting differences in prices that electric power suppliers
and electric public utilities may charge in providing electric generation
service and basic generation service, respectively, to retail customers, excluding
residential customers, which the board may authorize to be charged to
categories of basic generation service customers of electric public utilities
in this State, other than residential customers, under the board's continuing
regulation of basic generation service pursuant to sections 3 and 9 of
P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51 and 48:3-57), for the purpose of promoting a
competitive retail market for the supply of electricity.

���� "Sales
representative" means a person employed by, acting on behalf of, or as an
independent contractor for, an electric power supplier, gas supplier, broker,
energy agent, marketer, or private aggregator who, by any means, solicits a
potential residential customer for the provision of electric generation service
or gas supply service.

���� "Sanitary landfill
facility" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of
P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-3).

���� "School district"
means a local or regional school district established pursuant to chapter 8 or
chapter 13 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, a county special services
school district established pursuant to article 8 of chapter 46 of Title 18A of
the New Jersey Statutes, a county vocational school district established
pursuant to article 3 of chapter 54 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes,
and a district under full State intervention pursuant to P.L.1987, c.399
(C.18A:7A-34 et al.).

���� "Shopping credit"
means an amount deducted from the bill of an electric public utility customer
to reflect the fact that the customer has switched to an electric power
supplier and no longer takes basic generation service from the electric public
utility.

���� "Site investigation"
shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of P.L.1976, c.141
(C.58:10-23.11b).

���� "Small scale hydropower
facility" means a facility located within this State that is connected to
the distribution system, and that meets the requirements of, and has been
certified by, a nationally recognized low-impact hydropower organization that
has established low-impact hydropower certification criteria applicable to: (1)
river flows; (2) water quality; (3) fish passage and protection; (4) watershed
protection; (5) threatened and endangered species protection; (6) cultural
resource protection; (7) recreation; and (8) facilities recommended for
removal.

���� "Social program"
means a program implemented with board approval to provide assistance to a
group of disadvantaged customers, to provide protection to consumers, or to
accomplish a particular societal goal, and includes, but is not limited to, the
winter moratorium program, utility practices concerning "bad debt"
customers, low income assistance, deferred payment plans, weatherization
programs, and late payment and deposit policies, but does not include any
demand side management program or any environmental requirements or controls.

���� "Societal benefits
charge" means a charge imposed by an electric public utility, at a level
determined by the board, pursuant to, and in accordance with, section 12 of
P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-60).

���� "Solar alternative
compliance payment" or "SACP" means a payment of a certain
dollar amount per megawatt hour (MWh) which an electric power supplier or
provider may submit to the board in order to comply with the solar electric
generation requirements under section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87).

���� "Solar renewable energy
certificate" or "SREC" means a certificate issued by the board
or its designee, representing one megawatt hour (MWh) of solar energy that is
generated by a facility connected to the distribution system in this State and
has value based upon, and driven by, the energy market.

���� "Solar renewable energy
certificate II" or "SREC-II" means a transferable certificate,
issued by the board or its designee pursuant to P.L.2021, c.169 (C.48:3-114 et
al.), which is capable of counting towards the renewable energy portfolio
standards of an electric power supplier or basic generation service provider in
the State pursuant to section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87).

���� "SREC-II program"
means the program established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2021, c.169
(C.48:3-115) to distribute SREC-IIs.

���� "SREC-II value per
megawatt-hour" means the value, in dollars-per-megawatt-hour, assigned by
the board to each solar electric power generation facility eligible to receive
SREC-IIs, which is paid to the facility and which represents the environmental
attributes of the facility.

���� "Standard offer capacity
agreement" or "SOCA" means a financially-settled transaction
agreement, approved by board order, that provides for eligible generators to
receive payments from the electric public utilities for a defined amount of
electric capacity for a term to be determined by the board but not to exceed 15
years, and for such payments to be a fully non-bypassable charge, with such an
order, once issued, being irrevocable.

���� "Standard offer capacity
price" or "SOCP" means the capacity price that is fixed for the
term of the SOCA and which is the price to be received by eligible generators
under a board-approved SOCA.

���� "State entity" means
a department, agency, or office of State government, a State university or
college, or an authority created by the State.

���� "Stranded cost"
means the amount by which the net cost of an electric public utility's electric
generating assets or electric power purchase commitments, as determined by the
board consistent with the provisions of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.),
exceeds the market value of those assets or contractual commitments in a
competitive supply marketplace and the costs of buydowns or buyouts of power
purchase contracts.

���� "Stranded costs recovery
order" means each order issued by the board in accordance with subsection
c. of section 13 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-61) which sets forth the amount of
stranded costs, if any, the board has determined an electric public utility is
eligible to recover and collect in accordance with the standards set forth in
section 13 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-61) and the recovery mechanisms therefor.

���� "Telemarketer" shall
have the same meaning as set forth in section 2 of P.L.2003, c.76 (C.56:8-120).

���� "Telemarketing sales
call" means a telephone call made by a telemarketer to a potential
residential customer as part of a plan, program, or campaign to encourage the
customer to change the customer's electric power supplier or gas supplier.� A telephone
call made to an existing customer of an electric power supplier, gas supplier,
broker, energy agent, marketer, private aggregator, or sales representative,
for the sole purpose of collecting on accounts or following up on contractual
obligations, shall not be deemed a telemarketing sales call.� A telephone call
made in response to an express written request of a customer shall not be
deemed a telemarketing sales call.

���� "Thermal efficiency"
means the useful electric energy output of a facility, plus the useful thermal
energy output of the facility, expressed as a percentage of the total energy
input to the facility.

���� "Transition bond
charge" means a charge, expressed as an amount per kilowatt hour, that is
authorized by and imposed on electric public utility ratepayers pursuant to a
bondable stranded costs rate order, as modified at any time pursuant to the
provisions of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.).

���� "Transition bonds"
means bonds, notes, certificates of participation, beneficial interest, or
other evidences of indebtedness or ownership issued pursuant to an indenture,
contract, or other agreement of an electric public utility or a financing
entity, the proceeds of which are used, directly or indirectly, to recover,
finance or refinance bondable stranded costs and which are, directly or
indirectly, secured by or payable from bondable transition property. References
in P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.) to principal, interest, and acquisition or
redemption premium with respect to transition bonds which are issued in the
form of certificates of participation or beneficial interest or other evidences
of ownership shall refer to the comparable payments on such securities.

���� "Transition period"
means the period from August 1, 1999 through July 31, 2003.

���� "Transmission and
distribution system" means, with respect to an electric public utility,
any facility or equipment that is used for the transmission, distribution, or
delivery of electricity to the customers of the electric public utility including,
but not limited to, the land, structures, meters, lines, switches, and all
other appurtenances thereof and thereto, owned or controlled by the electric
public utility within this State.

���� "Universal service"
means any service approved by the board with the purpose of assisting
low-income residential customers in obtaining or retaining electric generation
or delivery service.

���� "Unsolicited
advertisement" means any advertising claims of the commercial availability
or quality of services provided by an electric power supplier, gas supplier,
broker, energy agent, marketer, private aggregator, sales representative, or telemarketer
which is transmitted to a potential customer without that customer's prior
express invitation or permission.

(cf:� P.L.2021, c.169, s.9)

���� 4.��� (New section)� a.�
Commencing on January 1 next following the date of enactment of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and on January 1 of
each year thereafter, the board shall provide a financial grant to the first
advanced nuclear energy facility operating in the State, in order to offset the
costs associated with the construction and operation of the advanced nuclear
energy facility.� The grants made available under this subsection shall be
known as advanced nuclear energy grants.

���� b.��� The first advanced
nuclear energy facility operating in the State shall be entitled to receive an
advanced nuclear energy grant, as authorized by subsection a. of this section
in each year during the first 25 years of the facility�s operations.

���� c.��� The amount of each
advanced nuclear energy grant authorized pursuant to subsection a. of this
section shall equal $50 per megawatt-hour of electricity generated by the
advanced nuclear energy facility in the preceding calendar year.

���� 5.��� (New section) a. In
order to finance the advanced nuclear energy grants being made available
pursuant to section 4 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill), the board shall annually assess a fee on each
electric public utility operating in the State, which fee shall be proportional
to, and shall reflect, the percentage of the State�s total electricity supply
that was transmitted or distributed by the electric public utility to energy
consumers in the State during the preceding calendar year.� The amount of the
proportional fee to be assessed against each electric public utility, pursuant
to this section, shall be annually determined by the board, and the total
amount collected, each year, from the fees imposed shall be sufficient to cover
the annual costs associated with the board�s issuance of advanced nuclear
energy credits, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill).

���� b.��� The board shall permit
each electric public utility to recover some or all of the annual fee costs
imposed on the utility, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, through the
use of an advanced nuclear energy facilitation charge that shall be collected,
by the electric public utility, as a non-bypassable charge imposed on all of
the public utility�s customers.

���� c.��� The Advanced Nuclear
Energy Grant Fund is established, as a non-lapsing fund, in the Board of Public
Utilities.� The board shall credit to the fund, all fee moneys collected
thereby through assessments imposed pursuant to subsection a. of this section,
as well as any interest or earnings on moneys in the fund.� Moneys in the fund
shall be used, by the board, exclusively for the purposes of financing the
costs associated with the issuance of advanced nuclear energy grants, pursuant
to section 2 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as
this bill).

���� 6.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and section 1 shall apply to privilege periods beginning
after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes two tax
credits and a financial grant related to the construction and operation of
advanced nuclear energy facilities. The bill allows a taxpayer that is a
manufacturer of equipment and components for advanced nuclear facilities
licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission to apply for a
corporation business tax credit equal to 15 percent of the amount paid during
the privilege period for: (1) new manufacturing equipment installed at a new or
existing manufacturing facility located within the State; and (2) the
acquisition, construction, reconstruction, installation, or erection of
improvements or additions that result in the renovation, modernization, or
expansion of a manufacturing facility located within the State.

���� The bill also creates the �New
Jersey Advanced Nuclear Energy Development Program� within the New Jersey
Economic Development Authority to encourage the construction of advanced
nuclear energy facilities in the State through the provision of incentive tax
credits to a developer for the construction and production of energy at the
facility.� The program would be administered by the authority in consultation
with the Board of Public Utilities.� In order to qualify for the incentive tax
credit established pursuant to this bill, a developer would be required to
demonstrate that:

�

there is a need for project financing;

�

the project is located at a current or decommissioned commercial
nuclear generating facility in the State with a license that is or was
previously issued by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission;

�

the developer intends to initiate the process for acquisition of
a license for the construction of an advanced nuclear reactor with the United
States Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of calendar year 2023 and be
issued an operator license for the facility by 2030;

�

the project will comply with various environmental, affirmative
action, and wage standards; and

�

the developer will commit at least 20 percent of the total
project cost.

In addition to assisting with
financing construction of an advanced nuclear energy facility, an incentive tax
credit provided under the program would provide $1 million for each megawatt of
energy produced by the facility upon completion.

���� Finally, this bill establishes
a financial grant to facilitate the construction and operation of the first
advanced nuclear energy facility in the State.� The bill provides that
commencing on January 1 next following the bill�s enactment, and on January 1
of each year thereafter, the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) will be required
to provide a financial grant (known as an advanced nuclear energy grant) to the
first advanced nuclear energy facility operating in the State.� The grant is to
equal $50 per megawatt-hour of electricity generated by the advanced nuclear
energy facility in the preceding calendar year.� The first advanced nuclear
energy facility in the State would be entitled to receive such a grant in each
of the first 25 years of the facility�s operations.