Requires BPU to discontinue Infrastructure Investment Program.

A4507

ASSEMBLY, No. 4507

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 9, 2026

Sponsored by:

saAssemblyman� ALEX SAUICKIE

District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires BPU to discontinue Infrastructure Investment
Program.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning the Infrastructure Investment Program and
supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� a.� The Board of Public
Utilities shall discontinue the Infrastructure Investment Program established
by the board pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the board and
published in the New Jersey Administrative Code.� Beginning on the effective
date of
P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending
before the Legislature as this bill), the board shall not:�

���� (1)�� accept any new Infrastructure
Investment Program petitions; or

���� (2)�� approve any pending Infrastructure
Investment Program petition without conducting a full rate review for the
public utility whose petition under the program is pending on the effective
date of
P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending
before the Legislature as this bill).

���� b.��� The board shall require
any public utility with a pending Infrastructure Investment Program petition on
the effective date of
P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending
before the Legislature as this bill) to either:�

���� (1)�� include the public
utility�s investment proposal, formerly included in the pending petition, in
the public utility�s next base rate case; or

���� (2)�� provide all information
necessary for a full rate review, in order for the board to process the public
utility�s Infrastructure Investment Program petition, within 90 days of a board
order to this effect.� In the event that a public utility fails to provide the
required information within 90 days of a board order, the petition shall be
deemed retracted by the public utility. �Alternatively, the board may, in its
discretion, authorize a new deadline for the public utility to provide all
information necessary for a full rate review.� In the event that a public
utility fails to provide the required information prior to a subsequent
deadline set by the board, the petition shall be deemed retracted by the public
utility and shall no longer be eligible for consideration independently from
the public utility�s base rate case.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the Board
of Public Utilities (board) to discontinue the Infrastructure Investment
Program (IIP) established pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the
board.� The board is prohibited from accepting any new IIP petition or
approving any IIP petition pending on the bill�s effective date without
conducting a full rate review for the public utility whose petition is pending.

���� Under the bill, the board is
to require any public utility with a pending IIP petition on the bill�s
effective date to: �(1) include the public utility�s investment proposal,
formerly included in the pending petition, in the public utility�s next base
rate case; or (2) provide all information necessary for a full rate review, in
order for the board to process the public utility�s IIP petition, within 90
days of a board order to this effect.� In the event that a public utility fails
to provide the required information within 90 days of a board order, the
petition is to be deemed retracted by the public utility.

���� Alternatively, the board may,
in its discretion, authorize a new deadline for the public utility to provide
all information necessary for a full rate review.� In the event that a public
utility fails to provide the required information prior to a subsequent
deadline set by the board, the petition is to be deemed retracted by the public
utility and will no longer be eligible for consideration independently from the
public utility�s base rate case.

���� It is the sponsor�s intent
that the board be required to discontinue the IIP in response to the testimony
provided by the Director of the Division of Rate Counsel during the October 2,
2024 Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee meeting.� The Division
of Rate Counsel (division) opposes the use of the IIP, a single-issue
ratemaking mechanism, because there is no opportunity to look at the overall
health of a utility seeking approval on an IIP project.� The division also
testified that, by allowing utilities to earn an accelerated return on capital
investments outside a base rate case, the IIP creates a greater expense for
ratepayers than projects done within the normal course of a utility�s business.