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S1757 SEN Statement 5/18/26
SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No.
1757
with
committee amendments
STATE
OF NEW JERSEY
DATED:
�MAY 18,
2026
����� The Senate Environment and Energy Committee reports
favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 1757.
����� As amended, this bill would establish the Office of
Clean Energy Equity (�office�) in the Board of Public Utilities (BPU).� The
office would be charged with promoting, guiding, and overseeing the equitable
deployment of clean energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage programs and
technologies in overburdened communities, and the equitable provision of the
tangible benefits of clean energy, increased energy efficiency, and energy
storage at the household and community level, including clean energy asset ownership,
energy cost savings, and employment and economic opportunities, to overburdened
communities.� The bill would require the BPU to:� (1) establish onsite solar or
community solar programs, with the objective of benefitting 250,000 low income
households or 35 percent of the low income households in the State, whichever
is larger, within 10 years, with the goal of reducing these households� average
energy burden to below six percent of household income; and (2) require the
establishment of a minimum of 1,600 megawatt hours of energy storage to benefit
overburdened communities within 10 years.� The bill would require the BPU to
direct no less than 10 percent of the BPU�s annual total clean energy budget,
or at least $50 million annually, whichever is greater, to the office for the
purposes of the bill.� The BPU would be authorized to allocate additional
funding, staff, and resources to the office as it determines appropriate.
����� In addition, the BPU, in cooperation with the office,
would be required to:� integrate workforce development training into all clean
energy and energy storage programs established by the BPU; provide outreach and
recruitment campaign grants to community-based organizations to increase
participation in clean energy and energy efficiency programs; develop, in
coordination with community-based organizations, outreach materials in multiple
languages; appoint a community liaison and establish an advisory board consisting
of representatives of overburdened communities to review and evaluate the clean
energy and energy storage programs available to overburdened communities; and
coordinate with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD) and
the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) concerning their responsibilities
pursuant to sections 2 and 3 of the bill.
����� In addition, the bill would require the office, in
collaboration with the DLWD, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA),
New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation, and Technology (CSIT), and the
Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) to establish program
guidelines for clean energy job training and workforce development grants to be
issued by the EDA, Department of Education (DOE), and the DLWD.� The grants
would be issued to community-based, diversity-focused nonprofit organizations,
community colleges, vocational-technical schools, and other organizations to
develop energy efficiency or clean energy paid workforce training programs that
provide training to at least 2,500 individuals from overburdened communities within
five years.� Under the bill, it would be a condition of a grant award that the
programs be updated every two years to ensure that they prepare participants
adequately for the current job market in the solar energy or clean energy
industry. �The bill would also direct the DLWD, in coordination with
community-based organizations, to develop programs to provide entrepreneurial
training, mentoring, apprenticeships, investment capital, loans, or other
training, capacity building, technical, and financial support to residents of
overburdened communities to help launch new clean energy enterprises or
establish careers in the clean energy workforce.
����� The bill would also direct the DCA, in consultation
with the office, to require all new construction located in an overburdened
community to be solar ready, and, if it is demonstrated to be economically
feasible, to include a rooftop or other solar energy system.� The bill would
also require the DCA to give preference to applications for onsite, community
solar, energy storage, or other clean energy projects that are sited in
overburdened communities or include minority or women-owned businesses.� Finally,
the bill would amend the law establishing the Community Solar Program to
require that each community solar project serving low- and moderate-income
subscribers provide a guaranteed minimum bill credit discount.
����� This bill was prefiled for introduction in the
2026-2027 session pending technical review.� As reported, the bill includes the
changes required by technical review, which has been performed.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
:
����� The committee amendments to the bill:
����� (1) �modify the Office of Clean Energy Equity's solar
installation goal and require the BPU to develop interim targets for the solar
installation goal;
����� (2) �modify the Office of Clean Energy Equity's energy
storage installation goal and require the BPU to establish safety, emergency
response, setback, fire suppression, and hazardous materials management
standards applicable to energy storage facilities;
����� (3) �require all energy storage facilities installed
under the bill to include certain safety measures;
����� (4) �limit the allowable types of administrative
expenses that may be used to implement the bill;
����� (5) �require the BPU to conduct a ratepayer impact
assessment prior to establishing or expanding any onsite solar, community
solar, or energy storage program pursuant to the bill;
����� (6) �require the BPU to prioritize installing solar
and energy storage facilities in certain locations, including brownfields,
under the program established by the bill;
����� (7) �require the BPU to conduct a comprehensive
evaluation of the Office of Clean Energy Equity five years after the bill's
enactment;
����� (8) �direct the DCA to require that all new
construction in overburdened communities include rooftop or other solar energy
systems, so long as it can be demonstrated to be economically feasible;
����� (9) �establish certain requirements that the DCA is to
follow in implementing the bill�s requirements for new construction in
overburdened communities; and
����� (10) �amend existing law concerning the Community
Solar Program to require that each community solar project serving low- and
moderate-income subscribers provide a guaranteed minimum bill credit discount.