New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 14 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Chapter 8 - RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY › Subchapter 2 - RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARDS › Section 14:8-2.4 - Energy that qualifies for an SREC; registration requirement; additional approval, designation, and certification processes for grid supply projects; termination of registration program

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) To be eligible
				to form the basis for an SREC usable for compliance with this subchapter,
				electricity shall meet all requirements in this section, as well as all other
				applicable requirements in this chapter. The registration process required in
				this section for construction of new solar electric generation facilities is
				intended to provide advance notice to the public and the renewable energy
				markets when increases in solar electric generation capacity in New Jersey are
				planned. The registration process shall be administered by Board staff or the
				Board's designee.
(b) To be
				eligible for issuance of an SREC usable for compliance with this subchapter,
				electricity shall:
1. Meet the definition of
				solar electric generation at 14:8-1.2;
2. Be generated at a facility that has been
				issued a New Jersey State Certification Number by Board staff;
3. Be generated at a facility which, if the
				facility's construction commenced after July 23, 2012, and the facility has a
				capacity of one megawatt dc or greater, paid the workers on its construction in
				accordance with
				N.J.S.A.
				48:2-29.47.
4. Be generated during the generating
				facility's qualification life, as defined at
				N.J.A.C.
				14:8-2.2. Solar electric generation produced
				after the end of a facility's qualification life shall not be used as the basis
				for an SREC, but may be used as the basis for a class I REC under NJ.A.C.
				14:8-2.5;
5. Be generated using
				equipment that meets either of the following criteria:
i. The equipment is new, that is, none of the
				equipment has been used prior to the installation of the solar electric
				generating facility; or
ii. The
				equipment was previously used in a solar facility with an unexpired
				qualification life and all of the following criteria are met:
(1) The previous solar facility was located
				in New Jersey;
(2) The previous
				solar facility was issued a New Jersey State Certification Number by Board
				staff;
(3) There are at least 12
				full months left in the qualification life of the previous solar facility;
				and
(4) Any sale or other transfer
				of the equipment during the qualification life of the previous solar facility
				is recorded with the Board and with PJM-EIS through submittal of a PJM-EIS
				system change form; and
6. No new SREC registration program submittal
				shall be accepted following a determination by the Board that 5.1 percent of
				the kilowatt-hours sold in the State by each electric power supplier and each
				basic generation provider comes from solar electric power generators connected
				to the State's electric distribution system has been attained. The Board shall
				announce the State's attainment of the 5.1 percent milestone when the installed
				solar capacity reported through New Jersey's Clean Energy Program (NJCEP) is
				estimated to have produced 5.1 percent of the retail electricity sales
				estimated to have been sold over the previous 12 months. The Board shall report
				no later than the last business day of each month the estimated solar
				electricity generated over the previous 12 months. The trailing 12 months of
				solar electricity generated shall be estimated by multiplying the latest
				NJCEP-supplied figure on cumulative installed solar capacity for the previous
				12 months by a corresponding solar output factor for each month. The solar
				output factor is an estimate of solar MWh output from one MWdc of capacity.
				Board staff shall produce, based upon stakeholder input, an estimate of solar
				electricity in MWh expected energy output from one MWdc of installed solar
				capacity representative of the fleet of New Jersey solar installations. An
				estimate of retail electricity sold in the previous 12 months shall be
				calculated from data supplied by PJM-EIS GATS for load served adjusted for
				distribution line losses through a factor based upon stakeholder input. The
				Board's monthly report on estimated solar electricity generated as a percent of
				estimated retail sales shall include the variables and methodology used for
				calculation, which will include:
i. An
				estimate of the trailing 12 months of solar electricity generated, based upon:
(1) The monthly cumulative installed solar
				capacity reported to the SREC Registration program; and
(2) The solar output factors for each of the
				previous 12 months and how they were derived;
ii. An estimate of retail electricity sold
				and how it was calculated from PJM-EIS GATS load served, including the
				distribution line loss factor and its derivation; and
iii. The resulting equation and the figure it
				produces.
7. Following a
				report that 5.1 percent of retail sales were attained from solar electric
				generation or that attainment of 5.1 percent of retail sales from solar
				electric generation is imminent within the next month, the Board shall
				authorize:
i. Solar facilities registered in
				the SRP pipeline described in (p) below to be eligible for SRECs if:
(1) A solar facility commenced commercial
				operations prior to the 5.1 percent milestone attainment and had submitted a
				complete registration or application for designation or conditional
				certification on or before October 29, 2018. Such a facility shall be eligible
				for the 15-year SREC qualification life; or
(2) A solar facility commenced commercial
				operations prior to the 5.1 percent milestone attainment and had submitted a
				complete registration or application for designation or conditional
				certification after October 29, 2018. Such a facility shall be eligible for the
				10-year SREC qualification life;
ii. Solar facilities registered in the SRP
				pipeline described in (p) below that have not commenced commercial operations
				prior to the 5.1 percent milestone attainment to have their eligibility
				determined as follows:
(1) Such a solar
				facility, if it submitted a complete registration or application for
				designation or conditional certification on or before October 29, 2018, may be
				eligible for a 15-year SREC qualification life subject to its maintaining all
				other eligibility requirements; or
(2) Such a solar facility, if it submitted a
				complete registration or application for designation or conditional
				certification after October 29, 2018, shall not be eligible for
				SRECs;
iii. The
				commencement of commercial operations shall be determined by the date on which
				the electric distribution company grants the facility permission to operate as
				referenced in N.J.A.C. 14:8-5 or the date the facility is granted permission to
				operate through PJM Interconnection LLC; and
iv. Termination of the SREC registration
				program shall occur no later than June 1, 2021.