New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 14 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Chapter 8 - RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY › Subchapter 1 - RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS › Section 14:8-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
				  shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise. Additional definitions that apply to this chapter can be found at
				  N.J.A.C.
				  14:3-1.1, 14:4-1.2, and
				  14:8-2.2.
"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.
"Built environment" means the surface of one or more
				  existing, serviceable structures or serviceable, improved, and impervious
				  roadways built for a substantial purpose other than to facilitate solar
				  development.
"Class I renewable energy" means electric energy produced
				  from solar technologies, photovoltaic technologies, wind energy, fuel cells
				  powered by renewable fuels, geothermal technologies, wave or tidal action,
				  small scale hydropower facilities with a capacity of three megawatts or less
				  and put into service after July 23, 2012, and/or methane gas from landfills or
				  a biomass facility, provided that the biomass is cultivated and harvested in a
				  sustainable manner. Types of Class I renewable energy that qualify for use in
				  meeting the requirements of this subchapter are set forth at
				  N.J.A.C.
				  14:8-2.5.
"Class II renewable energy" means electric energy produced by
				  a hydro power facility that has a maximum design capacity of greater than 3
				  megawatts but less than 30 megawatts from all generating units combined or by a
				  resource recovery facility, provided that such facility is located where retail
				  competition is permitted and provided further that the Commissioner of
				  Environmental Protection has determined that such facility meets the highest
				  environmental standards and minimizes any impacts to the environment and local
				  communities. Types of Class II renewable energy that qualify for use in meeting
				  the requirements of this subchapter are set forth at
				  N.J.A.C.
				  14:8-2.6.
"Competitive solar incentive-eligible facilities" or
				  "CSI-eligible facilities" means all grid supply solar facilities and net
				  metered solar facilities over five MW, as measured in direct current (MWdc),
				  connected to a distribution or transmission system operated by a New Jersey
				  electric distribution company.
"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;
4.
				Owned or operated by an electric public utility and approved by the
				Board;
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
				N.J.S.A.
				48:3-87.q, r, or s; or
6. Certified by the Board, in consultation
				with the Department of Environmental Protection, as being located on a
				brownfield, 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.
"Dual-use" means the practice of siting energy generation
				  facilities, structures, and equipment for the production of electric power from
				  solar photovoltaic panels located on unpreserved farmland in agricultural or
				  horticultural production that ensures the continued simultaneous use of the
				  land below and adjacent to the panels for agricultural or horticultural
				  production.
"EDC" means an electric public utility as defined in
				  N.J.A.C.
				  14:3-1.1.
"Farmland" means land actively devoted to agricultural or
				  horticultural use that is valued, assessed, and taxed pursuant to the "Farmland
				  Assessment Act of 1964,"N.J.S.A. 54:4-23.1 at
				  any time within the 10-year period prior to the effective date of the Solar
				  Act.
"Final remediation document" shall have the same meaning as
				  provided in
				  N.J.S.A.
				  58:10-23.11b.
"Fossil fuel" means natural gas, petroleum, coal, or any
				  form, of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel derived from such material.
"Grid supply facility" means a solar electric power
				  generating facility that is directly connected to the distribution system in
				  the state that sells the electricity it generates at wholesale rates through
				  PJM Interconnection or under wholesale bilateral contracts, but is not owned or
				  operated by an electric utility and approved by the Board pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  48:3-98.1.
"Historic fill" means non-indigenous material, no matter what
				  date this material was 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 waste or any other chemical production waste or waste from processing
				  of metal or mineral ores, residues, slags, or tailings.
"Land in agricultural use" means the land used for common
				  farmsite activities including, but not limited to: production, harvesting,
				  storage, grading, packaging, processing, and the wholesale and retail marketing
				  of crops, plants, animals, and other related commodities, and the use and
				  application of techniques and methods of soil preparation and management,
				  fertilization, weed, disease and pest control, disposal of farm waste,
				  irrigation, drainage and water management, and grazing. The built environment
				  is specifically excluded from land in agricultural use.
"Megawatt" means 1,000 kilowatts, measured in direct current
				  (dc).
"Megawatt-hour" or "MWh" means 1,000 kilowatt-hours.
"Net metering" means a system of metering and billing for
				  electricity in which the supplier/provider and/or the EDC:
1. Credits a customer-generator at the full
				retail rate for each kilowatt-hour produced by a class I renewable energy
				system installed on the customer-generator's side of the electric revenue
				meter, up to the total amount of electricity used by that customer during an
				annualized period determined under 14:8-5.3; and
2. Compensates the customer-generator at the
				end of the annualized period determined under 14:8-5.3 for any remaining
				credits, at a rate equal to the supplier/provider's avoided cost of wholesale
				power.
"Net metering aggregation" means a procedure for calculating
				  the combination of the annual energy usage for all facilities owned by a single
				  customer where each 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
				  in accordance with
				  N.J.S.A.
				  48:3-87.e(4).
"NJDEP" means the New Jersey Department of Environmental
				  Protection.
"On-site generation facility" means a Class I or Class II
				  renewable generation facility 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, or transportation or utility-owned
				  right-of-way.
"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.
"Renewable energy" means class I renewable energy or class II
				  renewable energy, as those terms are defined in this section.
"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, or a district under full State
				  intervention pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  18A:7A-34 et seq.
"Site investigation" shall have the same meaning as provided
				  in N.J.S.A. 54:10-23.11.b.
"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.
"Societal benefits charge" or "SBC" means a charge imposed by
				  an electric public utility, at a level determined by the Board, in accordance
				  with 48:3-60.
"Solar electric generation" means creation of electricity
				  using a system that employs solar radiation to produce energy that powers an
				  electric generator. Solar electric generation includes technologies that
				  utilize the photovoltaic effect. Solar electric generation is a type of class I
				  renewable energy.
"SREC Registration program" or "SRP" means an administrative
				  process developed by the Board that requires filing with the Board documents
				  detailing the size, location, interconnection plan, land use, and other project
				  information as required by the Board for all proposed solar electric generation
				  facilities seeking to create SRECs, including grid supply facilities seeking
				  approval, designation, or certification as "connected to the distribution
				  system."
"State entity" means a department, agency, or office of State
				  government, a State university or college, or an authority created by the
				  State.
"TPS/BGS provider" means an electric power supplier or a
				  basic generation service provider, as these terms are defined at
				  14:4-1.2.