New Jersey Governor signs new solar bills

Yesterday, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed into law a package of three renewable energy bills that received legislative approval earlier in March. Sponsored by Senator Bob Smith, the passage of the bills is a political coup for New Jersey Democrats and very welcome news for solar and wind energy professionals in the state, regardless of their political leanings. Here are some details of the bills (direct quotes taken from the press release on the package):

• S-1299/A2550: Permits wind and solar in industrial zones; this might seem redundant, but the bill is really intended “to supersede local zoning ordinances, which can sometimes be guided by a NIMBY (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) mentality, prohibiting development without regard to the public benefits of the project.”
• S-2265/A1558: “Requires a developer of new residential development of 25 or more dwelling units to offer to install a solar energy system…developers will be required to disclose in advertizing that a prospective owner may have a solar energy system installed in any unit; the total cost of installation; and a comprehensive information packet on solar energy systems.” Clearly, this is a huge boost for residential solar panel installations in New Jersey–not that it helps to make solar more affordable, but more accessible. Education is a beautiful thing. This may also have interesting side-effects such as leading towards more group purchasing of solar in the state, if enough owners in the same complex chose to pursue installations at the same time. In this circumstance, if the same installer is handling all the projects, the price per watt for the installation usually drops.
• S-1932: The last bill tackles clean energy on a larger scale, authorizing the Board of Public Utilities to “use revenue from the existing retail margin charge levied against large industrial or commercial energy consumers to fund grants for projects designed to lower energy usage and reduce energy cost by those consumers.” The grants are first-come, first-serve (with about $100 million currently available).

Dissident voices–namely, some Republican ones–argue that these bills trample on the rights of municipalities to zone as they see fit, granting or denying permits to renewable energy facilities according to their own lights, as well as putting unfair pressure on developers when not every property is ideal for solar. But the bills passed with healthy margins, and each permit and installation will of course still be treated on a case-by-case basis. Just because you can install a solar panel system or wind turbine doesn’t always mean you should, after all. The site needs to be suitable and the ROI reasonable.

All in all, a pretty exciting day for renewable energy and energy efficiency in New Jersey! The state has long been a champion of clean energy, a leader in the country of solar incentives for both residential and commercial solar installations. Although the rebate program ran out of funding rather too abruptly for some folks’ tastes, the state quickly put into place a new incentive program based entirely on REC trading and so far, the program is working out well. It doesn’t help with out of pocket expenses, a problem especially for residential projects, but it’s clear the state is committed to helping its residents own a piece of the clean energy future.