BPU on Community Solar: Needs to Move Forward and Do More

Today the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is holding a stakeholder meeting to solicit input in the development of its Community Solar Energy Pilot Program. In May 2018, Governor Murphy signed A3723/S2314, which mandates the creation of the Community Solar Energy Pilot Program. The meeting is being held at 10 a.m. at the Rutgers University College Avenue, Student Center, Multipurpose Room, 2nd floor, 126 College Ave., New Brunswick. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“Community solar is important for our environment and economy because it allows any ratepayer to subscribe to an off-site solar installation. This allows people who are unable to install solar panels on their own property benefit from solar energy. Towns or non-profits could qualify as well, helping whole areas go off the grid, saving money and reducing air pollution. For years, New Jersey has been blocking it from happening and now that it finally is, we need to do it right. This pilot project is a step forward but it’s tiny in comparison to what we need. We should be creating a full community solar program such as the ones in Massachusetts or Maryland, so we can advance solar power for everyone in New Jersey.

“These projects will help the many people who can’t put solar panels on their own property for different reasons. Some properties can’t utilize solar because of their location, physical limitations, or unstable roofs. Many people can’t take advantage of solar because they rent their homes as well. has a 30% carve-out for community solar for projects where 20% of the output serves low and moderate income communities and Massachusetts has roughly 23%. We ideally want at least 20% set aside for community solar in New Jersey and for the state to remove the size cap it has for these community projects to allow for larger projects that can extend to whole neighborhoods and even towns.

“Having more solar power saves ratepayers money and helps deal with climate change while growing our economy. Since the solar program went into effect about 10 years ago, solar has become 29 percent more efficient and gone down in price by 25 percent. There are five times as many jobs in the solar sector than there is in the coal industry. Improving solar energy in the state would make our environment cleaner, fight climate change, and increase green jobs. New Jersey can be a leader nationally in clean energy and clean energy jobs.

“We also believe that the 50 MW of community solar should be targeted to environmental justice and low-income communities. This is because they need it the most. People in the suburbs are putting their own solar panels on their homes. We need to use these funds to help urban communities by putting them on brownfields and rooftops. These are people who have been disproportionately affected by climate change and therefore should be targeted for this clean energy. Next year the solar market could collapse so BPU needs to move forward quickly before all the SRECs go out to other projects. Community solar is an important way to advance clean energy while helping environmental justice communities.”