The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) on Wednesday voted to double the amount of the state’s solar power in the next five years.
The board unanimously approved the Successor Solar Incentive Program, which is set to begin on Aug. 28.
The program will double the amount of solar energy by 2026 to 3,750 megawatts. The solar energy is expected to generate around 10 percent of the state’s electricity needs.
“In establishing the SuSI Program, we are solidifying New Jersey as a magnet for green jobs and taking yet another step toward Governor Murphy’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050,” NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso said.
“This tremendous action has taken many perspectives into consideration and ensures the solar industry will remain a vibrant part of our clean energy innovation economy while prioritizing long-term affordability for ratepayers,” Fiordaliso added.
There are two subprograms in the Successor Solar Incentive Program to help the state reach its energy goal.
The Administratively Determined Incentive program is a fixed incentive program aimed at all residential customers, community solar installations and most commercial and industrial programs for net metered solar projects of five megawatts or less.
The Competitive Solar Incentive program is “a competitive solicitation designed to incentivize the lowest financial contribution from ratepayers for grid supply projects and net metered commercial and industrial projects larger than 5 MW.”
The project comes as the state already has the most solar installations per square mile in the country and produces the seventh most solar energy in the country.