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More
than thirty-five states
have enacted Net Metering laws,
which allow owners of solar electric generating systems to connect their
systems to the existing
electric distribution network. Once
connected, a solar electric system will generate electricity in
proportion to the amount
of solar energy available during
daylight hours. The owner of a solar electric system pays only for the
"Net" amount
of electricity consumed during the
billing period. If more electricity is produced than is consumed for
that period, the net
production credit is carried forward
to the next month and applied to the next billing period. If excess is
produced for the
year, the electric utility usually
purchases the excess at its "avoided cost" of generation.
Net
Metering laws typically limit the size in KW of the solar systems
allowed to connect to the electric
grid. The most progressive solar states, like California, New Jersey and
recently New York,
have set a limit of 2000KW per
customer site. In order to achieve a large RPS goal for solar
electricity, it will likely take
more than the available roof space
on homes and businesses to reach the goal. Some states, including New
Jersey, are taking
steps to allow for the development
of larger solar systems to be developed, including centrally located
solar systems that
produce electricity for a
community's use. 
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| State: | New Jersey | | Incentive Type: | Net Metering | | Eligible
Renewable/Other Technologies: | Solar
Thermal Electric, Photovoltaics,
Landfill Gas, Wind, Biomass,
Geothermal Electric, Anaerobic Digestion, Tidal Energy, Wave Energy,
Fuel Cells using Renewable
Fuels | | Applicable Sectors: | Commercial, Industrial, Residential, Nonprofit, Schools, Local Government, State Government, Tribal
Government, Fed. Government, Agricultural, Institutional | | Applicable
Utilities: | Investor-owned utilities (electric distribution companies);
electric suppliers | | System Capacity Limit: | 2 MW AC | | Aggregate
Capacity Limit: | No limit specified (commission may limit to 2.5%
of peak demand) | | Net Excess Generation: | Generally credited to customer's next bill at retail rate; excess reconciled at
end of annual period at avoided-cost rate | | REC Ownership: | Customer owns RECs | | Meter Aggregation: | Not addressed | | Web Site: | http://www.njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/programs/net-meteri... |
Summary: Note: This summary reflects the rule revisions adopted by the New Jersey Board of
Public Utilities, effective January 4, 2010. The BPU has proposed
a further revision -- removing the 2 MW cap on eligible generators --
to
the state's net metering rules.
Separately, A.B. 3520, enacted in January 2010, likewise removes all
limitations on net metering
related to generator capacity. This
summary will be updated accordingly once rules necessary to implement
this change are
adopted.
New
Jersey's net-metering
rules apply to all residential,
commercial and industrial customers of the state's investor-owned
utilities (and certain competitive
municipal utilities and electric
cooperatives). Systems that generate electricity using solar, wind,
geothermal, wave, tidal,
landfill gas or sustainable biomass
resources, including fuel cells (all "Class I" technologies under the
state
RPS), are eligible. The maximum
individual system capacity is two megawatts (MW), but system size is
also limited to that
needed to meet annual on-site
electric demand. There is no firm aggregate limit on net metering,
although the BPU is permitted
to allow utilities to cease offering
net metering if statewide enrolled capacity exceeds 2.5% of peak
electric demand.
A single metering arrangement is
preferred. According to the net metering statute, customer-generators
have
several compensation options for net
excess generation (NEG), as listed below. It is important to note that
the latter two
options were added by S.B. 2936 in January 2008 and are not addressed by current administrative rules. Thus
it would appear that real-time crediting is not yet available. - Customer-generator
receives month-to-month credit for NEG at the full retail rate
and is compensated for remaining NEG
at the avoided-cost of wholesale power at the end of an annualized
period.
- Customer-generator
is compensated for all NEG on a real-time
basis according to the PJM power
pool real-time locational marginal pricing rate, adjusted for losses by
the respective zone
in the PJM.
- Customer
generator may enter into
a bilateral agreement with their
electric supplier or service provider for the sale and purchase of NEG.
Real-time crediting
is permitted, subject to the
applicable PJM rules.
In
addition to the real-time crediting options described above, S.B. 2936
also: (1) expanded the
list of eligible customers to
include industrial and large commercial customers; (2) extended net
metering to all systems
that generate electricity using
"Class I" renewable-energy resources; and (3) allowed utilities to
recover the costs
of "any new net meters, upgraded net
meters, system reinforcements or upgrades, and interconnection costs"
either
through their regulated rates or
from net-metered customers. As with real-time crediting, utility cost
recovery has not yet
been addressed in an administrative
rule making.
A
separate rule making proceeding completed in March 2009 allows
customer-generators
to select any month of the year to
begin their annualized period. This rule applies to all net metering
customers, regardless
of whether they began net metering
prior to March 2, 2009 when the rule took effect. The choice of an
annualized period is
generally permanent unless the
utility voluntarily accepts the customer's choice of a new annualized
period.
Customers
eligible for net metering retain
ownership of all renewable-energy credits (RECs) associated with the
electricity they generate.
Utilities are required to report net
metering enrollment reports to the BPU twice annually, one covering
January - June and
other covering July - December. The
reports must contain information detailing estimated customer generation
supplied to the
distribution grid, estimated grid
electricity supplied to net metered customers, the number of customer
that received payments
for annual NEG, and the total dollar
amount paid to net metering customers for annual NEG by month.
For
further information,
please contact the New Jersey Office
of Clean Energy or consult the program website for the appropriate
contact
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