Bill Text: NJ A3321 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits utility from billing customer for costs incurred for certain upgrades to utility infrastructure; allows costs for certain upgrades to utility infrastructure be recovered in utility's rate base.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee [A3321 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A3321-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GREGORY P. MCGUCKIN
District 10 (Ocean)
Assemblyman JOHN CATALANO
District 10 (Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits utility from billing customer for costs incurred for certain upgrades to utility infrastructure; allows costs for certain upgrades to utility infrastructure be recovered in utility's rate base.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain upgrades to public utility infrastructure and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Board" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).
"Contractor" means an individual licensed in this State to construct, improve, alter, or repair a building, structure, or real property.
"Public utility" shall have the same meaning as provided in R.S.48:2-13.
"Qualified construction project" means construction performed on the real property of a customer of a public utility to mitigate damage to the customer's real property from a previous or future natural disaster
2. a. A customer of a public utility who has completed a qualified construction project shall, within 90 days of completion of the qualified construction project and in a manner determined by the board, provide to the board and to the customer's public utilities a certification from a contractor that the construction on the customer's real property was performed to mitigate damage to the customer's real property from a previous or future natural disaster.
b. (1) A public utility shall not bill a customer to recover the costs incurred to the public utility for necessary upgrades to its infrastructure as a result of a qualified construction project if the customer has complied with the provisions of subsection a. of this section, except that the public utility may bill the customer for the customer's pro rata share of any increase in the public utility's rate base or other recovery mechanism approved by the board.
(2) The costs incurred by a public utility for the necessary upgrades to its infrastructure, as determined by the board, as a result of a qualified construction project may be included in the public utility's rate base or otherwise be recovered from ratepayers.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill requires a public utility customer who has completed a qualified construction project to, within 90 days of completion of the construction, provide to the Board of Public Utilities (board) and to the customer's public utilities a certification from a licensed contractor that the construction on the customer's property was performed to mitigate damage to the customer's property from a previous or future natural disaster. "Qualified construction project" is defined as construction performed on the real property of a customer of a public utility to mitigate damage to the customer's real property from a previous or future natural disaster. A customer who fails to provide the certification to the board and the customer's public utilities within 90 days of the completion of the construction may be liable to the public utility for costs incurred by the public utility for necessary upgrades to its infrastructure as a result of the construction performed on the customer's property.
The bill provides that any costs incurred by a public utility for necessary upgrades to its infrastructure as a result of a qualified construction project receiving certification may be recovered in a base rate case. Under the bill, a public utility is not to bill a customer to recover the costs incurred to the public utility for necessary upgrades to its infrastructure as a result of a qualified construction project, except that the public utility may bill the customer for the customer's pro rata share of any increase in the public utility's rate base or other recovery mechanism approved by the board.
