Bill Text: NJ S2973 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires electric public utilities to submit to BPU and implement integrated distribution plans.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-10-06 - Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S2973 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S2973-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires electric public utilities to submit to BPU and implement integrated distribution plans.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain plans for the distribution of electricity and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. No later than six months after the effective date of this section, the Board of Public Utilities shall adopt, by board order, criteria for integrated distribution plans, to be developed by electric public utilities pursuant to subsection b. of this section.
The criteria shall, at a minimum, require an integrated distribution plan to:
(1) identify necessary investments to enhance the safety, reliability, and security of the transmission and distribution system, including the replacement of aging infrastructure and the modernization of technology used in the transmission and distribution system;
(2) identify necessary interconnection process and methodology changes and investments to support the adoption of distributed electric power sources; and
(3) identify the value of distributed electric power sources and opportunities to realize net benefits for all customers through the use of distributed electric power sources.
b. No later than one year after the board publishes the criteria required by subsection a. of this section, an electric public utility shall develop and submit to the board an integrated distribution plan, which conforms to those criteria.
No later than 90 days after it receives an integrated distribution plan, the board shall either approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the plan. If the board approves or conditionally approves the integrated distribution plan, the electric public utility shall implement the plan, with any changes required by the board, if applicable. If the board disapproves the plan, it shall specify, in writing, to the electric public utility the reasons for the disapproval. The electric public utility shall submit a new plan pursuant to this subsection no later than 90 days after it receives notification of the board's disapproval of the plan.
c. As used in this section:
"Board" means the Board of Public Utilities.
"Electric public utility" means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, that transmits and distributes electricity to end users within the State.
"Integrated distribution plan" means a plan developed by an electric public utility to assess the necessary physical and operational changes to the transmission and distribution system in its service area to enable safe, reliable, and affordable service that satisfies customers' changing expectations and facilitates the use of distributed electric power sources.
"Transmission and distribution system" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require electric public utilities to submit integrated distribution plans to the Board of Public Utilities (BPU).
As defined by the bill, "integrated distribution plan" means a plan developed by an electric public utility to assess the necessary physical and operational changes to the transmission and distribution system in its service area to enable safe, reliable, and affordable service that satisfies customers' changing expectations and facilitates the use of distributed electric power sources. The bill would first require the BPU to develop criteria for the integrated distribution plans no later than six months after the bill's enactment. The bill would establish certain minimum requirements for the criteria, as enumerated in paragraph (1) of subsection a. of section 1 of the bill.
The bill would then require, one year after the BPU develops criteria for integrated distribution plans, all electric public utilities in the State to submit to the BPU an integrated distribution plan that conforms to the criteria. Finally, the bill would require each electric public utility to implement its integrated distribution plan, once it is approved by the BPU.
