New Jersey regulators proposed cuts to the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in the 2029 reporting period, more than a year after they first signaled they were considering the adjustments.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) on Wednesday kicked off a process that could result in it lowering the Class I obligations for utilities during the 2029 energy year to 45pc, from the current 47pc. The compliance period spans June 2028-May 2029.
The board will next publish a notice of proposal in the New Jersey Register, which will start a 60-day public comment period. In addition to modifying the 2029 RPS minimum, the proposal would officially codify previously approved changes to the 2026-28 targets. The BPU last year held the 2026 objective at 35pc of retail sales, rather than allowing it to rise to 38pc as scheduled, and earlier this year cut the 2027 and 2028 goals to 35pc and 40pc, respectively, from their original 41pc and 44pc mandates.
Renewable energy certificates (RECs) traded sharply higher on the news, after uncertainty about the extent of the BPU's proposed changes weighed on prices during Tuesday's session. Futures transactions for the 2029 RECs occurred as high as $29.15/MWh on Wednesday morning, $1.45 higher than Argus assessed the vintage Tuesday.
The BPU has previously sought feedback on larger adjustments to the RPS program, such as opening Class I eligibility to out-of-state solar projects, which would have much greater impacts on the supply and demand balance throughout the region. The ambiguity around the extent of the board's intentions had spooked some participants, driving credits lower. Thus, despite the BPU signaling it could adopt lower targets for the 2029 reporting period, market confidence rebounded upon learning the proposed changes would be relatively narrow.
The BPU first floated changes to the 2027-2031 RPS targets in May 2025, when it froze the 2026 requirements. At the time, the board directed its staff to investigate the requirements for those years, part of a larger push to diminish costs borne by ratepayers after a series of record-high capacity auctions in the PJM region, a 13-state grid territory that includes New Jersey. Staff in March floated amendments to the 2027-29 periods, with the BPU ultimately adopting the reduced 2027-28 targets in May. But the agency postponed a decision on the 2029 modifications at the time, wanting to further consider the matter.
The RPS peaks at 50pc in 2030.
Getting literal about 'solar farms'
The BPU on Wednesday also approved 16 projects that collectively represent 52MW of solar capacity for the state's "dual-use" pilot program, which is designed to support agrivoltaic projects in which active farmland coincides with solar generation.
The projects, which individually range from less than 1MW to 5.5MW in size, will ultimately generate credits for New Jersey's SREC-II credits program. While SREC-II credits do not count toward the RPS in-state photovoltaic carve-out, they do count toward the broader Class I requirements.
The board endorsed the pilot program's first solicitation last year, attempting to bolster the state's renewable energy fleet without ceding prime farmland in the process. The pilot will run for 36 months, with the board setting specific capacity targets for each program year for an overall allocation of 200MW.
The awards granted to the first batch of projects land between $106.91-$228.58/MWh.
