The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities last week ordered the state’s four investor-owned utilities to show within 30 days how they plan to support distributed energy resources (DERs) to help meet “unprecedented” load growth from data centers
The order follows a state of emergency declaration last month by New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, directing the board to protect consumers from data center-related electricity costs.
On February 3, the board sent out a request for information (Docket No. QO24030199) requiring, among other things, that utilities explain how they are easing interconnection delays, improving hosting capacity maps for distribution lines, and identifying circuits to upgrade for DERs.
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New Jersey, historically a net importer of electricity, has an opportunity to reduce energy costs by generating power in-state using DERs, such as solar and storage, according to the RFI. Hosting capacity constraints on circuits have deterred DER development in the state.
The response deadline is March 5, 2026. Comments can be filed here.
The action follows a move last year by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) to update grid modernization rules and speed up the interconnection of distributed energy resources.
The board at the time said that adding more distributed solar, storage, and other DERs would reduce peak energy forecasts for the state, allowing it to procure less capacity and put downward pressure on capacity prices for all ratepayers. It cited the PJM capacity market as the chief cause of rising rates in the state.
The updates came after years of review, in a state where electricity costs became a political issue in last year’s New Jersey gubernatorial race. The winner, now Gov. Sherrill, released an energy plan during the campaign to lower utility costs, including the development of additional renewable energy.
