Bill > S1791

Introduced Session

This bill, to be known as the "Emission Reduction Innovation Act," would authorize gas public utilities to develop and implement "utility innovation plans," which would aim to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with natural gas use in the State through the use of biogas, renewable natural gas, power-to-hydrogen, power-to-ammonia, carbon capture and utilization, the deployment of a hybrid energy, district energy, or energy efficiency project, and the use of other innovative technologies proposed by the utility. The bill would establish certain content requirements for utility innovation plans, as enumerated in subsections a. through c. of section 3 of the bill. The plans would be required to be submitted to the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) for approval. Each plan would be effective for five years, after which the utility would be authorized to submit an updated plan. The bill would require a gas public utility to show that the costs to implement an approved utility innovation plan are reasonable. If approved by the board, the utility could recover the costs of implementing the plan through the rates it charges to its ratepayers or using another methodology. The bill would authorize utilities to shift up to 25 percent of the total plan budget between individual projects or programs, after providing notice to the BPU and rate counsel. Shifts greater than 25 percent of the total plan budget would require BPU approval. The bill would require gas public utilities that are implementing approved utility innovation plans to submit an annual report to the BPU on the status of the plan. The bill would authorize the report to include certain items including the costs incurred under the plan and the lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction or avoidance accomplished under the plan; Section 4 of the bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in consultation with the BPU, to review the methodology by which a utility innovation plan calculates the lifecycle greenhouse gas reductions associated with the plan. The DEP would be required to ensure that the methodology is consistent with its own current methodology for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions, as well as that the plan is consistent with the State's greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals established by the "Global Warming Response Act," P.L.2007, c.112 (C.26:2C-37 et al.). The DEP would have 180 days to complete its review. Section 4 of the bill would also require that, when the BPU reviews the cost-benefit analytic framework of a proposed utility innovation plan, it does so in a manner consistent with the board's existing guidelines and processes for other utility investment programs.

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Linda Greenstein (D)*,  Troy Singleton (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document