Bill > A4881

Introduced Session

This bill, to be known as the "Powering Opportunity, Workforce, and Energy Reliability for New Jersey Act" or "Power NJ Act," would direct the Board of Public Utilities (BPU), in collaboration with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) to establish a program to procure advanced nuclear energy facilities in the State. The bill would direct the BPU to issue a request for expressions of interest within 180 days of the bill's enactment. Entities that are interested in participating in the program would then have 60 days to submit an expression of interest. The bill would establish certain minimum content requirements for an expression of interest, including that it contain a letter of intent filed with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and a proposed licensing pathway under the NRC. The BPU would then have 90 days to review an expression of interest and would be authorized to grant provisional qualification status to those projects that sufficiently meet the BPU's criteria, are reasonably likely to significantly contribute to meeting the State's energy reliability, resilience, and capacity needs, and provide a net benefit to ratepayers. The BPU would then negotiate and enter into a stipulation concerning the operation date of the facility, the construction cost of the facility, Reliability Capacity Certificate (RCC) value and payment schedule, and additional items enumerated in the bill. The RCC would be a certificate, issued by the BPU or its designee, representing the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of electric generation from an advanced nuclear energy project that participates in the program. The bill would direct the BPU to require electric public utilities to purchase a certain number of RCCs each year in order to provide revenue to advanced nuclear energy projects. Under the program, some or all revenues earned by an advanced nuclear energy facility from the sale of energy, capacity, or ancillary services would be returned to New Jersey ratepayers. After entering into a stipulation with a provisionally qualified project, the BPU would be authorized to issue a final board order approving the project. The bill would require the BPU to ensure that each approved project meets certain conditions, including that the entity proposing the project demonstrates financial integrity and sufficient access to capital. The bill would require the BPU to consider certain items when evaluating the reasonableness of a proposed RCC price and schedule. The bill would also require the BPU to review and approve any proposal for a participating advanced nuclear energy project to sell electricity to a co-located energy user or to any end user through a direct power purchase agreement. Finally, the bill would authorize the BPU to adopt rules and regulations that are effective immediately upon filing with the Office of Administrative Law, in order to implement the bill's provisions. These rule and regulations could remain effective for 18 months, after which the BPU would be required to readopt them in accordance with the procedures of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).

Committee Categories

David Bailey (D)*,  Wayne DeAngelo (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee (on 05/14/2026)

Official Document