Permits dual-use solar energy projects to participate in community solar program.*
Summary
Assembly Bill 2524 amends New Jersey’s community solar law to make dual-use, or agrivoltaics, solar facilities eligible to participate in the state’s community solar energy program. Dual-use facilities are solar projects sited on unpreserved farmland that are designed to support both electricity generation and ongoing agricultural or horticultural production on the same land. Under the bill, these projects could be registered into the community solar market segment of the small solar facilities incentive program, notwithstanding any contrary law, rule, regulation, or order.
The bill does not create the community solar program itself; rather, it changes eligibility rules within the existing framework established under P.L.2018, c.17 and related solar incentive laws. Community solar allows utility customers to subscribe to a remotely located solar project within their utility service territory and receive bill credits for the electricity generated. By adding dual-use projects, the bill expands the pool of projects that can qualify for community solar benefits and potentially broadens the types of land uses that can support solar development in New Jersey.
Impact
The bill would amend C.48:3-87.11, the community solar pilot/permanent program statute, to expressly include dual-use or agrivoltaics solar facilities as eligible projects. It would also override any conflicting law, rule, regulation, or order that would otherwise exclude these facilities from community solar participation. In practical terms, the measure could increase the number of solar projects eligible for community solar subscriptions and associated bill credits, while also affecting the Board of Public Utilities’ project eligibility determinations and incentive administration under the small solar facilities incentive program.
Sentiment
The available bill text and context suggest generally favorable treatment of the measure, with the sponsor framing it as a way to give dual-use solar projects access to an additional incentive stream and to support solar development that remains compatible with agriculture. No committee transcript or vote record is provided, so there is no documented opposition or recorded floor debate in the supplied materials. The bill appears to be presented as a targeted eligibility expansion rather than a controversial overhaul of the program.
Contention
The main policy issue is whether agrivoltaics projects should be treated like other community solar projects that are currently limited to certain site types such as rooftops, carports, contaminated sites, landfills, water bodies, and mining sites. Supporters would likely emphasize expanded solar deployment, farm viability, and land-use efficiency, while potential concerns could include whether dual-use projects fit the community solar program’s site restrictions, how incentives should be allocated, and whether the Board of Public Utilities should retain discretion over eligible project types. The text also suggests possible administrative questions about registration, verification, and how these projects interact with existing SuSI incentives, but no specific opposition is documented in the provided record.