Clean energy is vital for our future from both an economic development and environmental sustainability policy perspective. With this in mind, on January 27, 2020, Governor Murphy unveiled the state’s Energy Master Plan, which outlines key strategies to reach the Administration’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050. In May 2018, Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 28 directed the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, in partnership with other state agencies, to develop this statewide clean energy plan and shift away from energy production that contributes to climate change.

To fulfill Governor Murphy’s commitment to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2050 and the Global Warming Response Act (GWRA) mandate of reducing state greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 2006 levels, the Energy Master Plan comprehensively addresses New Jersey’s energy system, including electricity generation, transportation, and buildings, and their associated greenhouse gas emissions and related air pollutants. The Energy Master Plan defines 100 percent clean energy by 2050 as 100 percent carbon-neutral electricity generation and maximum electrification of the transportation and building sectors, which are the greatest carbon emission producing sectors in the state, to meet or exceed the GWRA mandates. The Energy Master Plan is the first of a series of monumental steps to ensure that New Jersey generates, uses, and manages its energy supply in a way that is consistent with economic, climate, and societal demands.

The Energy Master Plan outlines the following seven key strategies and includes an implementation plan that lays out next steps and timelines:

Strategy 1: Reducing Energy Consumption and Emissions from the Transportation Sector, including encouraging electric vehicle adoption, electrifying transportation systems, and leveraging technology to reduce emissions and miles traveled.

Strategy 2: Accelerating Deployment of Renewable Energy and Distributed Energy Resources by developing offshore wind, community solar, a successor solar incentive program, solar thermal, and energy storage. It also involves adopting new market structures to embrace clean energy development and contain costs, opening electric distribution companies’ circuits for distributed energy resources (DER), and developing low-cost loans or financing for DER.

Strategy 3: Maximizing Energy Efficiency and Conservation, and Reducing Peak Demand, including enacting 0.75 percent and 2 percent utility energy efficiency standards for natural gas and electricity, respectively, improving energy efficiency programs in New Jersey, adopting new clean energy and energy efficiency financing mechanisms, and strengthening building and energy codes and appliance standards.

Strategy 4: Reducing Energy Consumption and Emissions from the Building Sector, through decarbonization and electrification of new and existing buildings, including the expansion of statewide net zero carbon homes incentive programs, the development of EV-ready and Demand Response-ready building codes, and the establishment of a long-term building decarbonization roadmap.

Strategy 5: Decarbonizing and Modernizing New Jersey’s Energy System through planning and establishment of Integrated Distribution Plans, investing in grid technology to enable increased communication, sophisticated rate design, and reducing our reliance on natural gas.

Strategy 6: Supporting Community Energy Planning and Action in Underserved Communities through incentivizing local, clean power generation, prioritizing clean transportation options in these communities, and supporting municipalities in establishing community energy plans.

Strategy 7: Expand the Clean Energy Innovation Economy beyond New Jersey’s existing 52,000 clean energy jobs by investing in developing clean energy knowledge, services, and products that can be exported to other regions around the country and around the world, thereby driving investments and growing jobs. New Jersey will attract supply chain businesses to create dynamic new clean energy industry clusters and bring cutting-edge clean energy research and development the state.

 

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) serves as the lead EMP agency and was tasked with the development and oversight of the state’s EMP Committee. In June 2018, NJBPU President Joseph Fiordaliso named Grace Power, NJBPU Chief of Staff, as EMP Committee chair. To achieve the Governor’s ambitious energy goals, the EMP Committee is organized into the following five work groups, composed of state agency members:

  1. Clean and Renewable Energy
  2. Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure
  3. Reducing Energy Consumption
  4. Clean and Reliable Transportation
  5. Building a Modern Grid