N.J. Admin. Code § 14:8-11.5

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 14:8-11.5 - Successor Solar Incentive Program registration process

(a) The SuSI Program registration process shall be developed by Board staff and the SuSI Program registration manager in compliance with Board rules and orders. All forms and instructions regarding the SuSI Program registration process shall be found on the Board's New Jersey Clean Energy Program website at www.njcleanenergy.com.

(b) For any facility seeking eligibility for the SuSI Program, the registrant shall submit a complete registration package to the Board, or its designee, in accordance with Board rules and orders and the instructions posted on the NJ Clean Energy Program website.

(c) The Board may require the registration package to be accompanied by a registration fee, the value of which shall be determined by the Board through a Board Order, and available on the Board's website.

(d) The registrant shall meet minimum facility maturity standards according to the ADI or CSI Program conditions and provide all required documentation as part of its initial registration package.

1. For the ADI Program, the registrant shall supply the following, and any other information the Board, or its designee, may deem necessary to confirm eligibility for the program:

i. A contract between the primary installer or the third-party owner, as applicable, and the customer of record;

ii. For facilities sized 100 kW or greater, a site plan certified by a licensed professional engineer, or for smaller facilities, a site map;

iii. A disclosure statement signed by the customer, the installer, and the third-party SREC-II owner, if applicable, available on the New Jersey Clean Energy Program website;

iv. For net metered facilities, a utility bill showing the site host's name, address, and electric tariff, if applicable;

v. For facilities sized 25 kW or greater, electrical and building permits or documentation that applications for electrical and building permits have been submitted to the relevant municipality;

vi. For net metered facilities sized 25 kW or greater, up to one MW, evidence of having submitted to the relevant EDC an Attachment A to an Interconnection Application and Agreement signed by the customer-generator and the installer;

vii. For net metered facilities sized one MW or greater, written authorization from the EDC providing conditional approval to construct and a Milestone Reporting Form;

viii. For public entities seeking eligibility for the ADI public entity adder, if such an adder is established by the Board pursuant to N.J.A.C. 14:8-11.6(g), a letter on official stationery of the public agency under signature of a bona fide officer, elected official, or employee of the public entity attesting to the status of the public entity.

2. For the CSI Program, the registrant shall supply the following and any other information the Board, or its designee, may deem necessary to confirm eligibility for the program:

i. A contract between the primary installer or the third-party owner, as applicable, and the bidder or customer of record, submitted within one year of the date of conditional registration;

ii. A site plan certified by a licensed professional engineer;

iii. For net metered facilities, a utility bill showing the site host's name, address, and electric tariff;

iv. (Reserved.)

v. For net metered facilities, written authorization from the EDC providing conditional approval to construct;

vi. A Milestone Reporting Form;

vii. Evidence of the project's accepted bid into the CSI Program; and

viii. For projects to be located on contaminated sites or landfills only, conditional certification of Tranche 3 eligibility from the Board, which the developer shall apply for using the form located on the Board's New Jersey Clean Energy Program website at www.njcleanenergy.com.

(e) Registration packages submitted to the ADI Program shall be reviewed by the SuSI Program registration manager on a first-come, first-served basis.

(f) Board staff or the SuSI Program registration manager shall notify registrants whether the facility is eligible to participate in the program, and whether the initial registration package is complete, incomplete, or deficient. Registrations that are deemed incomplete due to a minor deficiency, as set forth at (f)1 below, will be notified of the deficiency by the SuSI Program registration manager and granted seven business days to cure the deficiency. Registrations that are deemed ineligible, incomplete, have a major deficiency, as set forth at (f)2 below, or fail to correct minor deficiencies within the time allowed, will be rejected, and the registration will be cancelled. If the registration is cancelled, the registrant may submit a new completed registration to the ADI Program only if the relevant capacity block established pursuant to N.J.A.C. 14:8-11.7 remains open, or in a future capacity block.

1. Minor deficiencies include such items as an inconsistency between the signatures on different sections of the SuSI certification form; failure to complete one or more sections on the SuSI certification form; failure to label technologies or to indicate panels on the site map; a missing or incorrect premise address or missing installer information on the site map; submittal of an incorrect page of the utility bill; failure to enter complete equipment information in the online portal; an incomplete section or sections on the Milestone Reporting Form or disclosure form; or other similar clerical error.

2. Major deficiencies include such items as failure to upload the SuSI registration certification form to the SuSI portal or failure to include all signatures on that form; failure to upload the certified site plan, site map or utility bill, if relevant, to the SuSI portal; failure to upload the Milestone Reporting Form to the SuSI portal or to include all signatures; failure to upload the disclosure form to the SuSI portal or to include all signatures; for CSI projects, failure to provide evidence of an accepted bid; and for net metered projects one megawatts or larger, failure to upload a fully executed Part I of the Interconnection Approval from the relevant EDC with the application.

(g) Registrants that submit a completed registration package or that cured all minor deficiencies in the time allowed, and that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for a SuSI market segment pursuant to this section, will be issued a notice of conditional registration by Board staff or the SuSI Program registration manager. The notice of the conditional registration shall:

1. Indicate for which program and which market segment the facility is eligible;

2. State that, if the solar facility is constructed as described in the initial registration package, Board staff or the SuSI Program registration manager will issue a New Jersey State Certification Number for the facility upon receiving a complete post-construction certification package, and if no waiver is granted, an inspection will be required necessary in accordance with the provisions at (j) below;

3. Include an expiration date occurring on:

i. The one-year anniversary of the registrant's notice of conditional registration for residential net metered facilities and non-residential net metered facilities five megawatts or less that are eligible for receiving incentives under the ADI Program;

ii. The 18-month anniversary of a registrant's notice of conditional registration for community solar facilities; or

iii. The 36-month anniversary of a registrant's notice of conditional registration for projects granted conditional certification by the Board as part of the CSI Program; and

4. Include notice that the facility must receive permission to operate from the relevant EDC or regional transmission organization and submit a post-construction certification packet as set forth at (j) below prior to the expiration date indicated in the notice of the conditional registration;

5. After issuance of the notice of conditional certification by the Board, construction of the solar facility as described in the initial registration package may begin; and

6. For CSI-eligible facilities, include a reference to the applicable Board Order that confirms the facility's eligibility and the value of the incentive.

(h) All registered facilities one MW or greater will be required to submit quarterly milestone reporting forms, on a standard form to be developed by the SuSI Program registration manager in coordination with Board staff. Timely submission of milestone reporting forms will be considered in cases of extension requests pursuant to (i) below.

(i) SuSI-eligible facilities that received a SuSI Program notice of conditional registration may request one six-month extension to their registration expiration date. Extension requests must be submitted to the SuSI Program registration manager on or before the expiration date noted in the notice of conditional registration. Any extension request shall be reviewed by the SuSI Program registration manager, in consultation with Board staff, on a case-by-case basis, based on consideration of extenuating circumstances for the delay in completing the facility, evidence that the facility has made progress towards completion, and the likelihood of timely and successful completion of the solar facility. For facilities one MW or greater, the SuSI Program registration manager shall also consider whether the registrant has submitted timely quarterly milestone reporting forms. If the extension is granted, the SuSI Program registration manager shall provide a new conditional registration expiration date, six months from the expiration of the original conditional registration.

(j) Following commencement of commercial operations, and prior to the expiration date provided in the notice of conditional registration, the registrant shall submit a post-construction certification package, through the Board's New Jersey Clean Energy Program website at www.njcleanenergy.com. If the post-construction certification package demonstrates that all program requirements have been met, and the facility either passes an inspection or receives an inspection waiver, Board staff shall assign a New Jersey State Certification Number to the solar facility for use in obtaining SREC-IIs from PJM-EIS GATS.

1. For ADI-eligible facilities, the Certification Number will identify the facility's market segment, and associated incentive level, based on the completed facility size information certified in the post-construction certification package.

2. For landfills participating in the CSI Program, if proper closure has been identified as a condition of certification, documentation of proper closure of the sanitary landfill facility issued by the NJDEP shall be included in the post-construction certification package.

(k) If, after submittal of an initial registration package, an increase of up to 20 percent or 25 kWdc, whichever is smaller, in the solar electric generating facility's generating capacity is planned, the registrant shall notify Board staff following the instructions provided on the New Jersey Clean Energy Program website. Facilities shall not be permitted to increase their generating capacity by more than 20 percent or 25 kWdc, whichever is smaller. Notwithstanding a permissible increase pursuant to this subsection, no ADI-eligible facility will be permitted an increase in generating capacity that would expand the project beyond five MWdc.

(l) Solar electric generation facilities that have received a notice of conditional registration for SREC-IIs pursuant to (g) above shall retain eligibility to remain in the SuSI Program until the expiration or cancelation of the facility's SuSI registration. Any facility that does not commence commercial operation, within the time provided in its SuSI registration (that is, by the registration expiration date), or that commences commercial operation, but does not submit a post-construction certification package within the time provided in its SuSI registration (that is, by the registration expiration date), will no longer be eligible for the SuSI Program and its registration shall be canceled. A registrant may submit a new registration to the ADI Program if capacity remains in the relevant megawatt capacity block as established at N.J.A.C. 14:8-11.7. Board staff and the SuSI Program registration manager shall treat the new registration package as if it were a first-time submittal, with no reference to the previous registration process. In the case of resubmittal of an expired registration, registrants will be exempt from the requirement at N.J.A.C. 14:8-11.4(b) prohibiting construction on the facility prior to submission of the registration and receipt of a notice of conditional registration.

N.J. Admin. Code § 14:8-11.5

Amended by 55 N.J.R. 2555(a), effective 12/18/2023