N.J. Stat. § 48:7-31: Findings, declarations.

2. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Electric transmission facilities serving New Jersey customers face unprecedented demands from rising load growth, lengthy interconnection queues, and the continuous need to provide adequate, reliable, and efficient electric service to customers;

b. In Order No. 1920 and other related proceedings, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recognized that advanced transmission technologies are essential tools for modern grid planning that should be meaningfully considered in transmission planning processes;

c. Advanced transmission technologies, including grid-enhancing technologies and high-performance conductors, have in certain instances demonstrated significant consumer savings, reliability improvements, and capacity gains in deployments within the United States and internationally, often with benefit-to-cost ratios substantially exceeding those of traditional transmission alternatives;

d. Electric public utilities undertake transmission projects to address local transmission upgrades outside the regional transmission planning process reviewed and approved by PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) for regional reliability, operational performance, or economic purposes. These projects are commonly referred to as supplemental projects in PJM’s Attachment M-3 process and have historically received limited to no oversight from PJM and State regulatory authorities, even though costs for these supplemental projects are passed through to utility customers;

e. Often, the use of formula rates at FERC fails to effectively incentivize electric public utilities to adopt advanced transmission technologies. However, regulatory mechanisms that align utility financial interests with consumer savings could successfully incentivize such adoption;

f. For more than a century, state regulatory authorities have exercised authority over the construction of electric transmission facilities through certificates of public convenience and necessity. Moreover, FERC has acknowledged the consultative role of state regulatory authorities in PJM’s Attachment M-3 process; and

g. It is therefore in the public interest for New Jersey to establish a process for issuing certificates of public convenience and necessity for supplemental projects undertaken by electric public utilities in the State, which process shall require meaningful consideration of cost-effective advanced transmission technologies and provide for expedited review where such technologies are deployed in a cost-effective manner in order to meet applicable grid performance benchmarks.

L.2026, c.34, s.2.