New Jersey · Through P.L.2026, c.50, and J.R.1

N.J. Stat. § 48:9A-8: Definitions.

3.  As used in this act:
“AACE” means the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering.
“Advanced nuclear energy project” means a project to construct a nuclear electricity generation facility of at least one advanced nuclear reactor located in the State connected to the electric transmission system in this State.
“Advanced nuclear reactor” or “advanced reactor” means a nuclear reactor that:
(1)  has significant improvements compared to reactors operating on December 27, 2020, including improvements such as: (a) additional inherent safety features; (b) lower waste yields; (c) improved fuel and material performance; (d) increased tolerance to loss of fuel cooling; (e) enhanced reliability and improved resilience; (f) increased proliferation resistance; (g) increased thermal efficiency; (h) reduced consumption of cooling water and other environmental impacts; (i) the ability to integrate into electric applications and nonelectric applications; (j) modular sizes that allow for deployment that corresponds with the demand for electricity or process heat; and (k) operational flexibility to respond to changes in demand for electricity or process heat and to complement integration with intermittent renewable energy or energy storage; or
(2)  is of a design that has received design certification, design approval, or a combined license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after January 1, 2000.
“Aggregate output” means the trailing three-year average of aggregate megawatts of capacity, as defined in the PJM Open Access Transmission Tariff, or the average of all calendar years following the commercial operation date if fewer than three calendar years of post-commercial operation data are available, made available to the PJM Reliability Pricing Model capacity market, the Fixed Resource Requirement, or any other procurement program operated by PJM, as appropriate, by a qualified project and by any existing New Jersey nuclear reactors owned in whole or in part by the same entities as the qualified project or by their parent companies.
“Authority” means the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
“Baseline threshold” means the amount of nuclear energy agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (8) of subsection b. of section 5 of this act and the existing nuclear reactor baseline as established by the board pursuant to subsection f. of section 4 of this act.
“Basic generation service provider” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).
“Board” means the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
“Class II cost estimate” means a cost estimate prepared in accordance with the AACE International Recommended Practice No. 18R-97, Cost Estimate Classification System, or successor practice, classified as a Class II estimate, with an expected accuracy range of approximately negative 15 percent to positive 20 percent, suitable for use as a project control baseline.
“Class IV cost estimate” means a cost estimate prepared in accordance with the AACE International Recommended Practice No. 18R-97, Cost Estimate Classification System, or successor practice, classified as a Class IV estimate, with an expected accuracy range of approximately negative 30 percent to positive 50 percent, suitable for use in project screening and feasibility analysis.
“Co-located energy user” means an end-use customer that receives electricity from a qualified project through a physical configuration that does not rely, in whole or in part, on the transmission or distribution system of an electric public utility, including any configuration in which the customer’s load is served behind the qualified project’s point of interconnection or through a dedicated tie-line, regardless of whether the customer is separately metered.
“Direct power purchase agreement” means a bilateral contract between a qualified project and an end-use customer for the sale of electric energy, capacity, or associated attributes from the qualified project, under which the end-use customer receives delivery through the transmission or distribution system rather than through a co-location arrangement, and that results in the project’s generating capacity being made unavailable to the PJM Reliability Pricing Model capacity market, Fixed Resource Requirement, or any other procurement program operated by PJM, as appropriate.
“Effective load-carrying capability” or “ELCC” means the amount of additional electric load a resource can support while maintaining the same level of system reliability, calculated in accordance with the methodology used by PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. for accreditation of generation and storage resources in the PJM capacity market.
“Electric power supplier” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).
“Electric public utility” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).
“Environmental attributes” means any and all aspects, characteristics, claims, credits, offsets, allowances, and benefits, whether or not separately tradeable, associated with the generation of electricity from a qualified project that reduce, avoid, or displace emissions of greenhouse gases or criteria air pollutants, together with the zero-carbon nature of the generation.  “Environmental attributes” shall not include:  (1) federal, State, or local tax credits or production credits; (2) renewable energy certificates issued under the State’s renewable portfolio standard; or (3) zero-emission certificates issued under section 3 of P.L.2018, c.16 (C.48:3-87.5).
“Existing nuclear reactor baseline” means the aggregate amount of nuclear energy made available to the PJM Reliability Pricing Model capacity market, the Fixed Resource Requirement, or any other procurement program operated by PJM, as appropriate, by existing New Jersey nuclear reactors owned in whole or in part by the same entity or entities as the proposed project, or by their parent companies, reflected as the average annual  megawatts of capacity, as defined in the PJM Open Access Transmission Tariff, of the existing nuclear reactors made available to the PJM Reliability Pricing Model capacity market, the Fixed Resource Requirement, or any other procurement program operated by PJM, as appropriate, over the preceding three calendar years.
“Non-performance costs” means any costs, expenses, losses, or liabilities arising from:  (1) construction costs exceeding the verified total construction cost estimate; (2) failure to achieve commercial operation by the target commercial operation date set forth in the final board order issued pursuant to section 6 of this act; (3) failure to meet project development milestones established in the final board order; (4) delays, suspensions, or cancellations of the project for reasons other than a force majeure event as defined in the final board order or a change in law pursuant to section 6 of this act; and (5) any other costs incurred by a qualified project entity that are not expressly recoverable under the RCC price and payment schedule approved by the board.
“Nuclear energy” means electric energy generated by a nuclear reactor.
“Nuclear reactor” means an apparatus required to be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that is designed or used to sustain nuclear fission in a self-supporting chain reaction.
“Nuclear Regulatory Commission” or “NRC” means the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.” or “PJM,” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51), or any successor entity thereto.
“Qualified project” means an advanced nuclear energy project approved by both the board and the authority pursuant to sections 5 and 6 of this act.
“Qualified project entity” means the person or entity that develops, owns, or operates a qualified project and is bound by the terms of the final board order and authority resolution, together with any permitted successor or assignee.
“Rated output” means the maximum sustained electric generating capacity of a qualified project, measured in megawatts at the generator terminals, as specified in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission operating license or combined license issued for the qualified project.
“Reliable Capacity Certificate” or “RCC” means a certificate, issued by the board or its designee, representing the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of electric generation from a qualified project.
“Stipulation” means a written agreement entered into among the staff of the board, the chief executive officer of the authority, and a provisionally qualified project entity, setting forth the terms negotiated under section 5 of this act.
“Verified total construction cost estimate” means the Class II cost estimate of all projected construction costs submitted by a qualified project entity pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection b. of section 5 of this act and verified by the board and the authority, with the assistance of such independent consultants as the board or the authority may retain, as being necessary, justified, and as accurate and realistic as current information permits.
L.2026, c.42, s.3.

Where this section sits in the code

TITLE 48 PUBLIC UTILITIES

3. As used in this act:

“AACE” means the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering.

“Advanced nuclear energy project” means a project to construct a nuclear electricity generation facility of at least one advanced nuclear reactor located in the State connected to the electric transmission system in this State.

“Advanced nuclear reactor” or “advanced reactor” means a nuclear reactor that:

(1) has significant improvements compared to reactors operating on December 27, 2020, including improvements such as: (a) additional inherent safety features; (b) lower waste yields; (c) improved fuel and material performance; (d) increased tolerance to loss of fuel cooling; (e) enhanced reliability and improved resilience; (f) increased proliferation resistance; (g) increased thermal efficiency; (h) reduced consumption of cooling water and other environmental impacts; (i) the ability to integrate into electric applications and nonelectric applications; (j) modular sizes that allow for deployment that corresponds with the demand for electricity or process heat; and (k) operational flexibility to respond to changes in demand for electricity or process heat and to complement integration with intermittent renewable energy or energy storage; or

(2) is of a design that has received design certification, design approval, or a combined license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after January 1, 2000.

“Aggregate output” means the trailing three-year average of aggregate megawatts of capacity, as defined in the PJM Open Access Transmission Tariff, or the average of all calendar years following the commercial operation date if fewer than three calendar years of post-commercial operation data are available, made available to the PJM Reliability Pricing Model capacity market, the Fixed Resource Requirement, or any other procurement program operated by PJM, as appropriate, by a qualified project and by any existing New Jersey nuclear reactors owned in whole or in part by the same entities as the qualified project or by their parent companies.

“Authority” means the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

“Baseline threshold” means the amount of nuclear energy agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (8) of subsection b. of section 5 of this act and the existing nuclear reactor baseline as established by the board pursuant to subsection f. of section 4 of this act.

“Basic generation service provider” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).

“Board” means the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

“Class II cost estimate” means a cost estimate prepared in accordance with the AACE International Recommended Practice No. 18R-97, Cost Estimate Classification System, or successor practice, classified as a Class II estimate, with an expected accuracy range of approximately negative 15 percent to positive 20 percent, suitable for use as a project control baseline.

“Class IV cost estimate” means a cost estimate prepared in accordance with the AACE International Recommended Practice No. 18R-97, Cost Estimate Classification System, or successor practice, classified as a Class IV estimate, with an expected accuracy range of approximately negative 30 percent to positive 50 percent, suitable for use in project screening and feasibility analysis.

“Co-located energy user” means an end-use customer that receives electricity from a qualified project through a physical configuration that does not rely, in whole or in part, on the transmission or distribution system of an electric public utility, including any configuration in which the customer’s load is served behind the qualified project’s point of interconnection or through a dedicated tie-line, regardless of whether the customer is separately metered.

“Direct power purchase agreement” means a bilateral contract between a qualified project and an end-use customer for the sale of electric energy, capacity, or associated attributes from the qualified project, under which the end-use customer receives delivery through the transmission or distribution system rather than through a co-location arrangement, and that results in the project’s generating capacity being made unavailable to the PJM Reliability Pricing Model capacity market, Fixed Resource Requirement, or any other procurement program operated by PJM, as appropriate.

“Effective load-carrying capability” or “ELCC” means the amount of additional electric load a resource can support while maintaining the same level of system reliability, calculated in accordance with the methodology used by PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. for accreditation of generation and storage resources in the PJM capacity market.

“Electric power supplier” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).

“Electric public utility” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).

“Environmental attributes” means any and all aspects, characteristics, claims, credits, offsets, allowances, and benefits, whether or not separately tradeable, associated with the generation of electricity from a qualified project that reduce, avoid, or displace emissions of greenhouse gases or criteria air pollutants, together with the zero-carbon nature of the generation. “Environmental attributes” shall not include: (1) federal, State, or local tax credits or production credits; (2) renewable energy certificates issued under the State’s renewable portfolio standard; or (3) zero-emission certificates issued under section 3 of P.L.2018, c.16 (C.48:3-87.5).

“Existing nuclear reactor baseline” means the aggregate amount of nuclear energy made available to the PJM Reliability Pricing Model capacity market, the Fixed Resource Requirement, or any other procurement program operated by PJM, as appropriate, by existing New Jersey nuclear reactors owned in whole or in part by the same entity or entities as the proposed project, or by their parent companies, reflected as the average annual megawatts of capacity, as defined in the PJM Open Access Transmission Tariff, of the existing nuclear reactors made available to the PJM Reliability Pricing Model capacity market, the Fixed Resource Requirement, or any other procurement program operated by PJM, as appropriate, over the preceding three calendar years.

“Non-performance costs” means any costs, expenses, losses, or liabilities arising from: (1) construction costs exceeding the verified total construction cost estimate; (2) failure to achieve commercial operation by the target commercial operation date set forth in the final board order issued pursuant to section 6 of this act; (3) failure to meet project development milestones established in the final board order; (4) delays, suspensions, or cancellations of the project for reasons other than a force majeure event as defined in the final board order or a change in law pursuant to section 6 of this act; and (5) any other costs incurred by a qualified project entity that are not expressly recoverable under the RCC price and payment schedule approved by the board.

“Nuclear energy” means electric energy generated by a nuclear reactor.

“Nuclear reactor” means an apparatus required to be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that is designed or used to sustain nuclear fission in a self-supporting chain reaction.

“Nuclear Regulatory Commission” or “NRC” means the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.” or “PJM,” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51), or any successor entity thereto.

“Qualified project” means an advanced nuclear energy project approved by both the board and the authority pursuant to sections 5 and 6 of this act.

“Qualified project entity” means the person or entity that develops, owns, or operates a qualified project and is bound by the terms of the final board order and authority resolution, together with any permitted successor or assignee.

“Rated output” means the maximum sustained electric generating capacity of a qualified project, measured in megawatts at the generator terminals, as specified in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission operating license or combined license issued for the qualified project.

“Reliable Capacity Certificate” or “RCC” means a certificate, issued by the board or its designee, representing the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of electric generation from a qualified project.

“Stipulation” means a written agreement entered into among the staff of the board, the chief executive officer of the authority, and a provisionally qualified project entity, setting forth the terms negotiated under section 5 of this act.

“Verified total construction cost estimate” means the Class II cost estimate of all projected construction costs submitted by a qualified project entity pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection b. of section 5 of this act and verified by the board and the authority, with the assistance of such independent consultants as the board or the authority may retain, as being necessary, justified, and as accurate and realistic as current information permits.

L.2026, c.42, s.3.

Collected 2026-10-18T02:17:40Z. Source file · JSON

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