52:27D-124.5 Findings, declarations.
427 words·~2 min read·
/nj/title-52/chapter-27d/52-27d-124-5·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. New Jersey has adopted a goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2035.
b. Simplifying and enhancing the ability of New Jersey residents to install and use solar energy systems and home batteries is an essential component of the State’s ability to attain this clean energy goal.
c. Residential energy bills in New Jersey are among the highest in the country, imposing significant financial burdens upon New Jersey residents and thereby exacerbating the State’s housing affordability crisis.
d. Installation and use of rooftop solar energy systems is one way to enable New Jersey residents to significantly reduce residential electricity bills and thereby make housing more affordable.
e. Vestiges of outdated, overly bureaucratic permitting requirements for installation of solar energy systems within New Jersey cause residents to significantly delay installation efforts and significantly increase costs incurred in installing residential solar energy storage systems across the State.
f. New Jersey has the fifth-slowest known solar permitting timelines of any state in the country.
g. The Solar Energy Industries Association has estimated that permitting and other bureaucratic barriers within New Jersey typically increase the cost of installing a residential solar energy system by $6,000 to $7,000.
h. The installation costs for a residential solar energy system in the United States are approximately double the installation costs in Europe, largely because Europe has virtually eliminated permitting and other bureaucratic barriers.
i. Approximately one in five residential solar energy installation projects are cancelled after submission of an application for a permit which, according to solar energy system installers, is largely a direct result of frustration experienced in attempting to maneuver through New Jersey’s permitting processes.
j. It has been reported that contractors who are in the business of installing residential solar energy systems and home batteries within New Jersey avoid entering into contracts to install systems within municipalities that impose especially burdensome permitting requirements and processes.
k. Hundreds of jurisdictions across the country, representing approximately 25 percent of the national market, have removed permitting barriers to the installation of residential solar energy systems and home energy battery storage by automating the permitting process.
l. Residential solar and home energy storage projects that receive automated permits pass inspections at similar rates to residential solar and home energy storage projects that receive traditional permits.
m. Automated permitting has the potential to reduce the costs of residential solar energy systems, reduce installation timelines, and reduce cancellations, all of which will enable more families to install solar on their roofs and batteries in their garages.
L.2025, c.174, s.1.