Community Solar Energy Program (CSEP)

Program Update

The CSEP registration manager received more than 650 MW of project registrations during the initial registration period for energy year 2025. After the initial registration period, the PSE&G and ACE capacity blocks were oversubscribed. A tie breaker process was used, and projects were reviewed in order beginning with the highest offered bill credit discount until the allocated capacity was exceeded. As multiple projects in ACE would have met the capacity target with the same bill credit discount, these were reviewed in order of the date and time of submission. The threshold for acceptance was 41.07% in the PSE&G block and 35.07% in the ACE block. The CSEP online portal is closed to new registrations in the PSE&G and ACE territories.

The RECO and JCP&L capacity blocks have available capacity, and new registrations can now be submitted in the CSEP online portal under these two utility territories.

Board Staff anticipates additional capacity allocation for Energy Year 2026 in the fall following the triennial review of the ADI Program.

Staff also strongly encourages applicants to consider submitting projects into the CSI Program, which is now open until July 23 and allows applicants to submit their own price bid, or to the Remote Net Metering block, which still has capacity available. Conditional approvals for interconnection may be able to be converted from community solar to RNM or grid-supply without losing their queue position, though further study may be required. Projects may participate in the CSI Program with a PURPA interconnection – up to 20 MWAC in PSE&G and ACE and up to 5 MWAC in JCP&L.

The Community Solar Energy Program (CSEP) provides incentives to eligible community solar facilities to enable the continued efficient and orderly development of solar electric generating sources throughout New Jersey.

As defined at N.J.A.C. 14:8-11.7, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) set an annual capacity allocation based on an energy year basis. For Energy Year 2024, the CSEP opened with a capacity block of 225 MW which was divided among the four Electric Distribution Company (EDC) territories: Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) and Jersey Central Power & Light Company (JCP&L) Atlantic City Electric Company (ACE) and Rockland Electric Company (RECO) service territories. The CSEP opened the registration online portal to new registrations on November 15, 2023. The 225 MW (dc) has been fully subscribed.

Per Board Order April 23, 2025, In the Matter of the Community Solar Energy Program, the Board expanded the capacity under the Community Solar Energy Program to include an additional 250 MW (dc). This capacity will be allocated amongst the four Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) 30 MW for ACE, 72 MW for JCP&L, 144 MW for PSE&G and 4 MW for RECO’s respective service territories.

Solar facilities that have been conditionally awarded an incentive in the SuSI Program, including in the CSEP, or in the Transition Incentive Program are not eligible to submit a new registration in the CSEP until its initial conditional registration expiration date has passed.

CSEP Registration Online Portal

The Community Solar Energy Program (CSEP) Registration Portal opened to new registrations on April 30, 2025, at 12:01 am (EST). An initial registration period ran from April 30, 2025, to May 13, 2025, at 11:59 PM (EST), during which time registrations were submitted.

After the initial registration period, the PSE&G and ACE capacity blocks were oversubscribed. A tie breaker process was used, and projects were reviewed in order beginning with the highest offered bill credit discount until the allocated capacity was exceeded. As multiple projects in ACE would have met the capacity target with the same bill credit discount, these were reviewed in order of the date and time of submission. The threshold for acceptance was 41.07% in the PSE&G block and 35.07% in the ACE block. The CSEP online portal is closed to new registrations in the PSE&G and ACE territories.

The RECO and JCP&L capacity blocks have available capacity, and new registrations can now be submitted in the CSEP online portal under these two utility territories.

New registrations for each MW block will be reviewed and accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until the MW block for that market segment is fully subscribed. If a capacity block has received registrations to be fully subscribed during this period, as a tiebreaker, projects will be reviewed in the order of the guaranteed bill credit discount, starting with the highest discount. In the event that multiple projects would exceed a capacity target if accepted due to offering the same guaranteed bill credit discount, the project(s) submitted will be reviewed and accepted based on date and time of submission.

Registrants must submit an CSEP Initial Registration package with all required documents through the CSEP Registration Online Portal. The CSEP Initial Registration package must include all the documents listed on the CSEP Initial Registration Checklist(s) which can be found below and on the CSEP portal homepage.

The CSEP is open to eligible solar facilities installed on the following site types: (1) Rooftops (2) Carport and Canopies (3) Floating Solar (4) Contaminated Sites and Landfills defined at N.J.S.A. 58:10B-1 and N.J.A.C 14:8-1.2 and (5) Mining Sites, defined as a sand mine, gravel pit, or mine on land classified as “Extractive mining” in Level II of the modified Anderson classification system within the most recent Land Use/Land Cover GIS data layer produced by the NJDEP, exclusive of forested land.

CSEP Program Solar Installer Trainings:

Date of Training	Presentation	Webinar Recording	Q&A
Oct 27, 2023	Presentation	Recording	Frequently Asked Questions

CSEP Capacity Blocks by Electric Distribution Companies (EDC)

The CSEP will accept new registrations on a first-come, first-served basis until the megawatt block for that EDC market segment is fully subscribed or until June 1, 2026, whichever comes first. When the EDC megawatt block has been fully subscribed, the CSEP Manager will close the registration portal to new registrations for that particular EDC capacity block and no new registrations will be accepted under that capacity block. There will not be a waiting list for projects seeking to enter an EDC capacity block for a capacity block that is already fully subscribed. Capacity blocks will be set annually by the Board.

A capacity block is defined as being fully subscribed when the last registration received in the CSEP registration portal causes the total capacity of all registrations in that EDC block to exceed the capacity allocated for that capacity block. Registrations will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis and the capacity for each registration under the status of Accepted and Accepted Pending Verification will be counted toward the allocated capacity of the relevant EDC capacity block.

Projects accepted into the CSEP will be listed in the Installation Data and Pipeline Data spreadsheets in the Solar Activity Reports.

Energy Year 2026 CSEP Capacity Block (Effective June 1, 2025 - May 31, 2026)

EDC Territory	MW (dc) Capacity Blocks	Capacity Subscribed MW (dc)	Available Capacity MW (dc)
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)	73 MW	58.8 MW	10.2 MW
Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G)	147 MW	149 MW	CLOSED
Atlantic City Electric (ACE)	30 MW	32 MW	CLOSED
Rockland Orange (RECO)	7.8 MW	0 MW	7.8 MW

CSEP Capacity Block for Projects that Previously Participated in the TI Program (Year 1 and Year 2 Community Solar Pilot Program)

The solar capacity for any new CSEP registration for solar facilities that previously participated in the TI Program that were unable to complete by the established deadline can participate in the CSEP. The capacity for these solar facilities will not be counted toward the 275 MW (dc) set out in the above table. Community Solar projects that participated in the TI Program must commit to the guaranteed bill credit discount consistent with that indicated in their original Community Solar Pilot Program application to be exempt from the above capacity limits.

The table below reflects capacity for new registrations in CSEP that previously participated in the TI Program:

Capacity Subscribed MW (dc)*

37.995 MW

*Not subject to the EDC Capacity Caps in above table

Community Solar Incentive Levels

CSEP Registrations submitted in the CSEP online portal on or before April 29, 2025

Market Segment	System Size MW (dc)	SREC-II Incentive Value
Community Solar	Solar Facilities up to 5 MW	$90

CSEP Registrations submitted in the CSEP online portal on or after April 30, 2025

Market Segment	System Size MW (dc)	SREC-II Incentive Value
Community Solar	Solar Facilities up to 5 MW	$80

Community Solar Facilities are not eligible for a public adder
15 Year SREC-II Qualification Life

Escrow Requirements

The Board requires that the registrant post escrow with the Board in an amount of $40.00 per kilowatt of DC nameplate capacity of the solar facility. Public entities and community-based organizations, which must be entities registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, would be exempt from this requirement subject to Board Staff approval. The escrow amount will be reimbursed to the registrant in full upon receipt of permission to operate (“PTO”) and submission of a CSEP Post-Construction Certification (Final As-Built package, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 14:8-11.5(j). Projects seeking an exemption should email, communitysolar@njcleanenergy.com, with justification for an exemption with evidence of public entity or non-profit status. The escrow amount shall be forfeited to the State if the facility does not commence commercial operation before the conditional registration expires. For solar facilities awarded a conditional registration in Energy Year 2024, evidence of escrow is due one year after a project receives a notice of conditional registration. The Board is in the process of obtaining an escrow agent and will notify conditionally accepted projects how to post escrow in the coming months.

Board Orders

2025

Archive Directory

The following archive directory include all board orders prior to 2025:

Solar Program Board Orders Archive

For information about the Pilot Program, see here.

CSEP Key Eligibility Requirements

Any CSEP Registration with a solar facility sized over 5 MW (dc) will automatically be rejected.
CSEP is open to eligible solar facilities installed on the following site types: (1) Rooftops (2) Carport and Canopies (3) Floating Solar and (4) Contaminated Sites and Landfills defined at N.J.S.A. 58:10B-1 and N.J.A.C 14:8-1.2 and (5) Mining Sites, defined as a sand mine, gravel pit, or mine on land classified as “Extractive mining” in Level II of the modified Anderson classification system within the most recent Land Use/Land Cover GIS data layer produced by the NJDEP, exclusive of forested land.
Solar developers participating in the CSEP are required to post escrow with the Board in an amount of $40.00 per kilowatt of DC nameplate capacity of the solar facility. See Escrow Section above for detailed information.
Solar project owners or their developers must follow the interconnection process required by New Jersey law at N.J.A.C. 14:8-1 through 14:8-5.9 and facilitated by their Electric Distribution Company (EDC).
The solar equipment must be new. N.J.A.C. 14:8-11.4 (c) The equipment used in an CSEP-eligible facility must be new; that is, none of the equipment may have been used prior to the installation. (Racking, meter, inverter, modules).
Solar facilities must be connected to a distribution or transmission system owned or operated by a New Jersey public utility.
Solar facilities receiving incentives that are 1 MW (dc) or greater in size are subject to the Prevailing Wage Act N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25, et seq.
All community solar projects must reach permission to operate on or before the expiration date noted in the CSEP acceptance letter.
SREC-IIs will be available for qualifying CSEP projects for period of 15 years, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 14:8-11.
SREC-II value is set at $90/MWh for all projects.
Community solar projects are not eligible to receive a public entity adder.
Solar facilities on contaminated site or landfills are subject to New Jersey Solar Erosion and Sediment Control Act N.J.S.A. 4:24-39 et seq, its implementing rules at N.J.A.C. 2:90 and NJDEP’s Stormwater Management rules under N.J.A.C. 7.8.
CSEP does not permit dual-use solar facilities on farmland.

Community Solar Facilities are prohibited in the CSEP from "Commencing Construction," (defined as obtaining permission to operate or PTO) prior to receipt of acceptance into the CSEP program. Solar facilities that obtain PTO prior to the issuance of the CSEP acceptance letter will be required to petition the Board of eligibility in the CSEP program.

CSEP Initial Registration Requirements

*A CSEP Milestone Reporting Form is required to be submitted with the initial CSEP registration package and quarterly thereafter, up until the submission of the Final As-Built (Post Construction Certification) Package.

Identifying Major and Minor Deficiencies in your CSEP Registration Package:

As the CSEP Registration is reviewed, it will either be accepted or deemed incomplete. This document explains how the CSEPI Program Team identifies minor and major deficiencies within your CSEP Registration packet.

An initial registration period will run from April 30, 2025, to May 13, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST, during which all registrations may be submitted and will be considered tied with respect to time of submission. In the event that a capacity block has received registrations to be fully subscribed during this period, as a tiebreaker, projects will be reviewed in the order of the guaranteed bill credit discount, starting with the highest discount.

NOTE: Please be advised, if your CSEP Registration package is rejected and the EDC capacity block has been fully subscribed, you will no longer be eligible to submit a new CSEP registration in this capacity block. The CSEP online portal will be closed for new registrations under that EDC block, and you will be required to wait until the next capacity block is opened to submit a new registration.

CSEP Final As-Built (Post Construction Certification) Package

CSEP Final As-Built Checklist
CSEP Final As-Built Technical Worksheet
Post-Construction NJDEP Compliance Form - to be posted at a later date

NJCEP reserves the right to request a complete copy of production estimates, a full shade analysis, or any relevant documentation from the installer at any time.

PV Watts/System Advisor Model (SAM)

CSEP Requirements for Decreases and Increases to the Solar System

CSEP solar facilities are permitted to increase up to 20 percent or 25 kW whichever is smaller. If, after submittal of an initial CSEP Registration package, an increase of up to 20 percent or 25 kW (dc) in the solar electric generating facility's generating capacity is planned, the registrant is required to notify the NJBPU at oce@bpu.nj.gov and the CSEP Processing Team at NJREINFO@NJCleanEnergy.com. An CSEP solar facility cannot increase the system’s capacity that would expand the project beyond 5 MW (dc).

For CSEP solar facilities that previously participated in the Community Solar Pilot Program, the system size can increase up to 20 percent or 25 kW (dc) from the capacity conditionally approved in the associated Board Order. The solar facility cannot increase the system’s capacity that would expand the project beyond 5 MW (dc). The CSEP does permit decreases to the original system size that was submitted with the initial CSEP registration.

Automatic Enrollment

Local governments are now permitted to create and manage municipal community solar automatic enrollment projects. Interested municipalities may enroll subscribers who reside within the municipality for the projects without affirmative consent of the customer, provided that certain requirements are met. Regulations regarding municipal community solar automatic enrollment projects may be found at N.J.A.C. 14:8-9.6(l).

To register a new or existing community solar project as a municipal automatic enrollment project, a local government must pass an ordinance or resolution authorizing the specific project application or stating its intention to convert or manage the specific project as a municipal community solar automatic enrollment project. The ordinance or resolution must also identify the mechanism by which it intends to select new customers to be enrolled. The resolution or ordinance should be uploaded with the project’s registration in the CSEP registration portal and also emailed to the Board for approval at board.secretary@bpu.nj.gov and communitysolar@njcleanenergy.com.

Automatic enrollment projects shall be owned and operated by the local government or served by the local government as its subscriber organization for the duration of the project life. At least 80 percent of capacity shall be subscribed by or reserved for LMI subscribers.

The local government must mail written notice to all to all selected subscribers of their enrollment in the community solar project no less than 90 days before the subscribers receive their first bill credits, followed by a second notice no later than 30 days before the subscribers receive their first bill credits. A draft of the notice and envelope, as well as any subsequent revisions, shall be submitted to Board staff at communitysolar@njcleanenergy.com and the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel for comments, revisions, and approval at least 60 days prior to their intended use. Required elements of the notice are listed in the program rules.

Residents selected to be automatically enrolled in an approved community solar project shall be guaranteed bill credit discounts delivered by consolidated billing and shall have the opportunity at any time to opt out of the enrollment and to enroll in competing subscription opportunities.

Questions regarding automatic enrollment may be sent to: communitysolar@njcleanenergy.com.

Co-Location

“Co-location” means siting two or more SuSI-eligible solar facilities on the same property or on contiguous properties. N.J.A.C. 14:8- 11.2. Co-located community solar and/or remote net metered facilities may sum to a capacity of no more than 5 MW unless sited on: i. Rooftops of separate buildings on different properties; or ii. A landfill that is owned by a public entity and is not properly closed at the time of registration, in which case, the total capacity of all the co-located community solar and/or remote net metered facilities may sum to no more than 10 MW. N.J.A.C. 14:8- 11.4(f). A community solar facility may be co-located with a net metered facility. If the review of the Post Construction Certification (Final As-Built) packet or project inspection reveal that the registrant failed to disclose co-located solar facilities, the Board may take enforcement action, including but not limited to adjusting the incentive downward by multiplying the aggregated project size by the lowest incentive level among the projects’ qualifying market segments.

Extension Policy

CSEP solar facilities accepted in the CSEP may be eligible for one 6-month extension. The registrant may apply for an extension for any solar installation that cannot complete the installation and submit a complete Final As-Built (Post Construction Certification) package with permission to operate from the Electric Distribution Company in the CSEP online registration portal on or before the expiration date noted in the CSEP Acceptance Letter.

CSEP Extension Request Checklist

Extension Requests will be reviewed and considered on a case-by-case basis and should include supporting documentation of extenuating circumstances for the delay in completing the facility, evidence that the facility has made progress towards completion, and demonstrations of the likelihood of timely and successful completion of the solar facility. When deciding on the extension request, CSEP team will consider whether the registrant has submitted timely quarterly milestone reporting forms. If the extension is granted, the CSEP will provide a new registration expiration date six months from the expiration on the original conditional CSEP Acceptance Letter.

Any CSEP solar facility that would like to submit a request for a second extension must submit a petition to the NJBPU, for consideration. Instructions on how to file a petition can be found at How to File a Petition.

Additional Resources

NJDEP Guidance Document - Construction of Solar PV Arrays

Program Contacts

Correspondence and inquiries should be directed to:

New Jersey's Clean Energy Program
Successor Solar incentive (SuSI) Program
Administratively Determined Incentive (ADI) Program’s
Community Solar Energy Program (CSEP)
NJREINFO@NJCleanEnergy.com
Phone: 866-NJSMART (866-657-6278)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Program Updates

Solar Activity Reports

NJDEP Guidance Document

Solar Trade Ally Resources

Solar Energy

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