Trenton – In an effort to strengthen energy reliability, the Senate today passed legislation sponsored by Senator Troy Singleton that would require an electric public utility to replace certain backyard distribution service equipment if there is a repeated history of service interruption.
The bill, S.3289, would require the Board of Public Utilities to adopt rules and regulations requiring an electric public utility to establish a timeline of no more than 36 months to replace backyard distribution service equipment if 250 incidents of a sustained service interruption occurred each year for the previous five-year period. This would apply to municipalities where at least 50% of the residences.
“Energy reliability and efficiency are the goals of this bill,” said Senator Singleton (D-Burlington). “Due to routine tropical storms, winter storms, and other weather occurrences in New Jersey, there are high risks of major power outages. Communities that utilize backyard power infrastructure are sometimes days behind their neighbors in getting their power restored due to the complicated configuration and special equipment is needed. By replacing backyard electric infrastructure in towns where there is a repeated history of service interruptions, we hope to mitigate the overall time it takes to restore power to these households.”
The bill was passed by the Senate by a vote of 38-0.