Power Up
New Jersey bill seeks new energy programs, including nuclear reactors
By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A bill geared toward laying the foundation for new energy programs is making its way through the state Legislature.
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Known as the "New Jersey Energy Security and Affordability Act," the legislation would establish advance nuclear reactors and energy storage and require optimization programs at the Board of Public Utilities.
..... The bill, sponsored by state Senators Bob Smith and John Burzichelli, was the focus of testimony during a meeting of the state Senate environment and Energy Committee on December 1. [2025] It will now have to appear before the State Senate Budge and Appropriations Committee.
..... Invited guests spoke for more than half an hour about the impact of nuclear energy on New Jersey.
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Christine Cuhl-Sadovy, president of the BPU, spoke about energy generation, though not on the bill specifically.
..... "There's an opportunity that exists now to build new nuclear generation and establishing a concrete path forward to do that is a responsible approach that we can take to address load growth with clean energy," she said, noting that there are federal loans for nuclear energy plants.
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She said that no matter what approach New Jersey takes, because of the vertically integrated utility model the state uses, residents will be the ones to pay for new energy generation.
..... There was significant opposition to the bill, though, with more than an hour of testimony about the costs for ratepayers. Advocates urged the committee to study the need for what the bill would accomplish instead of passing it during the lame-duck session.
..... "Raising rates for affordability is kind of like bombing for peace," Alex Ambrose, an analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective said.
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"This bill will charge ratepayers billions of dollars before a single watt of energy is even brought on too the gird," she said.
..... Ambrose said that in 2024, only seven nuclear reactors were built in the world, and the average construction time was about a decade.
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Brian Lipman, director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, estimated that it could cost up to $55 more per month for ratepayers. Lipman instead recommended that the focus should be AI data centers.
..... "We should be looking at the data centers and having them pay their fair share," he said.
..... The bill would ultimately establish three new programs in the BPU, to incentive the development of advanced nuclear reactors, to support the installation of 500 megawatts of battery storage capacity and to reduce peak demand on the electric grid.
..... It would also cerate requirements for approval of an advanced nuclear reactor project, such as that it will significantly contribute to meeting the state's energy reliability, resilience and capacity needs at a recessional cost to ratepayers.
..... approved projects would be able to receive financial support through an advanced nuclear development charge and advanced nuclear energy certificates.
..... The bill would also ensure that the BPU established a program to support development battery storage, about 500 megawatts by 2030.
..... The BPU would also have to establish a demand optimization program for electric public utilities to reduce system peak demand, increase resource adequacy, reduce or defer the need for costly distribution systems infrastructure upgrades and help maintain grid reliability through grid flexibility services provided by distributed energy resource aggregators.
..... Both of those facets would call on the BPU to establish minimum requirements for the program, but electric public utilities would be responsible for implementation and reporting plan with the BPU, as well as an annual report.
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The bill would also amend the "Costa Area Facility Review Act" to make sure that facilities can be approved if the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection finds that the proposed method for the storage of radioactive waste material to be produced or generated by the facility will be safe, will conform to standard established by the Nuclear Regulatory commission, and will effectively remove danger to life and the environment from waste material.