New Jersey community solar savings in 2026
New Jersey community solar savings will reach about 450,000 more households in 2026, after the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved 3,000 megawatts of new community solar capacity on March 5, the largest capacity allocation the program has ever approved. Community solar lets a household join a share of a solar project built somewhere else in New Jersey, with no roof, no panels and no upfront cost required, and get a credit on the electric bill for the power that share produces. Subscribers typically cut their bills by 15% to 25%. Registration stays open through December 31, 2029, or until all 3,000 megawatts is subscribed.
Who gets the deepest discount
At least 51% of the new capacity is reserved for low and moderate income subscribers, who get a bill credit of at least 25%, the top of the typical savings range. New Jersey already runs an older, smaller version of the program. It has delivered more than 70 million dollars in bill credits and 14 million dollars in net savings to more than 37,000 subscribers across 162 projects totaling 228 megawatts. The new 3,000 megawatts is about 13 times that existing capacity. Each project is capped at 5 megawatts, and billing is consolidated across all 4 investor owned electric utilities in New Jersey, so a subscriber gets 1 bill rather than 2.
New Jersey projects about 12 times as many community solar subscribers after the expansion as it has today. This chart draws only 2 rows because the ratio between them is the point.
Show the numbers
| Subscribers today | 37,000 |
| Subscribers projected after the expansion | 450,000 |
Why the state opened the program this wide
Governor Sherrill signed Executive Order No. 2 on her first day in office, January 20, 2026, ordering the Board of Public Utilities to open registration for the 3,000 megawatts within 45 days. The order implements a 2025 law, P.L.2025, c.135, which set the 3,000 megawatt figure in statute, a detail the order states directly and that most coverage of the announcement left out. The order responds to a regional electricity shortfall. PJM, the grid operator that runs the regional capacity market covering New Jersey, recorded a 4.5 gigawatt capacity shortfall in its December 2025 auction, and that auction and an earlier one in July 2025 each added more than 2 billion dollars in new capacity costs for New Jersey ratepayers. PJM expects peak electricity demand to grow about 20% by 2030 compared with 2024, driven mostly by data centers.
How the new capacity is split
The Board split the new capacity among 4 investor owned utilities and a separate landfill set aside. Public Service Electric and Gas gets 1,555 megawatts, Jersey Central Power and Light gets 787, Atlantic City Electric gets 324 and Rockland Electric gets 51, with another 300 megawatts reserved for projects built on landfills. The figures the Board itself gives total 3,017 megawatts, 17 more than the 3,000 megawatt headline number, a gap the press release does not explain.
The Board states these 5 figures in its own press release. Added together they total 3,017 megawatts, 17 more than the 3,000 megawatt headline figure. The gap is not explained in the source.
Show the numbers
| Public Service, Electric and Gas | 1,555 |
| Jersey Central, Power and Light | 787 |
| Atlantic City, Electric | 324 |
| Rockland, Electric | 51 |
| Landfill, projects | 300 |
What happens next
Solar and battery storage are the fastest and most cost-effective ways to build new electricity generation.
Christine Guhl Sadovy, President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. Source 1.
Any New Jersey electric customer can register for a share of the new 3,000 megawatts through December 31, 2029, or until it is fully subscribed.