Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator SAMUEL D. THOMPSON
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Senator PETER J. BARNES, III
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain new State buildings to include distributed energy resource.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the construction of certain State buildings and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Any new building having at least 15,000 square feet in total floor area that is to be constructed for the sole use of a State governmental entity after the effective date of this act shall include a distributed energy resource to be utilized when the normal source of electricity is disrupted due to a power outage. The Director of the Division of Property Management and Construction in the Department of the Treasury, in cooperation with the New Jersey Building Authority where appropriate, shall enforce the provisions of this act. All plans, specifications, and bid proposal documents for any building to which the provisions of this section apply shall identify the distributed energy resource to be constructed or utilized by the building. The requirements of this subsection shall be in addition to the requirements of P.L.2007, c.269 (C.52:32-5.3 et seq.).
b. The requirements of this section shall not apply to any building for which a request for proposal for entering into a contract to design the building has been issued prior to the effective date of this act.
c. As used in this section:
“Distributed energy resource” means one or more electric power generation, management, or storage technologies, excluding diesel fuel technologies, located at or near the point of energy consumption, which are capable of providing the standard energy needs of a building or structure, or group of buildings or structures, if the normal source of electricity is disrupted due to a power outage.
“State governmental entity” means the same as the term is defined in section 1 of P.L. 2007, c.269 (C.52:32-5.3).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require any new building having at least 15,000 square feet in total floor area that is to be constructed for the sole use of a State governmental entity to include a distributed energy resource.
In 2012, powerful winds and flood waters from Hurricane Sandy caused widespread and prolonged electrical power outages across the State. Consequently, wastewater treatment plants were unable to continue operations, hospitals and shelters were forced to evacuate, and town centers and other public buildings were rendered unusable due to a total lack of electricity. At the same time, however, buildings and facilities that had access to a reliable back-up energy source, such as a distributed energy resource, were able to continue operating even when the larger electrical grid failed.
A “distributed energy resource” is defined in the bill to mean one or more electric power generation, management, and storage technologies, excluding diesel fuel technologies, located at or near the point of energy consumption, which are capable of providing the standard energy needs of a building or structure if the normal source of electricity is disrupted due to a power outage. Distributed energy resources include microturbines, fuel cells, solar panels, wind turbines, gas-powered reciprocating engines, batteries, flywheels, and combined heat and power systems. In addition to providing back-up power, these technologies can mitigate congestion in transmission lines, reduce the impact of electricity price fluctuations, and provide stability to the energy grid. Many distributed energy resources also produce fewer emissions.
The Director of the Division of Property Management and Construction in the Department of the Treasury, and the New Jersey Building Authority, would be responsible for enforcing the provisions of this bill. Additionally, all plans, specifications, and bid proposal documents for applicable buildings would have to identify the distributed energy resource to be constructed or utilized by the proposed building. Finally, the requirements of the bill would not apply to any building for which a request for proposal for entering into a contract to design the building has been issued prior to the effective date of the bill, and are in addition to other statutory requirements that require State buildings to be designed and managed to meet standards for a high performance green building.