New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 14 - PUBLIC UTILITIES
Chapter 8 - RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Subchapter 6 - QUALIFIED OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS
Section 14:8-6.1 - Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Additional definitions that apply to this subchapter can be found at N.J.A.C. 14:3-1.1 and 14:4-1.2.

"All project revenues" shall mean all revenues generated by a qualified offshore wind facility, during the 20-year term of the Board Order, resulting from the sale of energy, capacity, or any ancillary service in PJM, or any other revenue that is generated by a qualified offshore wind facility.

"Annual OREC allowance" means the Board-approved maximum number of ORECs for which a qualified OSW project can be paid during each year of its qualification life.

"Annual OREC allowance schedule" means the schedule included in each qualified OSW project's OREC Order, representing the scheduled amount of ORECs that the project may submit to the OREC payment agent for payment for each month of the year, with the monthly amounts totaling to equal the annual OREC allowance. A project may exceed its monthly allocation due to higher production or output, as long as it does not exceed the annual OREC allowance.

"Annual total projected load" means the State's total load in the energy year immediately proceeding the year during which suppliers must meet their OREC obligation and is used in calculating the OREC purchase percentage.

"Commercial operations date (COD)" means the date upon which a qualified OSW project, or a phase of a qualified OSW facility, which is interconnected to the transmission system in New Jersey, begins to generate power for which it is eligible to receive ORECs.

"Controlling interest" means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of the company, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract, proxy, or otherwise.

"Energy year (EY)" means the 12-month period from June 1st through May 31st and shall be numbered according to the calendar year in which it ends (for example, EY 2019 runs from June 1, 2018 through May 31, 2019).

"Generation attribute tracking system (GATS)" means the environmental and emissions attribute tracking system for electric generation that is administered by PJM Environmental Information Services (EIS).

"Key employee" means any individual employed by the applicant in a supervisory capacity or empowered to make discretionary decisions with respect to the project.

"Offshore wind administrative cost" means the reasonable costs incurred by the EDCs in serving as payment agent and for contracting the OREC administrator, which shall be recoverable by the EDCs.

"Offshore wind alternative compliance payment (OACP)" means a payment made on behalf of a supplier during annual true up due to insufficient OREC supply that shall be equal to the price of an OREC.

"Offshore wind energy" means electric energy produced by a qualified offshore wind project.

"Offshore wind facility qualification life" means, for any qualified offshore wind generation facility, or project phase of a qualified OSW facility, the period beginning on the commercial operation date (COD) when the facility or project phase of a qualified OSW facility, is authorized to operate under this subchapter and ending on the conclusion of the energy year that is 20 years after the date of authorization to operate. An offshore wind facility's qualification life applies to the facility itself, or project phase of a qualified OSW facility, and to each piece of equipment included in the facility, regardless of any interruption in the offshore wind facility's operation; or of any disassembly, relocation, sale, or transfer of any piece of equipment included in the facility.

"Offshore wind renewable energy certificate" or "OREC" means a certificate issued by the Board or its designee, representing the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of electric generation from a qualified offshore wind project.

"OREC administrator" means the independent entity jointly contracted by EDCs to oversee and verify all OREC transactions, the refund of all revenues to ratepayers, and annual compliance with the OSW Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) obligation.

"OREC payment agent" means the electric distribution company that shall facilitate the transfer of funds pursuant to this subchapter.

"OREC purchase percentage" means the percentage of load for which all suppliers must purchase and retire ORECs, or receive an OACP credit, per this program, as set forth in the OSW carve-out.

"OREC purchase price" means the amount that must be paid for an OREC through this program as established by the Board for each project for each energy year.

"OREC qualification life" means the eligibility period of an OREC. ORECs are eligible to be applied toward the OSW RPS carve-out during the energy year in which they are produced, and the following two energy years, pursuant to the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act, N.J.S.A. 48:3-87.1 et seq.

"OREC surcharge" means a non-bypassable surcharge on ratepayers, to be set annually by the Board, and collected by the EDCs to cover the OREC costs for all qualified offshore wind facilities in operation that year.

"OREC Transaction Management Agreement" means a uniform agreement entered into between each qualified OSW project and the OREC administrator. This OREC Transaction Management Agreement shall serve as the detailed management plan or "operating manual" describing how the OREC administrator will oversee and report out on all OREC transactions and shall require Board approval before going into effect.

"OWEDA" means the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act, N.J.S.A. 48:3-87.1 et seq.

"Qualified offshore wind project" means a wind turbine electric generation facility in the Atlantic Ocean and connected to the electrical transmission system in this State, and includes the associated transmission-related interconnection facilities and equipment, and approved by the Board pursuant to section 3 of P.L. 1999, c. 23 (48:3-51 ).

"Ratepayer surcharge" means "OREC surcharge" as defined in this section.

"Supplier" means basic generation service (BGS) suppliers and third-party suppliers.

"Term" means the period after the COD, during which ORECs may be generated, priced, and sold by a qualified OSW project.