Credit: (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

A draft study on modernizing the grid suggests New Jersey needs to take significant steps to end long-recurring problems that prevent clean-energy projects from connecting to the regional power grid.

The analysis, prepared for the state Board of Public Utilities by Guidehouse Inc., primarily identifies ways for renewable energy projects to speed up interconnections to the grid, a process advocates say could slow down or halt New Jersey’s transition to clean energy.

The study advises New Jersey adopt actions taken by other states to speed up the interconnection process, an issue affecting much of the U.S as it tries to shift away from a reliance on fossil fuels in the midst of the worsening climate change crisis.

Some of the recommendations in the 86-page study mirror changes suggested in legislation approved by a Senate committee earlier this month addressing a major hang-up in moving projects forward — the dispute over who pays for these upgrades to the grid. Developers balk at those costs, saying it makes the projects no longer economically feasible.

In the bill, instead of having the developer pay all those costs, they would pay a fixed fee depending on the size of their project, and the rest would be allocated between the utility and ratepayers. The rationale for that approach, also recommended by the draft study, is both the private utilities and their customers would benefit from the upgrades that would maintain reliability and reduce the state’s reliance on dirtier fossil fuels to generate energy.

That provision, however, faces opposition from the Division of Rate Counsel, which argued it will increase the amount utility customers pay to subsidize clean-energy projects.

What the state should prioritize

In the draft study, the authors acknowledge some of their recommendations may not be ready for implementation, but it suggested three options that should be a priority for quick adoption. They include adopting new standards by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a step that could expand interconnection capability by leveraging advanced technologies.

In addition, the study recommended streamlining and automating the interconnection process, a system that would eliminate errors and missing key data by developers in their initial applications.

Also, the existing four electric utilities in New Jersey should provide more updated information on maps they have prepared showing hosting capacity for new projects in parts of their respective franchise territories. For example, large areas of Atlantic City Electric’s territory now show where circuits have closed and can accommodate no additional capacity.

For the most part, the study drew praise from assorted stakeholders who attended the virtual presentation of the recommendations.

“You have identified all of the right things,’’ said Fred DeSanti, executive director of the New Jersey Solar Energy Coalition, but he urged the board and consultant to look at ways developers can help open up more immediate circuits where new projects are no longer feasible.

Scott Elias, representing the Solar Energy Industries Association, agreed. Unless New Jersey makes major strides over the next few years, the state will find it difficult to achieve its clean-energy goals, he said.