The state has embraced ambitious energy goals under the 2019 Energy Master Plan, and today the Senate Environment and Energy Committee approved Senator Kip Bateman’s bill codifying those targets.

“These are the goals we are aiming for, and these are the goals we will achieve,” said Bateman (R-16). “The numbers reflect a very aggressive approach, but technological advancements make them feasible, and with the support of New Jersey residents, we are already making strides in the right direction.”

As spelled out in the bill (S-3667), in the fiscal year following the rollout of appropriate charging infrastructure, at least half of the light duty passenger vehicles purchased by the Department of the Treasury are to be electric vehicles.

By 2025, the goals are: as least 330,000 light-duty electric vehicles registered in the state; New Jersey Transit shall operate at least one battery electric train; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) shall emit 35 percent less greenhouse gases than the authority did in 2006; a minimum of 50 percent of the light duty vehicles owned by PANYNJ shall be electric powered; and at least 35 percent of the electricity used in the state shall be produced by renewable sources.

“We are at the starting line of a complete transition of the way New Jersey is powered,” Bateman said. “This will be one of the most environmentally transformative eras since the industrial revolution, and this time we will be clearing the air.”

Also codified by the bill: by 2030, half the electricity used in New Jersey shall be from renewable sources, and offshore wind facilities in the state shall generate at least 3.5 gigawatts of power; those offshore facilities shall be producing 7.5 gigawatts by 2035, and the same year electric power utilities in the state shall possess energy storage systems capable of discharging to the grid two gigawatts of power for at least 24 hours; and beginning in 2023.