NJBPU Awards a New Round of Community Energy Plan Grants
Clean Energy Program to Provide Grants to Nineteen Municipalities
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) today awarded grants to 19 municipalities as part of the Community Energy Plan Grant (CEPG) Program. Seventeen of the municipalities will receive the $10,000 award and two municipalities will receive the enhanced award of $25,000.
“Since its inception in 2019, the Clean Energy Plan Grant (CEPG) Program has issued grants to159 communities across New Jersey," said NJBPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy. “CEPG is a great investment to help municipalities identify clean energy projects to help lower energy costs and benefit residents, especially those in overburdened communities.”
The CEPG program empowers local communities to create community energy plans that align with the State’s Energy Master Plan, which is the roadmap to achieving the State’s clean energy and emissions reductions goals. Municipalities may earn up to $25,000 to create localized community energy plans to combat climate change, with a specific focus on equitable access, energy resilience, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. Municipalities that successfully create a community energy plan will be prepared to apply for various NJCEP incentives. Here is the list of communities that will be receiving awards:
Long Branch, Monmouth County
Newark, Essex County
Atlantic Highlands, Monmouth County
Bloomfield, Essex County
Byram, Sussex County
Chesterfield, Burlington County
East Amwell, Hunterdon County
Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County
Englewood Cliffs, Bergen County
Hackensack, Bergen County
Hillsborough, Somerset County
Jackson, Ocean County
Keyport, Monmouth County
Mahwah, Bergen County
Mullica, Atlantic
Neptune City, Monmouth County
North Haledon, Passaic County
Point Pleasant Beach, Ocean County
Wall, Monmouth County
"Sustainable Jersey is proud to serve as the technical assistance provider for the Community Energy Planning Grant program,” said Randall Solomon, Executive Director of Sustainable Jersey. “It's an honor to support municipal teams in planning actions that will reduce energy use and save money for the municipalities, while working toward making the goals outlined in the Energy Master Plan a reality."
A previous award winner, the Borough of Madison, NJ, upgraded two historic municipal buildings, both over 100 years old, with energy efficient HVAC equipment. Both buildings will be retrofitted with air-source heat pumps, one of which will replace an old gas-fired, steam heating system. The projects are examples of maintaining and preserving historic public buildings while improving efficiency and saving money for municipalities.
The Board created the CEPG Program in 2019, with year one of the CEPG program providing grants to three local governments and year two of the program redesigned to expand funding availability to overburdened municipalities.
Administered by NJBPU’s Office of Clean Energy Equity, the CEPG program allows overburdened municipalities to be eligible for larger grants; while all towns are eligible for $10,000, those deemed overburdened are eligible for $25,000. In partnership with NJBPU, Sustainable Jersey provides priority technical assistance to CEPG applicants, with a particular focus on overburdened municipalities, including preparation of applications and development of community energy plans.
Media Contact:
Alonza Robertson
(212) 920-1679
Alonza.Robertson@bpu.nj.gov (mailto:Alonza.Robertson@bpu.nj.gov)
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