File This One Under “W” – For WTF!

NJ electric utilities are blocking solar installations

That’s why the utility is publicly reminding its customers to apply for permits before investing in solar projects that typically cost tens of thousands of dollars. Not all will be approved.

“Some of our circuits have reached capacity and can’t accommodate new solar projects, but we are working with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and are committed to exploring options to increase the number of customers we can connect to our system,” said Robert Revelle, vice president of Atlantic City Electric.

This summer, the utility estimated more than 1,400 of its 547,000 customers, most of them homeowners, were operating solar systems.

“It used to be, everybody could go solar and the interconnect permit was merely a formality,” said David Sugrue, general manager of Mercury Solar Systems’ office in Mays Landing.

How many have been denied permission to install is unclear, although Sugrue said nine of his customers have encountered that obstacle, mostly in rural Cumberland County.

Complete story runs in Atlantic City Press: Southern New Jersey homeowners are urged to get a permit if they plan to add solar panels