The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has approved a $3 million competitive solicitation to encourage the development of renewable electric storage projects. Through New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program, applicants (private or public) may submit proposals for financial incentives that will be evaluated on the basis of economics, readiness, technology and resiliency. The BPU will hold a webinar for interested parties on November 5, 2014. The application deadline is December 8, 2014.

On a related note, New Jersey’s Energy Resilience Bank, which officially launched on October 20, 2014, offers financing for energy storage projects. The ERB is the first public infrastructure bank in the United States to focus on energy resilience. Utilizing $200 million through New Jersey’s second Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery allocation, the ERB will support the development of distributed energy resources at critical facilities that will enable such facilities to remain operational during power outages.