As part of New Jersey’s ongoing efforts to minimize the potential impacts of future major power outages and increase energy resiliency, in July 2014 the State has established the New Jersey Energy Resilience Bank (“ERB” or the “Bank”), the first public infrastructure bank in the nation to focus on energy resilience. The ERB is a direct and innovative approach to address significant energy infrastructure vulnerabilities arising in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. 

Utilizing $200 million through New Jersey’s second Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) allocation, the ERB supports the development of distributed energy resources at critical facilities throughout the state that will enable them to remain operational during future outages.

The ERB is the result of collaboration between the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and the NJ Economic Development Authority (EDA). Both agencies have directed resources to effectively develop and administer this initiative.

ERB applicants must be eligible entities and must demonstrate that they were either directly or indirectly impacted by Superstorm Sandy or directly impacted by another qualifying disaster.  Priority, as established through the ERB scoring system, is placed on projects which serve low and moderate income communities.  Financing options available through the ERB consist of grants and loans to address unmet funding needs. 

Eligible technologies must be constructed to operate isolated from the electric utility grid (islanding), be able to start up without a direct connection to the electric grid (blackstart) when the grid is down due to extreme weather events, and have the capability to operate at critical load.

BPU and EDA approved the ERB Program Guide which outlines the parameters through which grants and loans will be provided to eligible critical facilities.

In order to view the Related BPU Board Orders, please click on the following links: http://nj.gov/bpu/pdf/boardorders/2014/20140723/7-23-14-9A.pdf

http://nj.gov/bpu/pdf/boardorders/2014/20141022/10-22-14-9A.pdf

http://nj.gov/bpu/pdf/boardorders/2015/20150617/6-17-15-9A.pdf

 Also to learn more about the ERB and the latest program guidelines, financial products and requirements, please go to http://www.njeda.com/erb/erb-(1)