NJ S3229

Investor-owned electric public utilities in New Jersey must submit annual emergency response plans to the Board of Public Utilities by May 15, covering management responsibilities, customer communication systems, medical-need customer records, crew deployment procedures, and equipment supplies.

The Board of Public Utilities will establish performance standards for emergency preparation and service restoration based on national best practices, with authority to investigate alleged failures upon its own initiative or petition from the Governor, county commissioners, or affected municipalities.

Utilities violating Board standards face penalties up to $10,000 per violation per day, with a maximum of $1,000,000 for related series of violations; failure to file an emergency response plan incurs fines of $1,000 per day until filed.

All fines collected will be deposited into a non-lapsing account to fund grants for municipalities affected by major outages, specifically for maintaining public rights of way near utility infrastructure, including tree trimming and hazard removal.

The act takes effect 12 months following enactment.