SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 209
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: FEBRUARY 5, 2024
The Senate Environment and Energy Committee reports favorably
Senate Bill No. 209.
This bill would incentivize the retrofitting of existing warehouses
with solar-ready zones by providing a tax credit against the
corporation business tax to compensate a taxpayer who retrofits an
existing warehouse with a solar-ready zone. The tax credit would be
available once the taxpayer installs solar panels on the warehouse.
The bill defines “warehouse” as a building, room, structure, or facility
of at least 100,000 square feet used primarily for the storage of goods
intended for sale. The bill defines “solar-ready zone” as a section of a
roof or building overhang designated and reserved for the future
installation of a solar photovoltaic or solar thermal system, which is at
least 40 percent of the roof area calculated as the horizontally
projected areas minus the area covered by skylights, occupied roof
decks, vegetative roof areas, and mandatory access or set back areas
required by the State Uniform Construction Code, or as otherwise
provided in the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code,
Appendix CA, and any successor model code, concerning solar-ready
zones.
The amount of the tax credit provided by the bill may not exceed
the lesser of (1) fifty percent of the cost incurred to retrofit an existing
warehouse with a solar-ready zone, or (2) $250,000. A taxpayer may
claim the credit authorized under the bill for the cost of retrofitting an
existing warehouse with a solar-ready zone for up to eight existing
warehouses owned or operated by the same taxpayer in a single
privilege period.
The bill would require a taxpayer that retrofits an existing
warehouse with a solar-ready zone to demonstrate to the Director of
the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury (director)
that solar panels have been installed on the warehouse prior to
receiving the tax credit provided in the bill. The bill would also limit
the cumulative total of tax credits awarded pursuant to the bill to $25
million. The director would be required to certify taxpayers as eligible
to receive the tax credit provided in the bill. A taxpayer that retrofits
an existing warehouse with a solar-ready zone would be eligible to
receive the tax credit if: 2
(1) the warehouse meets the size criteria required pursuant to the
bill;
(2) the warehouse has been retrofitted with a solar-ready zone; and
(3) solar panels have been installed on the warehouse’s solar-
ready zone.
The director may require the submission of any information the
director deems necessary to award a tax credit pursuant to the bill.
Finally, the bill would require the director, in consultation with the
Department of Community Affairs, to adopt rules and regulations as
are necessary to implement the bill’s provisions.
This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2024-2025 session
pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes
required by technical review, which has been performed.