The New Jersey state Senate on Monday voted 23-15 in favor of legislation that would require the state to meet 80 percent of its energy needs with renewable energy by 2050. The bill, which now goes to the state Assembly, is nearly identical to legislation the Senate approved in 2015. Last year’s iteration of the bill passed the Senate with a 25-14 vote, but never received a vote in Assembly. The Assembly picked up some Democratic membership in the last election and currently consists of 52 Democrats and 28 Republicans.
The state now requires utilities to garner about 20 percent of their energy output from certain renewables starting in 2020. The new bill would require the state to start with 11 percent of energy being generated from renewable sources in 2017 and then increase the percentage by 10 percent every five years until it reaches the 80 percent target.
