New Jersey's Clean Energy Program and what it pays toward commercial HVAC
New Jersey's Clean Energy Program (NJCEP) is the statewide framework, overseen by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, that funds energy-efficiency retrofits in commercial and multifamily buildings. Every utility incentive in the state traces back to it, and which pathway your building falls into decides whether you are looking at a fixed equipment rebate or a modeled six-figure number.
Administered by
NJ BPU
Board of Public Utilities
Direct Install
up to 80%
of total cost, tiered by demand
Delivered by
Your utility
six across the state
Figures on this page are quoted from the program administrators and are linked at the foot of the page. Incentive schedules change by program year, so we confirm current figures against your utility at survey rather than quoting from a table.
What NJCEP actually is
New Jersey's Clean Energy Program is the statewide framework, overseen by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, that funds energy-efficiency work. The utilities deliver it; the BPU sets it.
The Board of Public Utilities states that NJCEP offers financial incentives for commercial, industrial and governmental customers to retrofit and upgrade to new energy-efficient technologies. That word — retrofit — is the whole boundary of the program. It exists to fix buildings that already exist.
For a facility manager the practical translation is that there is no single application, no single number and no single office. There is a statewide framework, and then there is whichever utility bills your building, running its own version of it. Which is why the first question is always which utility is on your bill, not which program you want.
Direct Install is not the only pathway, and usually not yours
Direct Install is the turnkey small-business route, and the percentage it covers is tiered by how much energy you use — up to 80% at the smallest end, up to 70% in the 101–300 kW band. Larger commercial and multifamily projects run through the prescriptive, custom and engineered pathways instead.
This is the most common point of confusion we see. Direct Install is the program people have heard of, because it is heavily promoted and the headline percentage is high. It is aimed at smaller customers, and it works well for them.
Central plant is a different conversation. A boiler, chiller or large rooftop replacement in an apartment building, hotel or office property is generally sized through a custom or engineered pathway, where the incentive comes out of a facility-specific energy model rather than a fixed equipment schedule. That is slower to quote and frequently worth considerably more.
Neither route is better in the abstract. The one that applies is decided by your building and your utility account, and it is settled during the survey.
Gas and electric are two separate programs
Most New Jersey buildings are billed by two different companies, each running its own incentive program. A project touching both fuels produces two applications and two incentives.
Electric territory and gas territory do not share a map. A building can be on PSE&G for electricity and New Jersey Natural Gas or Elizabethtown Gas for fuel, and each side runs separately with its own schedule and its own paperwork.
On a boiler replacement the gas side is usually the larger of the two, and it is the one owners most often leave unclaimed — simply because nobody told them the two were separate. Both are our scope.
| Pathway | Typically suits | How the incentive is set |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Install | Smaller business customers | Turnkey; up to 80% of total cost, tiered by peak demand |
| Prescriptive | Standard equipment swaps | Fixed incentive per qualifying equipment type |
| Custom | Facility-specific projects | Modeled from the building's own energy saving |
| Engineered Solutions | Multifamily, schools, hospitals, universities, municipalities | Comprehensive audit and modeled saving |
| Retro-commissioning | Existing plant that is not performing | Based on tuning and optimization savings |
| Building decarbonization | Fuel-switching and electrification | Modeled emissions and energy reduction |
Financing alongside the incentive
Incentives reduce the project cost. Financing spreads whatever is left, and the terms differ by utility. For commercial and industrial customers on its Prescriptive and Custom programs, JCP&L's financing page states a maximum of up to $250,000 at up to 2.99% interest for up to five years, with financing covering 80% of the balance on projects above that. The lender behind that program, the National Energy Improvement Fund, states on its JCP&L commercial page that projects under $250,000 qualify for 0% financing with a $2,500 minimum, repaid on the JCP&L bill and installed by a NEIF-approved contractor. On the gas side, New Jersey Natural Gas, South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas all run On-Bill Repayment, so the remaining balance is carried on the utility bill rather than as a separate facility expense — South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas state 0% APR over five years.
One distinction is worth holding onto: JCP&L's residential program is a separate product that caps at $25,000, and its terms do not describe commercial work. The commercial terms are the ones above, and where the utility's page and the lender's page differ, both are quoted here with their sources so you can check which applies to your project size.
Between the incentive and financing at these rates, the question for most owners stops being whether the capital exists and becomes whether the building can afford to keep running the equipment it already has. Old plant does not fail loudly. It produces a higher bill every month, indefinitely.
Find your utility's program
Check the top of your electric and gas bills. Territory does not follow municipal lines, and your two utilities are usually different companies.
- PSE&GNorthern and central New Jersey, plus parts of the south
- JCP&LShore, northwest and parts of central New Jersey
- Atlantic City ElectricSouthern New Jersey and the southern shore
- New Jersey Natural GasMonmouth, Ocean, Morris and parts of Burlington
- South Jersey GasAtlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester and parts of Camden and Burlington
- Elizabethtown GasUnion, Warren, Hunterdon, Sussex and parts of Middlesex and Mercer
Common questions
What is New Jersey's Clean Energy Program?
NJCEP is New Jersey's statewide clean energy program, overseen by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. It provides financial incentives for commercial, industrial and governmental customers to retrofit and upgrade existing buildings to energy-efficient technologies.
Who actually pays the incentive?
Your utility. NJCEP sets the statewide framework and the programs are delivered by the individual utilities — PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, New Jersey Natural Gas, South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas — each running its own applications and schedules.
What is Direct Install?
Direct Install is the turnkey pathway aimed at smaller business customers, and it is tiered by how much energy the building uses. Under the current Board of Public Utilities program design it covers up to 80% of project cost for the smallest customers, and up to 70% for buildings in the 101–300 kW band.
What if our building is too large for Direct Install?
Larger buildings run through the prescriptive, custom and engineered pathways instead. These are sized from a facility-specific energy model rather than a fixed equipment schedule, which is how most central plant projects are funded.
Does multifamily qualify?
Yes. Multifamily buildings are served by the commercial and industrial programs rather than the residential ones — New Jersey Natural Gas lists multifamily buildings explicitly within its Engineered Solutions pathway.
Does new construction qualify?
No. These programs fund retrofitting and upgrading existing buildings. A new building is designed to current code and has no inefficient baseline to improve on.
Do we apply ourselves?
We file on your behalf. The energy model, the application and the utility coordination are our scope. What we need from you is twelve months of electric bills, twelve months of gas bills, the utility account details and access to walk the building.
Sources
- New Jersey Board of Public Utilities — Programs for BusinessesBoard order setting the current Direct Install tiers — up to 80% of project cost for the smallest customers and for qualifying zones and institutions, up to 70% in the 101–300 kW band. The order notes these core program descriptions are consistent across all utility filings.
- New Jersey's Clean Energy ProgramStatewide program administered under the NJ Board of Public Utilities.
- JCP&L — financing options for energy efficiency projectsCommercial and industrial financing on the Prescriptive and Custom programs: up to $250,000 at up to 2.99% interest for up to five years, covering 80% of the balance above that. The residential program is a separate product capped at $25,000.
- National Energy Improvement Fund — JCP&L commercial financingStates 0% commercial financing for JCP&L customers on projects under $250,000, with a $2,500 minimum, repaid on the JCP&L bill from January 1, 2025, for work performed by a NEIF-approved contractor.
- New Jersey Natural Gas SAVEGREEN — commercial rebates and incentivesPrescriptive and custom, Direct Install, Energy Management and Engineered Solutions pathways; Engineered Solutions covers multifamily buildings. On-Bill Repayment Program.
Rivet Energy is not a program administrator. We model eligibility, prepare and file the applications, and coordinate with your utility. Installation is carried out by licensed partner contractors.
Find out which pathway your building falls into
Typical incentives run 50–80% of total project cost, with most projects landing at up to 70%. The final number depends on your utility tier and the building's energy usage. Start with twelve months of electric and gas bills.