PITTSGROVE TWP. —Atlantic City Electric wants to build one of the largest battery storage systems on the East Coast right here in Pittsgrove — and the company says it won’t cost Salem County ratepayers a dime for at least five years.
The utility filed a proposal this week with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to construct a 500-megawatt battery energy storage facility on ACE-owned land in Pittsgrove Township. If approved, it would be the largest battery storage project on the entire PJM Interconnection grid, which spans 13 states and Washington, D.C.
The math is seemingly straightforward: once running, the batteries would store electricity during low-demand hours and discharge it for about four hours during the peak stretches of the hottest summer afternoons, enough to power roughly 400,000 homes when the grid needs it most.
ACE would build and operate the project with Invenergy, the largest privately held power infrastructure developer in North America. Invenergy has built 35 projects across the PJM region totaling more than 7,400 megawatts of battery storage, solar, wind and natural gas capacity, so the company isn’t new to a project of this scale.
Why Pittsgrove Twp. and, why now?
Salem County has hosted ACE infrastructure before, including the company’s existing battery system in Beach Haven, but nothing on this scale. ACE says the timing is driven by a widening gap between what the region needs and what the grid can supply. The most recent PJM capacity auction came in nearly 7 gigawatts short of what PJM says is needed to maintain reliability, and this summer’s heat waves forced PJM to take what the company called “extraordinary steps” just to keep up with demand.
That gap is already showing up on local bills. ACE says the typical residential customer’s monthly bill has climbed about $40 since 2024, with 86% of that increase tied to rising PJM energy supply costs — costs the utility says it doesn’t profit from, since ACE doesn’t generate its own electricity.
“This project is a direct response to the energy supply challenges facing our region, stated Andrew Hendry, ACE’s region president.
He continued, “For years, we’ve talked about the need for more energy resources as demand continues to grow and supply becomes increasingly constrained. Now we are stepping up to take action to address this challenge. Battery storage is a practical solution that can be deployed quickly to help manage rising energy costs for customers, strengthen reliability, and support the grid during periods of peak demand.”
What it means for your bill
Federal investment tax credits would cover the early years of the project, and ACE says that combined with revenue from selling stored power into PJM’s wholesale markets, those credits are expected to offset nearly 70% of the project’s total cost over time. The upshot for customers: no bill impact at all for at least the first five years after the facility goes online.
The project also fits into New Jersey’s broader Garden State Energy Storage Program, a state initiative aimed at building out battery capacity to support affordability and grid resilience. ACE describes its Pittsgrove proposal as additive to that effort rather than a replacement for it.
Timeline
Battery storage has one big advantage over other new power sources: speed. Giovannini noted that while a new nuclear plant can take a decade or more to come online, this project could be built in about three years. Pending BPU approval, ACE is targeting completion in late 2030.
The proposal still needs to clear regulatory review, which the BPU says will include the same level of scrutiny applied to any major utility infrastructure project, to confirm the facility actually delivers the promised value to customers before it’s approved.
I see four parcels of land owned by ACE in Pittsgrove. Three on East Lake Road.
How much land will this facility occupy?