With its eye on clean energy alternatives, the utility will sell its 6,750-megawatt-generating portfolio to newly formed subsidiaries of private equity firm ArcLight Energy Partners Fund VII LP.

The announcement comes just a day after news that the company was awarded $75,000 under New Jersey's Clean Tech Send Grant Program to develop a battery-recycling technology for lithium-ion batteries.

Ten firms (we've got the list) will be able to use the cash to pay for efforts toward the proof of concept and prototyping stages, allowing them to capture investment dollars to take their product off the ground.

“We are on our way to putting New Jersey firmly back in our rightful place as a world leader of innovation,” the governor said July 9. “This modernization of our energy sector isn’t just going to be good for cleaner air and our longtime fight against climate change - which it will be - it’s going to be good for our economy.”