Amid Rising Bills and Blackouts, Governor Sherrill Must Preserve Our First Line of Defense

By: Kartik Amarnath, Mid-Atlantic Regulatory Director, Vote Solar and
Keith Voos, Chair, Environmental & Climate Justice Committee, NJ – NAACP

Frustrations are mounting as utility bills skyrocket while the reliability of our energy grid is called into question. Over 100,000 New Jersey customers lost power during February’s second winter storm. Meanwhile, communities already grappling with increasing natural gas prices now likely face more energy cost surges due to escalating global conflict. An energy system that demands higher prices for less reliable service needs reimagination. Luckily, New Jersey may have an opening to do just that.

Several of the energy affordability initiatives Governor Sherrill announced on her first day in office could go far beyond temporary fixes to high utility bills— they could fundamentally transform New Jersey’s energy landscape for the better. 

Specific directives would alleviate expensive strains on the grid – largely caused by speculative energy-hungry data centers – in no small part by procuring new clean energy resources. Solar and batteries are the cheapest way to meet growing energy demand and can be built in weeks to months, versus waiting years to decades for new gas or nuclear power. This would help relieve New Jersey’s grid strain while cutting costs, as it has around the world.

Other directives place a long overdue magnifying glass on monopoly utility companies and their record profits. The state will bring in experts and advocates to scrutinize utility business practices that often bias expensive new construction to address grid needs over more efficient options. Utilities are also being held accountable to quickly integrate more solar and battery storage. A buildout of local clean and resilient energy would reduce dependence on natural gas and the wider regional grid, both of which caused bills to rise.

Governor Sherrill doubled down on these priorities in her inaugural budget address on March 10. Rather than optics and temporary fixes, these commitments would bring fewer outages and lasting savings by modernizing New Jersey’s energy system. 

While there is much to appreciate about these orders, there is also significant cause for concern. The Sherrill administration is exploring reductions to the state’s Clean Energy Program budget. The New Jersey Clean Energy Program (NJCEP) administers clean energy initiatives and is funded by a small utility bill surcharge that also funds other social and environmental programs. 

Immediate bill relief is essential during this affordability crisis, which makes reducing a utility bill surcharge alluring. But the NJCEP is also being held responsible for delivering Governor Sherrill’s best affordability solutions. The Governor has strangely put forth serious solutions to this crisis while possibly dismantling the very means to make them happen.

Critics argue that NJCEP funds often go unspent. But what is missing from this equation is the NJCEP budget often gets raided to fill other state budgetary gaps. While every NJCEPA dollar spent would yield many more dollars saved for all utility customers, it is hard to spend funds that are constantly stolen. The misappropriation of NJCEP funds also speaks to a more systemic problem.

The Clean Energy Program is managed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU). The BPU’s longstanding responsibility is to ensure utilities provide safe and reliable services at reasonable rates. But their mandate has quickly swelled to include overseeing the clean energy transition.

While the BPU’s mandate has never been greater, its staff size is smaller than it was over a quarter-century ago. Virginia has a smaller population than New Jersey with fewer major electric utilities, but their equivalent to the BPU has over three times the staff.

The BPU must modernize a massively complex and generations-old energy grid that serves the country’s most densely populated state without enough staff or a reliable budget. This explains why New Jersey spent years delaying scheduled clean energy initiatives that could have already blunted skyrocketing energy prices for everyone.

New Jersey has long underresourced its first line of defense against rising bills and blackouts. It is time we stop shoveling more responsibility onto the BPU while pulling the ground from under it. An overwhelmed BPU is incapable of reining in powerful utilities, responding to public input, and quickly delivering effective solutions to this crisis.

We must transform our antiquated grid – the largest machine ever built – to one that is affordable, clean, and reliable. This is no small feat. To meet the moment, we need an empowered BPU backed by a Clean Energy Program budget that is no longer the state’s slush fund.