Rising electricity prices put New Jersey governor’s race in play
By Kevin Mooney |September 18th, 2025|6 Comments
Phony promises, failed policies expose cynical blame game against grid operator.
New Jersey Democrats have been tripping over themselves while attempting to deflect blame for rising energy prices away from the expensive regulations they implemented.
The clown act reached its peak when Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the party’s candidate for governor this November, pledged to put a freeze on utility bills during her first year in office. Beginning in June, Jersey residents experienced a 20 percent increase in electricity prices that can be pinned on the kind of policies she has supported in Congress. She’s panicking and pivoting. But Gov. Phil Murphy, the two-term Democrat Sherrill hopes to succeed, didn’t get the memo about her campaign strategy. While talking to reporters, Murphy said he was “not sure“ Sherrill’s plan would work. The governor even went a step further and expressed doubt Sherrill had spent any serious time going into the details about what’s driving high energy prices. Is Murphy on the payroll for the opposing side?
Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican challenger, consistently links Sherrill and Murphy with a “failed radical energy agenda“ in his campaign statements and quite rightly views Sherrill’s proposed freeze as a political stunt designed to placate angry ratepayers. By contrast, Ciattarelli plans to ban offshore wind and “diversify“ the state’s energy sources by including nuclear and coal. Ciattarelli is also committed to withdrawing New Jersey from a multistate carbon tax plan known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Put simply, the Republican candidate would reverse the green mandates Sherrill and Murphy have both supported to the detriment of affordable energy.
Murphy has adopted a plan to make New Jersey fully dependent on so-called green energy by 2035. Sherrill could have put some daylight between herself and Murphy’s “Green New Deal” schemes when Congress voted earlier this year to overturn the EPA’s approval of California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule. That would have been a good time for Sherrill to side with consumers since the rule would ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles. But, Sherrill did not side with consumers, as she voted against H.J. Res. 88 and in favor of the California/New Jersey standards.
Affordability and Climate Policies
Affordability remains the top concern for New Jersey voters heading into this year’s gubernatorial race, according to new polling from Steve Cortes, founder of the League of American Workers.
Per Cortes’ poll: 72 percent of voters call view affordability as a major challenge with 63 percent citing property taxes as the main culprit and 57% pointing to energy prices.
New Jersey already has one of the highest property taxes in the country with the average bill now exceeding $10,000 a year. That much widely known and is already baked into the cake. So, it’s really the huge jump in electricity bills more than anything else that comes at a particularly inauspicious moment for Democrats trying to hold the governor’s mansion.
Although New Jersey is a traditionally blue state where Democrats hold a significant registration and fundraising advantage, the latest poll from Cortes shows Ciattarelli, a businessman and former assemblyman, is within striking distance. At the moment, the race appears to be tied.
Democrats hold a voter registration advantage of about 896,350 over Republicans, but the New Jersey Division of Elections shows Republicans gained more new voters in recent years. The total number of voters in 2024 increased by 244,598 in the state including 37,519 new Democrats, 95,784 new Republicans and 112,115 new unaffiliated voters. The total number of unaffiliated voters is roughly even with the number of Democrats, according to state figures.
New Jersey has elected Republican governors in recent election cycles including Chris Christie. But the state has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Ciattarelli, who nearly unseated Murphy in the last gubernatorial election continues to pound away at the incumbent’s record on energy.
“When Phil Murphy took office, New Jersey was an electricity exporter, told FOX Business’ “The Bottom Line” in an interview. “When you go to the exchanges to import your electricity, you’re competing with other states. This is what’s driving the price up.”
Ciattarelli is particularly critical of Murphy’s decision to shut down the state’s nuclear and coal plants without making any plans to replace those assets. The rising costs associated with Murphy’s “Master Energy Plan“ are complicating the political terrain for Sherrill. The Garden State Initiative (GSI), a nonprofit outfit that promotes economic opportunities in New Jersey, has just released a study highlighting the financial fallout from Murphy’s plan.
“The New Jersey Energy Master Plan’s (NJEMP) focus on wind and solar will cost $5 billion per year and lead to 35% rate increases and higher cost of goods and services – rate increases that were both foreseeable and preventable,” GSI President Audrey Lane said in a statement.
“Our data clearly shows that the issue of rising costs was either not contemplated or, more likely, purposefully ignored when drafting the 2019 NJEMP. The attempt to shift blame for the impact on ratepayers is unfortunate. However, the blame-game is futile. It is my hope this research will provide the critical data needed for analysis in the drafting of new energy policy that will provide more affordable, reliable and sustainable energy in our state.”
But Murphy, and other Democrats, are attempting to blame PJM Interconnection LLC, the multi-state grid operator serving 13 states and the District of Columbia. PJM, to its credit, is having none of it, and is giving it right back to the political class. Remember that part about New Jersey Democrats tripping over themselves?
Aftab Khan, PJM’s executive vice president of operations, planning and security, published a commentary in Utility Dive where he cut right to the chase. “We at PJM need realistic solutions, not politics, to take on energy challenges,” Khan wrote. “Some public narratives have presented an inaccurate picture of PJM’s role in cost-effectively keeping the lights on.”
Khan goes on to make the point that PJM does not operate for profit and is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). PJM cannot make any major changes in its operations without that body’s approval. Get that Murphy? Unfortunately, PJM can serve as a punching bag for political figures working to escape blame for their own policies. But if they’re going to play that game, Team Murphy should know by now they are putting themselves in a place where they can schooled in public about the laws of supply and demand. Khan does this very nicely:
“Power plants that generate electricity are retiring, often due to decarbonization policies or economic pressures,” he wrote. “Simultaneously, demand is increasing due to the growth of artificial intelligence, data centers, electrification and a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing. When fewer resources are available and more are needed, prices naturally rise.”
In other words, Mr. Governor, the green mandates you and Sherrill support are making the situation untenable and electricity prices are going up because your climate policies do not square with reality and not because of anything PJM is doing.
Sherrill could try taking a deeper dive into what’s putting added pressure on the grid and steps that could be taken to accommodate rising energy demands. But we have on the strong authority of Murphy that she’s not a detailed-oriented person.
Ciatattrelli and Sherrill are set to hold their first debate Sept. 21 at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
This article originally appeared at Restoration News
https://www.cfact.org/2025/09/18/rising-electricity-prices-put-new-jersey-governors-race-in-play/
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