If Sherrill Wants to Make NJ Affordable, She Must Roll Back Net-Zero Policies
By Gabriella Hoffman
December 05, 2025
New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill says she will prioritize energy affordability when she enters office in January. But her support of the 2019 Energy Master Plan is likely to derail this goal and exacerbate the Garden State’s electricity crisis.
To help lower New Jersey’s energy costs and deliver affordability, Governor-elect Sherrill must roll back Governor Phil Murphy’s net-zero policies.
Governor Phil Murphy’s Energy Master Plan to mandate a transition to 100% renewables, namely solar, offshore wind, batteries, and electric vehicles, by 2035 invited the 20% spike in electricity bills this year. Today, New Jersey electricity rates are among the highest in the nation, being the 8th most expensive at 24.96¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh). New Jersey’s prices are 42% higher than the national average, currently at 17.62¢ per kWh, and are up 20% compared to 2024. Reliable power plant closures, more than anything else, invited these higher costs. During Murphy’s eight years in office, five coal plants and the Oyster Creek nuclear reactor were shut down- resulting in a loss of 2,500 megawatts (MW) of net capacity that could be powering 2.25 million homes today. If not reformed or repealed, Murphy’s NJEMP will ultimately cost the state $5 billion annually and lead to a 35% increase in electricity rates.
Rather than disavowing the EMP, Governor-elect Sherrill has openly embraced it and “loves” its goals to phase out coal, oil, and natural gas and gas-powered cars. Instead of reforming the plan, she plans to use the EMP as a blueprint to “put in place the bricks and mortar” to achieve 100% renewables by 2035.
It’s no surprise the governor-elect’s Affordability Agenda overemphasizes unreliable, expensive solar energy projects, with little to no mention of boosting reliable natural gas and nuclear projects. Sherrill has committed to mandating state properties to host solar projects, including community solar, and to pressure “big oil and gas”-controlled utility operators to approve more clean energy projects. In a recent radio interview she admitted clean energy sources like solar and wind fail to deliver lower costs but must be added to the grid, stating, “We need to move into clean power. It’s gonna cost you an arm and a leg, but if you’re a good person you’ll do it.” Much to Sherrill’s chagrin, solar only accounts for 7% of New Jersey’s net electricity generation and only works optimally for about 25% of the year. Even with proper storage, which is highly expensive, this technology can’t adequately function. Long dependent on government subsidies, the solar energy industry doesn’t have staying power in the free market. Over 100 companies have closed altogether or declared bankruptcy in the last year.
Sherrill, instead, should be listening to her future constituents: They overwhelmingly support new natural gas and nuclear power plants – two cheap and reliable energy sources that provide 90% of electricity generation in the state. An October 29th Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) poll found 64 % of voters supporting building new natural gas energy infrastructure projects. A similar FDU poll found 58% of voters support new nuclear plant construction.
Like Governor Murphy, Governor-elect Sherrill blames the Trump administration, New Jersey’s four utility companies, and grid operator PJM Interconnection- not her successor – for mismanagement. Instead, she insists freezing utility rates for a year will solve her state’s energy crisis. This rate freeze means subsidizing demand for unreliable solar and wind projects while constraining supply of reliable new natural gas and nuclear plants.
Sherrill’s rate freeze proposal could, unsurprisingly, invite higher electric bills as these costs, direct pass-throughs from PJM, can’t be frozen. The regional transmission organization (RMO) isn’t a utility company that sets electricity rates. This proposal is so extreme, even Governor Murphy himself questioned its legality a few months ago. Therefore, this emergency declaration will deliver more energy scarcity, not affordability.
A policy of energy abundance – not net-zero – that encourages a competitive marketplace for all energy sources is the best way to deliver reliable and affordable energy. Climate policies that force a 100% transition to renewables have made states like New Jersey worse off with higher prices.
If Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill wants to deliver on affordability, she should turn the page and embrace energy abundance policies.
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