As New Jersey families and the country face skyrocketing electricity bills, a new independent analysis from Synapse Energy Economics finds that state leaders can take immediate action that could save the average New Jersey household $467 per year by 2030. The report arrives on the heels of an election in which New Jersey voters overwhelmingly chose Governor-elect Sherrill and other leaders who made energy affordability a top priority, sending a clear mandate to treat high bills as the emergency families know they are.
Read the full report here.
The modeling underscores that, due to federal instability, the repeal of federal clean energy investments, and PJM Interconnection’s fossil fuel favoritism and grid mismanagement, electric bills are on track to rise sharply through the end of the decade. But it also shows that New Jersey leaders can fight rising costs through targeted interventions while pursuing broader reforms.
The report identifies four concrete steps New Jersey leaders can take to turn the tide on rising energy costs:
- Build and connect more clean energy through siting and interconnection reforms to clear PJM’s backlog.
- Require large data centers to supply their own clean, affordable power to avoid passing costs to households.
- Tackle excess utility profits by lowering monopoly utilities’ guaranteed return on investment.
- Adopt smart EV charging and building electrification programs to ease strain on the grid and cut costs for all consumers.
The Synapse modeling evaluated the combined consumer impact of these four policy interventions. According to their findings, these actions, together, would reduce household electricity costs by 21% in 2026 alone and deliver an estimated $14.3 billion in total savings statewide by 2030.
“This new independent research backs up what New Jerseyans have been saying for a long time: It's time for action to hold PJM and utilities accountable, get cheap, clean power on the grid fast, and guarantee that big tech data centers don't pass on their power costs on to working families,” said New Jersey State Senator Andrew Zwicker. “We know these policies can deliver meaningful savings that families are counting on, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and the incoming governor to use every tool at our disposal to get cheap, clean power on the grid and fight rising costs.”
“New Jersey voters demanded action on energy affordability. With these practical steps, state leaders have the chance to hit the ground running and deliver it,” said Evergreen Collaborative States Vice President Justin Balik. “By deploying cheap, clean energy, holding PJM accountable, and reigning in utilities, New Jersey can start cutting costs for families and deliver real progress in tackling the affordability crisis.”
“Data centers are driving a surge in electricity demand that hasn’t been seen since the 20th century. Absent sufficient guardrails, this demand will continue to raise power bills, increase the risk of blackouts, and create more air pollution," said David Amanfu, Building Decarbonization Advocate at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)."We estimate that by 2028, the average family in New Jersey could be paying around $70 a month extra on their electricity bills if policymakers don’t take action to mitigate the costs imposed by data center growth. This is unacceptable, and it's clear that PJM needs to bring more clean energy online now; data centers should try to pull their own weight by bringing their own capacity; and the state’s utilities should invest in batteries, demand response, and energy efficiency."
"New Jersey ratepayers today are shouldering increasingly higher costs for an energy system that is outdated, unsustainable, and subject to fluctuations in rates beyond the state’s control,” said Kyle Mason, Associate Planner for Energy & Environment at Regional Plan Association. “By investing in clean, in-state energy generation quickly and efficiently, while promoting energy efficiency and effectively managing the demand from data centers, Governor-elect Sherrill can deliver on the promises that voters elected her to do and position New Jersey as a leader in clean energy while securing affordability for all residents.”
As a new administration and newly elected legislature prepare to take office, New Jersey faces a pivotal opportunity to deliver the tangible relief voters demanded while laying the groundwork for lasting reform. The policies outlined in this analysis are practical, near-term actions the incoming Sherrill administration and lawmakers can take to lower household costs and strengthen the grid with clean, affordable, reliable energy. But they also form the foundation for deeper change to take on entrenched utility and corporate interests, restore accountability, and make affordability, fairness, and reliability the cornerstones of New Jersey’s energy system.
A fact sheet detailing these interventions and their benefits can be found here.
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