New Jersey residents were facing a 20% hike on energy bills this month, thanks to bad policymaking designed to force consumers into using 100% renewable energy. Some customers already pay over $500 a month. But the Board of Public Utilities is bailing out Trenton lawmakers by delaying the rate increase until Sept. 30.
While it’s easy to scapegoat the regional grid operator and artificial intelligence data centers for skyrocketing energy bills, the blame falls squarely on Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D-NJ) net-zero climate policies born out of his Energy Master Plan.
The Murphy Energy Master Plan, an executive order signed in 2023, mandates that the Garden State achieve 100% clean energy by 2035 through solar, wind, electric vehicles, and batteries.
Unsurprisingly, New Jersey isn’t on track to meet this goal. The BPU recently canceled an offshore wind project bid, citing the Trump administration’s executive order that paused leases for renewed or new offshore projects. In late 2023, Ørsted canceled two offshore wind projects in the Atlantic Ocean.
New Jersey is also behind on its energy storage goal. As of May 2025, there are 10 operating battery storage projects with a combined operating capacity of 110 megawatts, well below the 2021 goal of building 600 MW of energy storage.
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