House Members Seek Answers From Grid Operator As Rate-Setting Electricity Auction Begins

By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor

July 15, 2025

As the company that operates New Jersey’s grid begins a new electricity auction that will help set rates for future utility bills, a group of House members say they want to avoid a repeat of last year’s auction results that led to skyrocketing electric prices this summer.

A new letter to grid operator PJM Interconnection signed by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-05) asks the company’s president, Manu Asthana, to describe what PJM is doing to avoid more “unnecessary cost burdens on ratepayers” and how his company is improving transparency as it launches the new auction.

“Our aim is to gain a better understanding of the steps PJM is taking to ensure that the millions of families and seniors that fall within PJM’s region do not face yet another price hike in their electricity bills,” Gottheimer and nine other members of Congress wrote.

PJM is the grid operator for New Jersey and 12 other states.

In New Jersey, utilities annually buy electricity supply through auctions like the one PJM is hosting starting Wednesday (it ends July 15, with results public on July 22). Its July 2024 auction saw electric capacity prices reach record totals, increasing by more than 800% over the previous year, an increase that helped contribute to skyrocketing electric bills New Jersey customers saw starting last month.

PJM said the higher totals were the result of an imbalance between electricity supply and demand. New Jersey Democrats like Gov. Phil Murphy have criticized PJM by saying it is too slow to add renewable projects to its grid, projects that the Democrats say would help lower customers’ bills.

The House members’ letter says they want to know how PJM is ensuring sufficient capacity amid rising electrification and increasing demand for power-hungry data centers.

In June, a group of New Jersey lawmakers announced a package of bills they said would help modernize the state’s electric grid and stabilize rates. One legislator suggested that without major reforms, New Jersey should consider working with another regional transmission company.

In April, Murphy urged Federal Energy Regulatory Commission officials to investigate whether the 2024 auction was “subject to market manipulation.” The state Board of Public Utilities has also blamed the “flawed market dynamics in the PJM region” for increasing costs.

Republicans have pointed fingers at Murphy’s energy policies, saying he was too focused on failed wind energy projects.

Last month, in response to spiking utility bills, the Board of Public Utilities approved a plan to defer $60 from customers’ summer bills and extend $175 in bill credits to low-income ratepayers.

PJM spokesman Jeff Shields said the company will respond to Wednesday’s letter “as is our practice” and said congressional action could be key to alleviating the scarcity of energy nationwide.

“PJM has taken multiple steps, with FERC approval, to maximize the availability of generation that participates in the auction in order to help balance the supply shortage we are experiencing in relation to the accelerating growth in demand for electricity,” he said.

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