Major NJ Utility Hike Announcement Hailed As A Political Gimmick GOP Leader Says

NEW JERSEY — Just hours after Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a series of executive actions that he said will help New Jersey residents manage rising electric costs, the state's top GOP leader condemned the plan. Shortly after, Garden State Republicans said they plan to launch a public questionnaire to hear from residents on what solutions they support.

On Wednesday, New Jersey's Democratic governor revealed his plan to implement several additional measures to mitigate rising utility costs ahead of a rate hike scheduled to begin on June 1.

Measures include expanding the state's Winter Termination Program and opening another Competitive Solar Incentive Program, an initiative designed to reduce the costs of solar development and encourage other qualifying solar projects.

Murphy also directed the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to seek available funding and programming to stabilize utility bills.

See Murphy's full proposal: Major Announcement As NJ Braces For Large Increase In Electric Rates

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, New Jersey Senate Republican Leader Anthony Bucco said Murphy's plan "misses the mark."

“It doubles down on the same failed renewable energy mandates that have driven up costs and weakened grid reliability, offers assistance programs that leave out middle-class families and conveniently delays higher electric bills until after the election," Bucco said. "A pure political gimmick, plain and simple.”

State Republicans previously criticized Murphy's administration after the BPU said it would require New Jersey’s four electric utility companies — Atlantic City Electric, PSE&G, Jersey Central Power & Light and Rockland Energy — to come up with plans to mitigate overall bill impacts to residential customers during high usage summer months.

The state also asked the utility companies to defer rate increases until later in the year during lower-usage months, a move some GOP lawmakers called "a smokescreen" to delay voter anger until after the November election.

"New Jersey won’t attract new investment in energy generation until we fix our business climate, reduce overregulation and stop pushing extreme, one-sided energy mandates," Bucco said Wednesday. "We need a balanced, affordable energy strategy that includes a diversified portfolio, not more expensive energy production options.”

Following Murphy's announcement this week, the Assembly Republican Energy Affordability Task Force said it will launch a public questionnaire to hear directly from residents about the impact of rising utility costs and what solutions they support.

The questionnaire asks residents whether their bills have increased, what solutions they believe would help most and which energy sources they support if it meant lower costs.

“Families are getting crushed by energy bills, and they deserve a say in how we fix it,” said Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, a member of the task force. “This survey will help us build a plan that puts ratepayers first, not Trenton’s political agenda.”

Residents can fill out the questionnaire online or by contacting their local Assembly Republican office.

Earlier this year, the BPU announced that electricity costs would increase again this year for most New Jersey residents and small businesses. All four electric companies said they expected rates to increase between 17.2 and 20.2 percent as of June 1.

Brian Lipman, director of the New Jersey Rate Council, said the average customer will see their bill increase by more than $20 every month. The price increase will "have a substantial impact on New Jersey families and businesses, especially those least able to afford it," he said.

The increase came following the results of New Jersey's annual Basic Generation Service (BGS) auction, which sets the price companies pay for electricity generated outside the state.

Previously, the BPU pointed to rising demand and a stressed power grid as reasons for the cost increase.

PJM Interconnection operates the power grid used by New Jersey and 12 other states, along with the District of Columbia, and BPU president Christine Guhl-Sadovy said it needs to speed up the process of connecting more electric generation projects to the grid.