NJ households could cut electric costs by 21% in 2026, under new plan from advocates

💡Analysis shows NJ families could cut electric costs by 21% in 2026 if the state adopts a new clean energy affordability plan.

🏛️ Advocates warn without action, households may pay $70 more per month by 2028 due to grid delays, utility profits and rising data-center demand.

🔌 The plan urges reforms for PJM, data-center accountability, utility profit limits and smart EV charging to stabilize costs statewide.

TRENTON — New Jersey households could see electric costs cut by 21% in 2026, under a new plan outlined by clean energy advocates.

Independent analysis done by Synapse Energy Economics was presented by Evergreen Collaborative, the National Resource Defense Council and state Senator Andrew Zwicker, D-Somerset.

On the opposite end, if policymakers do nothing, the same analysis shows the average New Jersey family could be paying $70 more a month on electricity bills by 2028.

The entire Northeast is feeling the instability of a federal rollback of clean energy investments that were helping add new power cheaply and quickly to the grid, Evergreen Collaborative States Vice President Justin Balik said at Thursday's press conference.

Now, “New Jersey voters demanded action on energy affordability,” Balik added of Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill winning last week’s election.

Zwicker — a scientist and educator at Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory — said on Thursday that this is the data needed for state lawmakers to work on behalf of New Jersey rate-payers.

Four steps advocates say will lower electric bills in NJ

Overall, the analysis points to four concrete steps for New Jersey to take, essentially the quicker the better:

💡Clear PJM’s backlog of renewable energy projects waiting to be grid-connected.

💡Require large data centers to supply their own clean, affordable power.

💡​​Cut excess utility profits - lower monopoly utilities’ guaranteed return on investment.

💡Use smart EV charging & “building electrification programs” to ease strain on the grid.

Balik says if all points of the plan are followed, New Jersey households could each save $467 per year by 2030.

The report also included a fact sheet, showing which efforts will require shared action by Governor-elect Sherrill, state legislators and the state Board of Public Utilities.

PJM needs to be held accountable, pressed to bring projects online

Sherrill has repeatedly pointed to mismanagement by PJM, the power grid operator that manages the nation’s largest grid for 67 million people in New Jersey and 12 other states.

There is a massive backlog of projects just waiting to be connected to the grid, nearly all of which are renewable energy, like solar and battery storage.

Data centers should be forced to ‘bring your own’ power

Massive electrical requirements of new data centers, which power the area’s increasing use of Artificial Intelligence tech, have also contributed to the spike in power use and bills.

Earlier this year, New Jersey was estimated to be within the top five states for data center space already up and running, at more than 10 million square feet, NJ Biz reported, citing CommercialCafe.

As of November, the number of data centers in New Jersey has been estimated between 80 and over 100, according to datacentermap.com and datacenters.com.

In July, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law directing the Board of Public Utilities to complete a study within a year on the effect of electricity usage by data centers.

Read More: Governor Murphy directs NJ to study data center energy use

A different measure approved by state lawmakers in June and sent to Murphy’s desk, would require all data centers to report their actual electric and water use quarterly with the state.

Last month, the governor conditionally vetoed it, saying in part he believes the required 15-month study of data centers’ electric use is a sufficient framework.

This analysis recommends not waiting to see just how much more residents and small businesses are footing the bill for these data centers — instead requiring them to each build or contract their own clean generation and storage resources to match their demand on the grid.

Read More: NJ bill would pause utility taxes after 20% electric rate hikes

Lowering utility profits to protect New Jersey ratepayers

The state needs to “reevaluate the guaranteed profit earned by monopoly utilities in order to ensure it reflects actual investment risk," according to the Evergreen Collaborative report.

Forcing the utilities to adjust their financial ratios is a key step that needs to be led by state lawmakers as well as the NJBPU.

Smart EV charging and building retrofitting for savings

As the number of residents using electric vehicles increases, so does the need to charge those EVs.

The report’s findings suggest designing smart-charging rates and incentives and managed charging programs that shift charging to off-peak hours, to ease grid strain and cut costs for all customers.

Building electrification is a known term for “replacing fossil fuel sources for heating, cooling, and appliances with modern, efficient electrical technology,” as outlined by the Sierra Club New Jersey.

NJ residents are paying for "outdated" energy system

Regional Plan Association Associate Planner for Energy & Environment Kyle Mason, who also joined the Thursday event, said that New Jersey is struggling to pay for an “energy system that is outdated, unsustainable, and subject to fluctuations in rates beyond the state’s control.”

Mason added that Sherrill can deliver on campaign promises “By investing in clean, in-state energy generation quickly and efficiently, while promoting energy efficiency and effectively managing the demand from data centers.”

The full energy analysis report is here. 

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom