HARRISBURG, Pa. — Members of New Jersey’s GOP Energy Task Force joined lawmakers from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia on Tuesday for a regional policy hearing in Harrisburg aimed at addressing energy affordability and power generation across the PJM grid.
The hearing, the first in a planned series of regional discussions, featured energy officials from PJM, the American Petroleum Institute, the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance and various energy policy experts. The talks focused on balancing energy reliability, costs and environmental goals amid changing state policies.
“New Jersey families face a 20% spike in utility bills this winter—a direct result of our state’s failed energy policies,” said Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio (R-Warren), who created the task force earlier this year. “We have about six megawatts of power that have been taken off our grid. Thank God for states like Pennsylvania, which can export to the grid, but we need to do our part. We’re going to keep pushing and fighting Trenton on this to get more realistic energy on the grid. We shouldn’t be shutting power plants down before we replace them.”
According to PJM, the regional electric grid operator serving 13 Mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C., New Jersey currently imports more than 40% of its electricity from other states, including Pennsylvania. Since 2016, the state’s power generation has dropped by 21%.
Some lawmakers expressed concern about the impact of reduced in-state generation on energy reliability.
“New Jersey is in the midst of a crushing energy crisis that is skyrocketing prices and leaving us vulnerable to future brownouts and blackouts,” said Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R-Ocean). “This position of utter weakness is directly the result of eight years of ideological and full hardy spending and decisions coming from Governor Murphy and Democrat leadership in our state Legislature. Their insane choices destroyed the energy independence we once enjoyed less than a decade ago. If Governor Shapiro’s threats to leave the interstate grid actually ever come to fruition, our state could literally be plunged into darkness.”
Energy officials at the hearing cited regulatory challenges, transmission constraints and declining supplies of traditional energy sources as contributing factors to higher costs.
“Across the Mid-Atlantic, Democrat energy policies are collapsing. In New Jersey, we have a governor who bet everything on offshore wind and green energy fantasies and left us with absolutely nothing,” said Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R-Sussex). “Unfortunately for our Maryland friends, New Jersey wins the prize – our governor took six power plants offline, not five. We are looking at brownouts, blackouts in a state like New Jersey, because when we met with PJM we were told next summer we would begin experiencing that on this trajectory.”
Fantasia questioned Stephen Bennett, PJM’s senior manager of regulatory and legislative affairs, about the timeline for adding new natural gas plants to the grid.
“Within the years from 2023 when we started and 2026, we will have processed 200 gigawatts of new interconnection projects. We currently have 63 gigawatts of projects that have either received or been offered an interconnection agreement,” Bennett said. “There is a huge bottleneck in transmission infrastructure, substation infrastructure. That is something that is creating long delays to interconnection. States can help with local permitting and siting, and continue to work with PJM.”
Assemblyman Greg Myhre (R-Ocean), whose district includes the former Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, emphasized exploring new nuclear energy options.
“Our governor bet the future of energy in the state on offshore wind which has crashed and burned. We are committed as a caucus to defeating offshore wind and we are also committed to bringing nuclear back to the state,” Myhre said.
Additional hearings are planned, including one in Trenton to discuss balancing clean energy mandates with affordability, and another in Annapolis early next year focusing on transmission, permitting and regional coordination.
“Democrat-led policies are fueling higher costs instead of energy reliability and affordability,” DiMaio said. “Under Republican leadership, New Jersey can and will be part of solving the urgent energy crisis crushing residents and businesses in our interstate grid. We’re going to fight, fight to get this back the way it belongs. So we’re all energy independent, and we can be more productive and sustainable through the years.”
