How Phil Murphy Caused New Jersey Electricity Prices to Soar

Wall Street Journal

5 days ago

Despite flat electricity demand for the past two decades—and some of the lowest energy usage per capita among the 50 states—New Jersey residents pay some of the highest retail power prices in the country. As of April 2025, the Garden State ranked No. 12 in the nation, with prices more than 15% above the U.S. average. This gap has widened further in the wake of the recent decision by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to approve an additional 17% to 20% rate increase for most utility customers starting in June.
A decade ago, the outlook for New Jersey electricity prices was much brighter. The state was adding natural-gas generation capacity to take advantage of abundant, low-cost Marcellus Shale gas located next door in Pennsylvania. By 2016, New Jersey achieved energy independence by supplying all its power needs with in-state generation for the first time in its history, partially fueled by Pennsylvania gas.
Then the state threw it all away. Since electing Gov. Phil Murphy in November 2017, New Jersey has shut down all its coal plants, reduced its natural gas-generation capacity, and increased its reliance on intermittent wind and solar power. Trenton is on a quixotic quest to achieve 100% 'clean' electricity production by 2035.
Under Mr. Murphy's leadership, New Jersey has tilted at offshore windmills—none of which have been completed to date, mainly due to cost overruns, despite the state's generous financial incentives. New Jersey has also subsidized the rollout of solar power (mostly nonutility scale) even though the state experiences only 94 days with less than 30% cloud cover in an average year. The state ranks seventh in the country for small-scale solar power generation, with rooftop and utility-pole solar panels now ubiquitous.