New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday embraced affordability as the defining issue of her incoming administration — especially when it comes to electricity policy.
The Democrat signed a pair of executive orders during her inauguration speech invoking the governor’s emergency powers on energy. The orders divert clean energy funding to offset increases on utility bills as well as lay out longer-term plans to expand the state’s energy supply.
And while Sherrill’s orders emphasize renewable energy, they leave the door open to ongoing reliance on natural gas. The move underlines the ongoing challenge of curbing emissions amid climbing prices, spiking energy demand and a Trump administration opposed to renewable energy.
“We’re facing an affordability crisis, and you want costs to come down,” Sherrill said. “And you want that to begin today. You don’t want a strongly worded letter, you don’t want a 10-year study, and you don’t want empty words.”
Many climate hawks and progressives cheered Sherrill’s moves as a breakthrough for renewable energy. Solar, in particular, could see a major boost, with New Jersey poised to solicit more solar and battery capacity while easing permitting requirements ahead of looming deadlines to qualify for federal tax credits.
Sherrill is also laying the groundwork for virtual power plants — large, distributed groups of energy sources, like behind-the-meter solar, that can respond collectively to grid demands. A new interagency task force will also explore more nuclear energy.
But Sherrill’s orders envision more carbon-free electricity as a supplement to fossil fuels, rather than a replacement.
Take gas, for example. One of Sherrill’s orders notes the seven-year backlog for purchasing a new gas-fired turbine, contemplating the possibility that “older, inefficient natural gas-fired power plants in New Jersey will likely retire in the coming years rather than invest in modernization.”
The order then offers a lifeline for those plants, directing regulators to consider delaying New Jersey’s July 2027 deadline for power plants to reach new emissions benchmarks.
That order also aims to expedite permitting for gas plants looking to expand generation, reduce emissions and improve efficiency.
Environmentalists said the executive order is more about preserving existing fossil fuel infrastructure, rather than inviting more of it — something that other Democratic governors have done, including neighboring New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“In the political moment we’re in, it’s notable that she is not [calling for more gas infrastructure],” said Justin Balik, states vice president for Evergreen Action.
“Clean energy is the way to get at affordability,” he added. “Overwhelmingly, that’s where these executive orders appear to be focused, which is encouraging.”
Diverting clean energy funds
On the campaign trail, Sherrill promised to freeze utility rates on Day 1. She sought to follow through on that pledge in one of her orders Tuesday — including by targeting some revenues for clean energy programs.
“I hope, New Jersey, you remember me when you open your electric bill and it hasn’t gone up another 20 percent,” Sherrill said during her inauguration.
Sherrill directed the Board of Public Utilities to consider pausing or modifying future rate increases — even as her order notes that many factors raising electricity prices are out of the state’s control, like capacity prices for the regional grid PJM Interconnection.
To offset those other rising costs, Sherrill wants to tap funding generated by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the Northeast’s cap-and-trade system for electricity.
Historically, states have used RGGI proceeds mostly for energy efficiency, electrification, renewable energy and other decarbonization programs. Direct bill assistance only accounted for 15 percent of RGGI spending in 2023, according to the most recent tracking.
Sherrill’s order opens the possibility of New Jersey redirecting more of that money toward utility bills as prices continue to increase.
The new governor also ordered regulators to review the so-called Societal Benefits Charge, a line on utility bills that funds energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, among other things.
Sherrill directed the Board of Public Utilities to issue a “true-up” budget of the Clean Energy Program — funded in part by the Societal Benefits Charge — that would “prioritize funding for direct ratepayer relief.” She told regulators to consider ways to lower the charge, including by tapping RGGI funds to pay for income-qualifying energy assistance programs.
Clean tech supporters say they aren’t sweating those potential changes just yet. On balance, they see Sherrill’s Day 1 moves as charting a path to greater renewable energy deployment and lower prices.
Sherrill’s moves to promote virtual power plants, for example, offer a way to circumvent PJM’s interconnection queue, one of the biggest barriers to renewable energy deployment and a major cost driver, said Katie Mettle, New Jersey state lead at Advanced Energy United, an industry association.
“There’s so much we can do to make our energy system more efficient and just get more bang for our buck,” she said.
“Mikie said we have no kings,” Mettle continues, referring to Sherrill’s American Revolution-themed speech, “but Mikie is a queen.”
This story also appears in Energywire.
