State utility officials are navigating uncharted territory, facing the Trump administration’s antipathy toward clean energy and soaring electricity costs thanks to a surge in AI data centers.
But even before the unprecedented rise in utility costs, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy has been tackling energy affordability through the state’s Universal Service Fund and Residential Energy Assistance Payment, programs that provide utility bill credits.
“We started planning for those things before the PJM auction that started us on these very high prices,” Guhl-Sadovy said during a recent interview, referring to the regional grid operator that is coming under increasing scrutiny for its role in rising rates. “We’re not begrudging the existing voting members. We just want the states to also have a voice [in PJM],” she said.
The state’s top utility regulator sat down with POLITICO recently to talk about how the BPU is limited in its impact on electric prices due to the way PJM operates and how the Trump administration’s energy policies impact the state.
