The basics:
- NJBIZ panel discusses rising energy rates, cost impacts for residents
- Experts explore AI & distributed solutions to improve efficiency
- Grid modernization, infrastructure upgrades highlighted as priorities
- Panel emphasizes renewable energy adoption and long-term energy strategies
As part of NJBIZ’s latest virtual discussion, panelists spoke about current trends and issues relating to energy and infrastructure in New Jersey.
Moderated by NJBIZ Editor Jeffrey Kanige, the Oct. 28 program featured:
During the 90-minute roundtable discussion, panelists addressed:
A more detailed recap will appear in the Nov. 3 issue of NJBIZ.
Going up
In June, New Jersey consumers saw significant energy rate hikes. At the time, residential electricity bills rose between 17% and 20% — or roughly $22 to $28 more per month for an average household.
Higher wholesale and capacity costs in PJM Interconnection LLC’s regional power market, and a supply outpaced by demand, largely drove the increases.
To ease the impact, state regulators approved a temporary $60 summer bill credit. Additionally, they extended protections against shut-offs for low-income and vulnerable customers.
Fazelpoor described it as a “prominent issue” in the Nov. 4 gubernational election between Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
“In other campaigns, energy’s mentioned, but not always. Property taxes and affordability in New Jersey is always top of mind,” he said. “If not the top issue right now, it is one of the top two, three issues in the state that’s being discussed everywhere.”
“It hits into all the other things going on – cost of living, health insurance, mortgage rates, everything,” he said. “And just the timing of it hitting June 1 right before summer, it definitely made an impact.”
Falling behind
Weigand-Jackson said, “I think what the business community is dealing with right now is just trying to understand why? And are we going to see this for the next couple of years? Is this just a one-off? I think from our perspective, this is going to be for a couple of years.”
Weigand-Jackson went on to explain that recent electricity price hikes and supply constraints stem largely from issues between PJM and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
For years, the back-and-forth over how to run capacity auctions has disrupted the usual three-year planning cycle, making it hard for power generators and developers – both fossil fuel and renewable – to plan new projects, she said.
As a result, generation hasn’t kept pace with rising demand driven by data centers, AI and cryptocurrency. She also blames PJM’s backlog of unprocessed renewable projects, higher natural gas prices, and outdated federal rules that kept some clean-energy projects out of the market. All of which have combined to tighten supply and push prices higher.
Replay: Energy, Infrastructure & Innovation
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“There’s a lot happening in the market that over the past five or six years led to this point. So, it wasn’t as if one thing caused it. And it’s not something that’s going to get fixed overnight. But fundamentally the issues relate to the fact that we do not have enough supply to meet demand,” she said.
She went on to say, “The grid absolutely needs to be modernized. Our grid is this grid that we’ve had a hundred-plus years … And we have been investing in upgrades to the grid, but not specifically to support where this new generating assets would be coming online per se. And that’s why PJM has this really long queue of projects, because what they’re doing is assessing the impact on the transmission system.
“It is tied together – both transmission and generation – but we don’t know what the transmission upgrades are until PJM does their analysis.”
‘A long way to go’
Lewis said, “All of the utility companies throughout the state are really investing to support customers with decreasing their energy use. So, they’re putting more teams out there in terms of engagement and community engagement and doing outreach to really connect with the customers and ensure that even underserved communities and UEZ [Urban Enterprise Zone] zones are receiving that additional support so that they can help fund projects that will help decrease their utility bills.”
More calls for modernization
Regional Plan Association executives share an opinion piece with NJBIZ calling for PJM Interconnection to modernize the region’s aging power grid. Read more here.
“Part of the goal is to decrease the customer’s energy use so that we can decrease that demand on the grid to support with less power outages and these issues while the utilities are still upgrading their infrastructure because they have a long way to go,” said Lewis, who works with JCP&L (FirstEnergy company Jersey Central Power & Light) through her role at TRC.
While offshore wind development in New Jersey remains at a standstill, panelists spoke about growing adoption of solar power across the state in recent years.
For example, Heller, a former senior vice president and general counsel of the New York Giants football team, noted that when NRG became a sponsor of MetLife Stadium about a decade ago, it added a ring of 1,350 solar panels on the roof of the East Rutherford property.
Because New Jersey lacks large open land for massive solar farms, the state’s focus is on smaller distributed energy projects placed strategically where the grid can support them, according to Weigand-Jackson.
She emphasized the need to improve energy efficiency and expanded distributed resources, like solar, battery storage and demand management, as a way to reduce consumption and costs. “I do think the solution is more distributed energy solutions and not large-scale plants,” Weigand-Jackson added.
