By Erica Jedynak, NJPI Board Member
Almost a year ago, the New Jersey Policy Institute outlined a roadmap for how New Jersey could break free from the stranglehold of rising cost-of-living pressures in A Blueprint for Abundant, Affordable Energy for New Jersey Families for ROI-NJ. The thesis was straightforward: New Jersey residents do not just have a cost problem; they have a supply problem. To make life affordable in the Garden State, policymakers must focus relentlessly on expanding energy generation rather than trying to top-down micromanage utility bills.
Since then, Trenton has delivered a rare piece of genuine, practical progress. The repeal of the state’s long-standing nuclear moratorium marks a massive step in the right direction. For decades, outdated regulatory barriers handcuffed one of the safest, most dense, and reliable sources of baseload power available. By lifting this moratorium, New Jersey opened the door to next-generation nuclear technology, small modular reactors (SMRs), and long-term grid reliability. It is a textbook example of supply-side practical policy winning out over outdated rules.
Unfortunately, alongside this step forward, Governor Mikie Sherill is flirting with a classic policy trap: freeze utility rates.
While rate freezes are politically seductive, promising relief to families reeling from staggering monthly bills, they are a dangerous illusion and constitutionally questionable. A utility rate freeze does not lower the actual cost of power. It simply masks it.
When state leaders freeze rates, they do not lower the cost of fuel, accelerate grid buildout, or fix regional generation shortages. They simply force utilities to defer costs, accumulate debt, or slash capital investments needed to maintain and modernize the grid. Eventually, the bill comes due, and when it does, consumers suffer through massive deferred rate hikes, deteriorating reliability, and service issues.
Rate caps act like a thermostat set to a comfortable temperature while the house is on fire. They hide the emergency without putting out the flames.
Families across New Jersey are genuinely hurting right now. Household budgets are stretched past the breaking point by inflation, high taxes, and electricity bills that rank among the highest in the nation. Offering struggling families a temporary price cap is a superficial band-aid that guarantees deeper structural pain.
If New Jersey is serious about lowering energy bills for good, policymakers must focus on the fundamentals: expanding grid capacity, cutting bureaucratic delay, and opening the door to every viable generation source.
To turn the repeal of the nuclear moratorium into lasting relief on electric bills, New Jersey should embrace a practical, supply-focused energy strategy:
- Cut Red Tape and Streamline Permitting: Lifting a moratorium is useless if building modern energy infrastructure takes a decade of regulatory delays. We need fast-track approval processes for modern power projects, grid interconnects, and essential transmission infrastructure.
- Maintain Technological Neutrality: Government should not pick favored winners while penalizing reliable alternatives. Nuclear, natural gas, solar, geothermal, and advanced storage should all be able to contribute on equal terms to supply cheap, reliable power.
- Diversify and Expand Supply Sources: Lowering barriers for new power producers drives innovation, grid resilience, and cost reduction. When more generation options can build and feed into the grid, prices decline naturally through expanded capacity without needing government price controls.
The lifting of the nuclear moratorium proves that New Jersey can rethink legacy policies when economic reality demands it.
True consumer relief will come from building a state where energy is abundant, reliable, and efficient. It is time to drop the price controls, clear the regulatory hurdles, and empower an energy market that delivers real savings to New Jersey families.
