As of December 2024, New Jersey had installed 5 gigawatts of solar energy capacity —more than doubling its output since 2017.
The output, from more than 200,000 solar installations, is enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes, places the state among the national leaders in solar adoption – and adds to an overall U.S. total of 239 gigawatts.
It also shows how far behind the U.S. and New Jersey are falling behind.
At least that was the take of BPU Commissioner Zenon Christodoulou – during an impressive and alarming keynote address at a recent thought leaders conference sponsored by the Meadowlands Chamber and the N.J. Utilities Association last week at the Park Hotel in the Meadowlands.
He showed the group how far the U.S. has fallen behind China on this single energy data point.
He noted how China installed 92 gigawatts of solar … just in June. It’s part of the 256 GW China’s added in the first six months of 2025 – a figure that can be added to the 880 gigawatts China had installed by the end of 2024.
Don’t be confused, Christodoulou’s address was not about the pros and cons of solar, a look at the viability of renewable energy options or even China.
And it wasn’t a pitch about how governments should control energy policy (he was completely against that).
It was merely an anecdote about how others are putting a greater priority on solving their energy challenges than the U.S. and New Jersey. And why – and how – that needs to change.
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Power, electricity and energy fuel economies, Christodoulou said.
“Whether animate or inanimate, direct or indirect, energy has always determined who wins and who loses, and it always will,” he said. “Whether we’re efficiently harvesting crops, storing nutritional energy, harnessing wind power to crisscross the Mediterranean, whether we’re domesticating animals or horses to leverage man’s energy potential, or burning black rocks, whether bituminous or lignite, that tend to generate a lot of heat, energy has always been at the forefront of human development.
“Power, indeed, is a defining characteristic of any successful society.”
Despite this, it is a commodity that few think about – or have thought about – until recently, when dramatic increases have shown the state what happens when energy policy does not match the production needed.
“People are rightfully concerned about price increases,” he said. “Reducing those costs for households and stabilizing businesses costs are critical and have a large implication to our society and our way of life, and at the same time, we’re trying to create an energy transition to clean renewable energy.”
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Where do we go from here?
Double down on current energy production – or put more money into more renewable sources?
Christodoulou said it’s not an either/or scenario.
“Generating electricity for progress and growth and being responsible to the future seem to be two contrasting and conflicting goals, but they coexist,” he said. “We’ve got to walk and chew gum at the same time. We have an obligation to businesses bottom lines and investment and development while preserving the future that we’ll never see.”
He insisted business owners that BPU is doing all that it can. But, at the same time, he was in no way advocating for the state to take greater control.
Christodoulou said he doesn’t want to follow the lead of the Chinese.
“The American system is better,” he said. “Capitalism and entrepreneurship is superior, (but) it depends on the business community. It depends on each of you. We have to get serious about our collective future. We need to do it together.”
There is plenty of reason for confidence, he said.
“Many new sources of energy are being developed, along with nuclear technologies, both fission and fusion, that are more and more promising every month,” he said. “Nothing is going to be cheap and nothing is going to happen by tomorrow, but we’ve got to get started.”
It’s time to start thinking about energy first, Christodoulou said.
“As we move into a more energy dependent economy, our efforts should focus on how we can make our energy generation more robust, more green, and at the same time make our consumption more efficient and sustainable.”
