Open your energy bills this summer and the problem will be impossible to ignore.
In just the last four years, the average monthly electric bill for families in Ocean County has soared by 48% or more. The largest increase came during Gov. Phil Murphy’s final year in office, when the average customer saw their electricity costs rise by more than 20%.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill campaigned on lowering costs, promised to freeze rates, and directed regulators to provide temporary relief. Temporary relief is welcome, but it is a band-aid, not a cure. Families and small businesses will receive a one-time credit to help offset rising costs this summer, but once that credit is gone, higher bills will remain.
That’s because New Jersey doesn’t have a billing problem, it has a generation problem. While we have the resources to produce more reliable energy, New Jersey lacks the urgency to get it done.
For years, the regional grid operator warned that electrical generation was not keeping pace with growing demand. Despite those warnings, Trenton’s Democratic majority pursued policies built around mandates and put too much faith in offshore wind while failing to replace dependable nuclear and natural gas facilities. The result was predictable: fewer energy producers, higher consumer costs, and a strained grid.
Trenton’s newfound interest in nuclear is an encouraging change in direction. The problem is that it took eight years of soaring electric bills, repeated warnings from PJM, and the collapse of the offshore wind industry to push Trenton’s attention back to nuclear and natural gas. New Jersey lost years of potential development and generation, and those missed opportunities are reflected on every single energy bill. We cannot afford to wait several more years to build. State policy should be focused on accelerating permitting and procurement, and expediting construction as soon as possible
One of the clearest opportunities is in Lacey Township, in Ocean County. The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station powered New Jersey for nearly 50 years before its closure in 2018. Today, the site remains a valuable asset with existing infrastructure, grid connections, and a skilled workforce to support the expansion of nuclear technology through the development of small modular nuclear reactors. Holtec International, the owner of the Oyster Creek facility, proposed building four small modular reactors in combination with solar energy on the shuttered site. Doing so would produce twice as much energy as the original facility produced for nearly half a century.
I remain steadfast in my commitment to ensure that Oyster Creek obtains the attention that it deserves because we simply cannot afford to stand idly by while permitting delays and regulatory hurdles waste months, or even years in bringing new energy projects online.
Nuclear should be the backbone of our strategy to lower costs for families, but it does not have to stand alone. Natural gas remains an affordable and reliable source of energy and can help carry the load while new nuclear capacity is brought online. A serious energy agenda utilizes an all-of-the-above approach.
That is why I am proud to support and spearhead policies that jumpstart the construction of small modular nuclear reactors, ensure that we have a trained workforce to build and maintain these facilities, and require that the Board of Public Utilities, New Jersey’s energy agency, consider the benefits of all energy generation projects to finally deliver lower utility costs for families and small businesses.
While we cannot recover the years wasted by Trenton’s ideological pursuits, we can refuse to waste more of it. Our energy crisis demands immediate action. That means treating the construction of new nuclear and natural gas capacity with the urgency this moment demands. New Jersey doesn’t need another temporary fix. It needs more reliable energy. The sooner we build it, the sooner families will see their costs come down.
Carmen Amato, Jr. (R) is State Senator from District 9. He has offices in Bayville and Manahawkin
