Today, Congressman Van Drew criticized Governor Murphy and other Democrats for blaming PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization managing electricity across 13 states including New Jersey, while ignoring the policies that led to New Jersey’s energy crisis. In a recent letter, nine governors, including Murphy, accused PJM of mismanagement due to rising rates and grid delays.
“PJM has been warning for years about the consequences of Governor Murphy’s energy policy and how it would drive up energy prices,” stated Congressman Van Drew. “Murphy poured billions of taxpayer dollars into offshore wind projects that failed and electric vehicle charging stations that no one asked for. Now, PJM is left managing a grid under historic pressure. Demand is exploding across the region, and generation is shrinking because states like New Jersey have prematurely shut down the very power plants that used to keep us running. With the rapid growth of AI and data centers, that demand will only climb, making this crisis even worse in the years ahead.”
Van Drew emphasized that “Governor Murphy is looking for someone to blame for the consequences of his own agenda, but the truth is working families are the ones stuck paying the price.” He added that ratepayers are burdened by ‘delivery fees’ which increase costs further. Van Drew called for these fees to be removed immediately as people should not pay more just to have electricity delivered to their homes. He urged New Jersey to invest in reliable energy sources such as nuclear and natural gas.
