TRENTON — Governor Mikie Sherrill signed three pieces of energy legislation and announced immediate bill credits for New Jersey utility customers, actions the administration says will save ratepayers more than $1 billion annually when combined with steps taken over the past six months.
The legislation includes a repeal of a utility incentive tied to regional grid membership, new state oversight requirements for utility infrastructure spending, and a measure requiring large data centers to pay for their own energy use and related grid costs rather than shifting those costs to households and small businesses.
Sherrill also announced a $25 credit for all 3.6 million New Jersey ratepayers through the Residential Universal Bill Credit program, along with an additional $150 credit for lower- to moderate-income households through the Residential Energy Assistance Payment program.
“For too long, New Jersey families have paid the price for poor oversight, outdated policies, and rising demand on our electric grid by unchecked actors,” Sherrill said. “Today, we’re putting money back into people’s pockets while holding utility companies and large data centers accountable through stronger oversight and smarter incentives that will drive down costs and strengthen our grid.”
According to the administration, one of the bills eliminates a provision that allowed utility companies to add to their return on equity for participating in the regional transmission organization known as PJM, a cost that had been passed to customers through higher transmission rates. A second bill requires utility companies to seek state approval before constructing certain infrastructure projects, following findings that supplemental project spending accounted for 79 percent of New Jersey ratepayer transmission expenses between 2008 and 2025. A third bill creates a new rate structure for data centers, requiring them to pay for their own energy use and infrastructure needs and to reduce demand before residential customers are affected during periods of grid strain.
The Board of Public Utilities also renewed the Summer Termination Program, which protects vulnerable households from utility shutoffs during extreme heat, and approved 12 new solar projects expected to generate enough electricity to power approximately 45,000 homes.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said the Legislature has prioritized measures to address both immediate and long-term energy costs. Assemblyman John Bailey, D-Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, said the data center measure is intended to prevent households and small businesses from bearing the cost of new data center connections to the grid. Dawone Robinson, managing director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the measures could help lower costs if implemented effectively, while cautioning that “smart implementation will be essential” to deliver the intended benefits.
