By Audrey Streb
Copyright dailycaller
Some New Jersey citizens are facing rising utility costs after years of aggressive Democratic-endorsed green energy policies, as new polling shows the gubernatorial race locked in a dead heat.
New Jersey has been under Democratic control for years with a long-standing Democratic-led Legislature, but Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli is now tied at 43% with his opponent, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, according to a new Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey released Thursday. Ciattarelli has repeatedly noted that Sherrill backs energy policies similar to those of current Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, which, according to several energy policy experts who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation, have undermined grid reliability and saddled residents with high utility bills.
“As a result of the New Jersey Energy Master Plan, we’re in a lot of trouble here,” President of the Garden State Initiative Audrey Lane told the DCNF, referencing the state’s energy plan. “New Jersey families and businesses were already feeling the strain from higher taxes, rising fares and tolls, and increasing insurance costs when energy rates jumped 20%. Families are making tough choices every day to manage costs in their own homes, and they rightly expect the state to do the same with their tax dollars. Yet the aspirational Energy Master Plan offered no real cost analysis, and our research shows it will cost the state more than $5 billion annually and drive a 35% increase in rates. As voters consider the next governor, they will seek leadership that prioritizes energy policies that are affordable, reliable, and practical — not just aspirational.” (RELATED: New Jersey Dems Continue To Rail Against Grid Operator For Energy Crisis Of Their Own Making)
Sherrill’s slipping lead in the final stretch of the race could give Ciattarelli the momentum needed to stage an upset in a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris won by just six points in 2024 and Murphy won only narrowly in his 2021 reelection. Both Sherrill and Ciattarelli have made energy policy central to their campaigns, with Sherrill vowing to halt utility rate hikes for the “average” New Jersey family over the next year and Ciattarelli blaming high costs on Democrat policies that drove out supply while chasing offshore wind expansion.
The Emerson College survey, as well as another August poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University, found that Garden State voters are split on who to blame for their high energy bills, though they agree that the problem is severe.
“New Jersey Democrats blame utility companies for the cost of utilities at 36%, whereas Republicans blame Governor Murphy at 36% — independents are split between the governor (27%) and utility companies (23%),” executive director of Emerson College Polling Spencer Kimball said Thursday.
New Jersey shut down all its coal plants by 2022 and Democratic leadership has charged forward pursuing a green energy transition. The state is a net importer of energy, with one-fifth of its power supplied from generators in other states in 2023, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
The Garden State has aggressive green energy targets, aiming for a grid powered by a 50% green energy portfolio by 2030, with Murphy setting a goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.
“Governor Murphy, on his way out, is doubling down. He’s not making any attempt to change the policy before he leaves, other than to try and codify what he’s done,” Lane told the DCNF, also drawing attention to New Jersey importing energy. “If you go back about seven years, we were close to neutral. Now we’re importing about 30–35% of energy, which is a very big swing.”
Ciattarelli has also pointed to New Jersey’s reliance on imported energy as a major concern and has pledged to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), ban offshore wind farms along the coast and implement a new energy plan that forwards an “all-of-the-above energy policy,” according to his campaign website.
Energy sector experts like Lane, among others, have pointed out that offshore wind is a costly energy source.
Ciattarelli has targeted Sherrill over her “push” for “extreme energy mandates,” brandishing her policies as expensive, though Sherrill has asserted that more “clean” power will help lower energy costs for New Jersey. (RELATED: Chris Christie pulls New Jersey out of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative)
🚨Caught on tape: Mikie Sherrill admits that she and Phil Murphy knew their push for wind turbines and extreme energy mandates would cost New Jerseyans “an arm & a leg”—and did it anyway. Sherrill and Murphy broke our energy policy, and NJ families are paying the price in… pic.twitter.com/QBvbE2Yxbx — Jack Ciattarelli (@Jack4NJ) September 12, 2025
Sherrill has vehemently disagreed with Ciattarelli’s characterization of her energy policies, a spokesperson writing that one campaign ad claiming Sherrill knew a “push for wind turbines and extreme energy mandates” would increase costs “is a blatantly misleading, desperate smear from Jack Ciattarelli’s MAGA allies and makes crystal clear they’re terrified that Mikie’s plan for a State of Emergency on Utility Costs is dominating the in-state conversation.”
The Democratic candidate has backed policies similar to Murphy’s, advocating for a build-out of more intermittent green energy sources like solar and offshore wind. She voted against a March 2024 House bill that sought to label a carbon tax as harmful to the U.S. economy and supported former President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
Sherrill also wrote in a September 2024 op-ed that “we all have a responsibility to leave our state, our nation, and our planet better than we found it. We can do just that by reaffirming Governor Murphy’s plan for New Jersey’s commitment to a strong and thriving offshore wind industry.”
As outlined in her “day one declaration,” Sherrill has pledged to address high energy costs by streamlining the “modernization” of natural gas facilities, “immediately” developing plans to expand nuclear capacity and starting new solar and battery projects. However, she did not mention any plans for offshore wind expansion in her declaration, though she opposed the federal crackdown on offshore wind during the June 10 debate with Ciattarelli.
Sherrill has promised voters that as part of her “day one declaration,” she will block utility rate hikes. However, Murphy told a local news outlet that he is “not sure” how Sherrill could do that.
“I’m not sure how you’d actually do that,” Murphy told the New Jersey Globe. “These are private-sector players. I’m not sure if she got into the details as to how you do it, but we’ve been spending morning, noon, and night on energy, energy sources, energy affordability for years.”
Murphy’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
“It is a smart strategy for Jack Ciattarelli campaign on the importance of American energy production, because American energy dominance means more access to affordable and reliable energy for New Jersey families and businesses,” Mark Bednar, Republican Strategist & Principal at Monument Advocacy, told the DCNF. “Additionally, it’s smart politics on Ciattarelli’s part to highlight how Mikie Sherrill has routinely taken votes in her time in the House designed to hurt American oil and natural gas production. She can’t hide from her record, and it will be incumbent on the Ciattarelli campaign to continue to share it with New Jersey voters.” (RELATED: Democrats Blame Grid Operator For Energy Crisis Of Their Own Making)
New Jersey families are getting crushed with 17–20% hikes on their electric bills. Why? Because Trenton’s failed energy policies have us importing power instead of exporting it like we used to. ❌ Six power plants shut down ❌ Nuclear expansion blocked ❌ Solar stalled ❌ Wind… pic.twitter.com/hTFcvzdwwY — Jack Ciattarelli (@Jack4NJ) September 12, 2025
Several Democratic governors, including Murphy and Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, have pointed to PJM Interconnection, the major grid operator in their states, as the culprit for climbing energy costs. Democrats have been phasing out coal plants in the region as part of their aggressive green energy policies, while choking off energy supply as demand takes off.
“We understand the political motive to shift blame for high electricity bills, but the fact remains: PJM operates as a not-for-profit that plans the power grid and administers federally regulated wholesale electricity markets,” a spokesperson for PJM told the DCNF previously. “Pointing fingers will not solve the supply-and-demand realities driving higher prices for consumers in New Jersey, including challenges that stem from failed policies. Our focus remains on working toward real solutions, because New Jerseyans deserve nothing less.”
Lane explained to the DCNF that “PJM had been sounding the alarm bells for years that new, intermittent energy sources were not going to fill the void of the base-load generation we were losing.” Lane and Manhattan Institute fellow Ken Girardin told the DCNF that decommissioning power plants while demand continues to climb is a major source of New Jersey’s energy woes.
“A lot of the rising electricity rates in New Jersey, and elsewhere, boil down to power plants retiring and demand rising faster than new capacity is coming online. The lights are staying on because the market is working, but that’s come at a cost,” Girardin told the DCNF. “New Jersey also rejoined RGGI in 2020, which pushes up the cost of energy from fossil fuel power plants. That has helped push up monthly bills, though to a lesser extent than the supply and demand issues.”
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