During the War of 1812, the United States navy defeated the British navy in the Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry famously wrote to general and future President William Henry Harrison, “We have met the enemy and he is ours.”
That message of victory was reworded in 1970 by Walt Kelly, the creator of the comic strip Pogo. Kelly wrote on an Earth Day poster, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” He used the phrase again in a special comic strip in 1971.
The phrase caught on and has been part of our vocabulary ever since. It has never been more apt than it is now, as New Jersey faces an electricity supply imbalance that is driving up energy prices and prompting a scramble among politicians in Trenton eager to shift the blame.
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Major contributors to the state’s crisis are the ludicrous closure of six in-state generating plants since 2017, including B.L. England, plus the Oyster Creek nuclear plant.
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We are entering a second year of surging electricity rates, with no end in sight and every indication that higher costs will become a long-term fixture.
New Jersey uses more electricity than it generates, making the state vulnerable to external market forces beyond our control. Add in the surging demand that far outstrips supply, and prices are inevitably spiraling upward.
Gov. Murphy has suggested that the 13-state grid operator PJM Interconnection was involved in some form of market manipulation in the wholesale electricity capacity auction held in July 2024. He wrote a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting an investigation.
Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy argued at a legislative hearing in Trenton that a big part of the problem rested with those who resisted and delayed Murphy’s plans for offshore wind farm development.
With every seat in the Assembly up for reelection this year, Democrats have introduced legislation setting experience thresholds for BPU appointees, expanding access to assistance programs, streamlining solar connection approvals and directing the BPU to investigate electricity usage by data centers that may be contributing to higher residential rates, among other measures.
Republicans in the Legislature have called for members of the Murphy-appointed BPU to resign for approving rate hikes that are about to hit residential customers.
The effort is relentless, driven by a political need to assign blame for rising utility bills – and to make others pay a political price. Unfortunately, the reality is more complicated. Quickly passed legislation is unlikely to change that reality.
Remember, this is the same Legislature that imposed new limitations on the state’s Open Public Records Act in 2024, despite polls showing that 81% of those surveyed opposed the changes pushed by political bosses in the municipalities. The math is simple: Concern for public opinion rises in direct proportion to the time remaining before an election.
Let’s simplify the picture.
The state has long depended on outside electricity generators. However, policies in recent years have clearly exacerbated the problem.
One major contributor to the state’s escalating energy crisis is the closure of six in-state generating plants since 2017. Among them was the B.L. England plant in Upper Township, where a plan to convert the plant from coal to natural gas failed due to opposition to a pipeline through the Pine Barrens. Also closed was the nuclear power plant at Oyster Creek.
Shutting down several coal-fired plants was aligned with the state’s long-term clean energy goals of achieving 100% clean electricity by 2035 or 2040 – dates that changed as plans evolved. Yet the state was losing generation capacity long before there was any realistic chance of replacing it with green sources like offshore wind.
As offshore wind plans stalled, Murphy doubled down – raising offshore wind targets despite dwindling prospects. Developers like the Danish firm Orsted pulled out of their commitments, and the imbalance continued to grow.
That imbalance has worsened, demand continues to surge, and the push to legislate our way out of the crisis goes on – though much of it seems more about political optics ahead of the November elections than delivering real change.
The predicament we face is structural. As long as the model for financing the transition from fossil fuels to renewables depends on ratepayers footing the bill along the way, we will see volatile pricing and public backlash. At best, affordability measures merely kick the can down the road, a tactic that, with elections looming, may be the point.
Energy policy must be developed with care for the transition – how we get from point A to point B. The new state energy plan under development needs to be realistic, with achievable goals that protect the economy, ratepayers and the environment. Sacrifices will be necessary, but they must be clearly communicated to gain public support.
Whatever your views on climate change or the need for an energy transition, the way we’ve handled it has only undermined its champions.
It is frankly embarrassing to watch Governor Murphy and lawmakers scramble to avoid responsibility for policies they had every reason to know would produce the consequences we’re now experiencing.
In this column in April 2024, we spoke of Murphy’s broad goals for how the state creates and uses energy. We described it as a “massive metamorphosis” that Murphy tried to impose. At that time, we said, “The only thing guaranteed is that a failed attempt can result in deep and pervasive havoc across all aspects of state life.” It was a prediction we would rather have been wrong about.
There is no quick fix to our energy problems. We did withdraw generation capacity prematurely. We remain energy importers and more vulnerable to market forces than we should be. In the process, we have done no favors for those who champion a green energy future.
The next governor must ensure that a realistic and transparent energy plan is put before the public – one that prioritizes expanding New Jersey’s in-state electricity generation capacity.
Quotes From the Bible
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” — Proverbs 21:5
