Get “The Wrap,” our take on the news of the week, in your inbox every Tuesday. Sign up at https://capemaycountyherald.com/newsletter-subscription.
May 5 to 11
Election Season
According to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll, most New Jersey registered voters don’t know that a primary election for governor will occur on June 10. When asked in the April poll about the next statewide election, only 4% said June 10.
In case you believe that they were just confusing the question with the general election in November, only 35% picked the fall date. More than 40% of the respondents said other or unsure. Other gave wrong dates entirely. Many voters go unheard in the primaries because they are unaware that a vote is taking place, poll organizers said.
The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission has data that says the primary elections in 2017, when Phil Murphy first ran for governor, saw spending of $35 million. The next time around, in 2021, the primary elections drew only $17 million in candidate spending, largely because the incumbent Murphy spent less.
That is still a lot of money spent for such low-turnout affairs.
According to state sources, the primary elections in 2017 drew only 15% of the registered voters to cast ballots. The highest return was in Hunterdon County, with 30%, and the lowest in Cumberland County, with 8%.
The primaries in 2021 were even worse. Official primary election turnout statewide was 12%, with Hunterdon again the highest with 20% and both Passaic and Essex tied for lowest with 8%.
In both primaries Cape May County was mid-pack, with 14% in 2017 and 17% in 2021.
These low numbers are impacted by the large number of unaffiliated registered voters, who generally don’t participate in the primaries. Yet in N.J. they can do so if they wish. An unaffiliated voter can go the polls for the primary election and ask for either a Democrat or Republican ballot.
The catch is that once they do so, their registration is changed to the party whose ballot they cast. A return to unaffiliated status would require re-registering as unaffiliated after the election.
No matter how you calculate it and what some unaffiliated voters do, the overall vote in the primaries is generally low.
This year, with 11 candidates running in the primaries, six Democrats and five Republicans, there is a lot at stake, but that doesn’t mean that voters will exercise their right to cast a ballot.
The Rebirth of Nuclear Energy
One impact of rising electricity prices has been a rebirth of interest and support for nuclear energy. We wrote about this new embrace of nuclear power several months ago concerning a Biden administration plan to triple nuclear power generation by 2050.
Last week, the state Board of Public Utilities issued a request for information asking the public and “interested parties” for data and recommendations concerning the role nuclear power might play in advancing the affordability and reliability needs of the state for electric power. Replies are due June 23.
If the Democrats in the Murphy administration are serious on expanding the use of nuclear power at the state’s three reactors in Salem County, amid the partisan finger-pointing, this has the potential to be a bipartisan effort. State Republicans have called for a greater investment in nuclear power as one counter to Murphy’s heavy focus on offshore wind.
There was a time when nuclear power was seen as the source of power that would free America from its heavy dependence on imported energy. Then came Three Mile Island in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011. Thoughts of expanded investment in new nuclear facilities dried up amid safety concerns and the growing problems associated with disposal of nuclear waste.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, in 2023 fossil fuels, including natural gas and coal, accounted for 60% of the country’s energy portfolio, with renewables up to 21% and nuclear at only 19%.
In New Jersey the picture has been different. Here in 2023 nuclear power accounted for 46% of our energy generation, with 48% for natural gas. In the Garden State nuclear power has continued to play a major role in the state’s electricity generation.
The request for information is part of the process by which the BPU and its consultants are updating the state’s energy master plan, a draft of which was released in March.
Data Centers
Data centers and their increasing use of artificial intelligence models have become the energy hogs that are propelling the surge in electricity demand. Data center demand for electricity is expected to double in the next five years, putting a strain on electricity generation capability and the grid.
By 2030 these centers may consume 9% of all electricity generation. The Lawrence Berkeley Lab has quantified the impact, showing data centers using 176 terawatt hours of electricity in 2023 compared with 58 terawatt hours in 2014.
All states want to be part of this transformative technology that holds the promise of significant financial growth, but few are prepared to meet the energy demands. New Jersey is a player in this marketplace.
According to one count, the nation currently hosts 2,435 data centers with 250 individual providers. The most popular areas for the centers are northern Virginia, Dallas and Silicon Valley. In terms of states, New Jersey sits eighth in the hierarchy as home to large data centers with 92.
These, like the Equinix NY4 Secaucus Data Center, often serve large financial services and electronic trading interconnections in the northern part of the state. Another example is the CyrusOne Data Center in Somerset, which by itself has access to 40 megawatts of power.
For New Jersey to remain an attractive location for this burgeoning industry, access to electric power will be critical. For New Jersey to be politically welcoming to the industry supplying that power in ways that do not do significant harm to the wallets of residential ratepayers will be a challenge, especially in a state that imports 25% of the electric energy it consumes.
Week in Review
*A resident noticed a lot of brownish water pouring out of what appeared to be a stormwater outfall pipe close to Fishing Creek, which forms part of the border between Lower and Middle townships.
*The state Department of Education has approved the Dennis school district’s request for a $1.8 million increase in the tax levy to support its budget.
*The Cape May County Park and Zoo has announced the arrival of a 6-year-old male Black Howler monkey named Diego.
*On Monday, May 5, Democrats on the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee advanced eight bills they say will benefit ratepayers.
*The Middle Township School District has adopted a $50.2 million budget for 2025-2026 that relies on a property tax levy of $32.5 million and state aid of $13 million.
*New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin is one of 17 attorneys general who have initiated litigation against the Trump administration over its halting of permits for offshore wind projects.
*North Wildwood dedicated its Gold Star Families Memorial Gateway on Saturday, May 3, before a crowd that included veterans, first responders and family of the deceased, as well as the general public.
*Ed Quigley has a mission in life: to educate the public about the dangers associated with beach umbrellas and wind.
*For the first time in 12 years, North Wildwood will have a new mayor after the Nov. 4 general election.
*Calling it a “sedimental” journey, the state Department of Transportation has announced a project to improve 127 miles of coastline through regional sediment management in the back bays.
*The state Board of Public Utilities has issued a request for information seeking to better understand if new nuclear power generation could help New Jersey reach its goals for affordable clean energy while also helping meet the state’s need for increased power supply.
*Eva Bohn, a second grader at Cape May City Elementary School, turned her love of sharks and octopuses into a short picture book that has sold more than 400 copies.
Spout Off of the Week
Lower Township elementary four schools have approximately fourteen hundred and eighty students for four schools. One superintendent one business agent and one facility manager. North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest approximately three hundred students. Seems like time to combine these administrators to save taxpayers money. Of course when it’s taxpayers money ….
Wildwood Crest
