Guess what? Energy prices are going up again. Look at the results of the most recent PJM auction:

As we can see, the proposed costs aren’t getting any better without additional supply in the system. Let’s look at the last 3 auctions:

• 2024: Record-setting prices at $269.92/MW-day
• 2025: Cleared at the cap of $329.17/MW-day, a 22% jump from the prior auction.
• 2026: Cleared at the cap of $333.44/MW-day

Anyone who is looking at what is happening should be able to tell you that things are going in the wrong direction. It’s easy to try to blame the grid operator without taking any responsibility yourself, but let’s look at some facts:

• PJM does not generate energy, they manage traffic for the grid. So they can’t supply energy that states like NJ won’t allow to be built and produced.
• The policies of the 13 states in the grid have led to this because of the policy decisions each has made. Energy projects in many states including New Jersey have faced permitting challenges along with a difficult financing and regulatory environment.
• If we look at what New Jersey has in the “backlog” that critics point to when they blame PJM, there are 13 MW of which 10 MW are for wind projects that have been abandoned and 2 MW are for a a solar and batter study that won’t have an impact for a decade.

With a new administration coming in, we have an opportunity to move in a different direction and change course away from the policies that have failed the state and our ratepayers.

Affordable Energy For New Jersey looks forward to participating in those conversations because if we do not deviate from this current path, we won’t change the outcome of what happens. And that will lead to continued higher costs and more shortages.