The Report The State Of New Jersey Does Not Want You To See
Affordable Energy for New Jersey (AENJ), the state’s leading voice for transparency in energy policy for electric and gas utility customers, today is releasing an updated and detailed cost estimate for the failed boondoggle known as the Energy Master Plan (EMP). This is the second of such reports detailing the expected cost estimates, unlike the state of New Jersey which for more than 1100 days since original release has refused to tell the public what the EMP will cost New Jerseyans.
The hard work of Affordable Energy for New Jersey is one of the major contributing factors to the recent announcement by Governor Murphy to scrap the original EMP and go back to the drawing board. A revised EMP is now scheduled to be released sometime in 2024. The current EMP will remain in place until the new plan is released. There has been no comment on whether or not the next EMP will provide any cost estimates.
“The simple fact is that, if the NJBPU didn’t go back to the drawing board, every single resident would be saddled with an average of over $5,000 more every single year to meet the EMP’s mandates,” said Ron Morano, AENJ Executive Director. “It is time for the state to develop a plan that is reliable, feasible, transparent, and cost effective. The goals of the plan must be realistic, achievable, and not a burden on taxpayers.”
Two years ago, Affordable Energy for New Jersey (AENJ) worked with economist and energy policy expert Dr. Jonathan Lesser to calculate what New Jersey residents and businesses could expect to pay for the EMP. His original report estimated a cost of $525 billion through 2050. That estimate was more conservative than two other estimates, which calculated the cost at $750 billion and over $1 trillion. AENJ now estimates that the EMP will cost New Jersey residents $1.4 Trillion – about $140,000 per resident between now and 2050.
“Meeting the EMP’s goals of electrifying virtually all energy use and supplying that electricity with zero-emissions electricity will require almost incomprehensible amounts of offshore wind and solar power, along with technologies that don’t even exist today. The EMP is a bureaucrat’s dream, an all-encompassing plan to control virtually every aspect of New Jerseyan’s lives,” added Dr. Jonathan Lesser, who prepared the previous and updated cost estimates.
The new white paper released by AENJ provides revised estimates for the current Energy Master Plan, which show a cost nearly $1.4 trillion between now and 2050.
The state’s lack of progress these past three years is actually a good thing because the EMP’s “solutions” will bankrupt the state while doing nothing for the climate,” said Dr. Lesser. “The bottom line is that the current Energy Master Plan is more expensive than ever and, no matter how much the state forces residents and businesses to spend, it will not make a dent to the climate change problem they say they are trying to solve.”
You can view the full report here
Supporting calculations for report can be found here
Transparency Update: 1105 Days Without Releasing Costs
