Gov. Mikie Sherrill was elected in large part on one word: affordability.
Few issues better illustrated that campaign promise than New Jersey's skyrocketing electric bills.
Sherrill promised action. She promised to stabilize rates. She signed executive orders on her first day in office declaring an energy affordability emergency and directing state regulators to freeze certain rate increases.
Yet, more than seven months into her administration, New Jersey families are still waiting for the affordability part.
To be fair, Sherrill has taken action.
Her administration provided a $25 universal bill credit this summer, with additional assistance for some lower- and moderate-income households. She has signed legislation targeting utility costs and requiring data centers to shoulder more of the costs they impose on the electric grid.
The administration says its broader energy policies will ultimately save New Jersey ratepayers $1 billion annually.
Maybe they will.
But "ultimately" doesn't pay this month's electric bill.
And despite all the talk about freezing rates, utilities can still seek increases. JCP&L, for example, recently filed for an 8.8% increase in distribution rates that, if approved, would take effect in 2028.
That doesn't sound much like a freeze.
Which brings us to Tuesday's rather curious event in Trenton.
Sherrill signed the Garden State Balcony Solar Act, allowing residents to install small plug-in solar systems without the usual utility approvals or municipal permits.
It's actually an interesting idea.
These systems can be placed on balconies or in backyards and plugged into a standard household outlet. Sherrill says they could shave as much as $50 a month off a typical electric bill.
There's just one little catch.
You have to buy the solar panels.
Systems can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to about $1,500. At the maximum projected savings of $50 per month, a $1,500 system takes 30 months — two-and-a-half years — just to recover the purchase price.
And that's assuming you actually achieve the maximum $50 monthly savings.
Even better: the new law doesn't take effect for six months.
So, congratulations. Your electric bill is too high, and Trenton's latest solution is for you to spend up to $1,500 today so you might start saving money sometime around 2029.
Balcony solar may be a perfectly good product. It may make sense for renters who couldn't otherwise install solar. Some homeowners may love it.
But it doesn't lower New Jersey's electric rates.
It simply gives consumers another way to spend their own money to buy less electricity from the grid.
There's a big difference.
If gasoline jumps to $5 a gallon and the governor holds a press conference encouraging you to buy a bicycle, your transportation costs might go down.
The price of gasoline didn't.
Sherrill deserves time for some of her longer-term energy policies to work. Building generation, changing grid policy and dealing with PJM are not things that happen overnight.
But she also deserves to be judged against the promise she made.
New Jerseyans were told an "affordability governor" was coming to Trenton.
Seven months later, they're still opening expensive electric bills.
And now they're being told to buy a solar panel.
Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5
Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander
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