New Jersey utility bills to increase with Phil Murphy's sign off on nuke subsidy bill

James Nash | North Jersey Record

More than 2 million New Jersey households and businesses will pay a bit more on their power bills to bail out two nuclear power plants in Salem County that have been undercut by cheap natural gas.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill to tack on about $30 to $40 a year to the average residential power bill to subsidize Public Service Enterprise Group's 1970s and '80s nuclear plants, which supply about a third of New Jersey's power supply. Murphy also signed a bill requiring half the state's energy to come from renewable sources by 2030, up from about 13 percent today.

At a bill-signing ceremony at a solar facility in Monmouth Junction, Murphy said keeping the nuclear plants open was essential to his goal of weaning New Jersey off fossil fuels by 2050.

"To reach our clean energy goals, we need to keep these plants open and safely operational," he said.

The renewable bill likely would drive up power rates, although state officials did not project the size of the increase. Large industrial power users would see much greater increases, which could be passed along to customers. Murphy didn't speak directly about the rate increases, but said the legislation would protect power customers.

"I am highly confident that the ratepayer will be represented without any question," he said. "There are a lot of safeguards in this bill that will prevent the general swirling around of money going out of the state."

Wind power, solar energy

Murphy touted the legislation encouraging growth of wind and solar energy with goals of 35 percent renewable energy sources by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030. But several environmental organizations including the Sierra Club did not endorse the bills, and instead issued a statement criticizing the nuclear bill as a corporate bailout that would slow the growth of solar and wind power.

“PSEG has successfully power grabbed both money and New Jersey politicians for their own financial gain yet again as they have done for years. Welcome to New Jersey politics,” said Amy Goldsmith, state director of Clean Water Action, in a statement.



PSEG's chief executive, Ralph Izzo, who led the company's lobbying effort, hailed the bills as a win for both New Jersey's environment and economy.



“Together, these measures create a forward-looking energy policy that makes New Jersey a national leader in advancing clean energy,” Izzo, who did not attend the ceremony, said in a statement afterward. “This package follows through on Gov. Phil Murphy’s pledge that an enlightened, comprehensive energy policy would be a top priority of his administration."

New Jersey: Gov. Phil Murphy signs $15M in pay raises for judges, top officials

Environment: Murphy administration plans to take $125M from Exxon settlement to balance budget

New Jersey: To tax or not to tax? That's the question fueling the feud among NJ Democrats

Murphy's signature comes about six months after the parent company of Public Service Gas & Electric, the largest utility in New Jersey, got behind a bill to add surcharges to residential bills to keep the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear plants competitive with power generated by natural gas. The bill generated controversy almost immediately. Environmentalists said it would prop up an outdated source of power at the expense of wind and solar energy. Rival power companies called it an unfair subsidy to a company that reported $558 million in net income for the first three months of this year. And large power users said the subsidy would drive up costs and discourage innovation.

The unusual coalition of environmental and business groups lobbied Murphy to veto the bill that had passed the Senate in a 29-7 vote and the Assembly in a 60-10 vote with one abstention, but to no avail.

On the other side, PSEG, one of Trenton's most powerful business lobbies, and unions representing nuclear-plant workers urged Murphy to sign the measure. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, also championed the bill as a boon to the regional economy.

"We need to keep the nuke plants open to go over to where we get 100 percent clean energy," Sweeney said.