30 New Jersey mayors endorse Sherrill’s plan to freeze electricity bill hikes

More than two dozen mayors and former mayors of New Jersey cities are endorsing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill’s plan to freeze utility rates if elected.

“We need a leader in Trenton who immediately sees this crisis for what it is and brings real solutions,” reads a statement from Mayors for Mikie, a coalition of mayors who are supporting Sherrill’s candidacy. “Her plan begins on Day One, where she will declare a State of Emergency on Utility Costs and stop the rate hikes, ensuring that the average New Jersey household sees no cost increase.”

Sherrill first made her pledge to halt electricity rate increases in an Aug. 21 press conference outside the home of Herb and Mary Michitsch in Kenilworth. Sherill said that if she takes office, electric bills won’t go up for a whole year.

“Our utility bills have gone up by 20% this summer. New Jerseyans are hurting, and I hear it from families all across the state,” she said in the press conference. “On day one, I’m going to declare a state of emergency on utility costs.”

Sherrill hasn’t said how she’ll freeze rates, or whether her promise applies to electricity supply, transmission, or both.

Some, including current Gov. Phil Murphy, have questioned the legality of Sherrill’s pledge, with Murphy telling Politico: “These are private sector players … I’m not sure she got into the details of how you do it.”

Still, the coalition of mayors expressed confidence in Sherrill and her plan.

They noted that the energy rate freeze proposal is just part of Sherrill’s plan to prevent the costs of energy from increasing further. Electricity bills have soared in New Jersey this summer, rising by about 20% on June 1, according to the nonprofit research group Regional Plan Association.

“I’ll massively expand cheaper, cleaner power generation and building an energy arsenal in our state,” Sherrill said in the Aug. 21 press conference. “We’re going to cut through red tape and eliminate permitting delays to get that done right now.”

She pledged that under a Sherrill administration, New Jersey will break new ground on solar and battery storage projects, expand capacity at existing nuclear facilities, make natural gas plants cleaner and more efficient, and demand more transparency from utility companies in the state.

“My plan is going to deliver immediate relief to New Jersey families by streamlining, modernizing and expanding our energy arsenal, will not only lower energy bills in the immediate future but also create a long-range plan and strategy for driving down costs, increasing production and decreasing carbon emissions across the state, because more power generation means lower bills,” she said in the press conference.

She also said she would order her attorney general to sue PJM Interconnection — which supplies power to the entirety of New Jersey as well as to all or part of 12 other states plus the District of Columbia — and President Donald Trump “to force them to end their mismanagement and get new power added to the grid.”