N.J.”s Energy Policy Should Focus on Abundance, Not Scarcity

Energy policy in the United States has long been built around scarcity. In the 1970s, there wasn’t enough oil, so we rationed gasoline at the pump. Today, growing electricity demand is forcing consumers to reduce usage during peak hours while businesses wait years to connect to the grid.

In New Jersey, scarcity isn’t just measured by waiting in line for electricity — it shows up every month when utility bills continue to climb.

The problem isn’t simply that electricity has become more expensive. It’s that energy policy has become focused on managing scarcity instead of creating abundance.

Think about electric lighting. Two centuries ago, people relied on candles and oil lamps. Businesses closed when the sun went down, and families carefully weighed whether another hour of light was worth the expense.

Today, almost no one thinks twice about flipping a switch. Lighting didn’t become affordable because governments became better at rationing candles. It became affordable because innovation made electricity abundant — and increasingly efficient.

Throughout history, predictions of energy scarcity have repeatedly underestimated human ingenuity. Railroads, aluminum production, air conditioning, the internet and now artificial intelligence have all been portrayed as threats to limited energy supplies.

Yet history tells a different story. When markets are free to innovate, entrepreneurs build more supply, engineers improve technology, investors expand infrastructure and yesterday’s scarcity becomes today’s ordinary convenience.

New Jersey needs more energy, not more rationing

New Jersey should embrace that same mindset. Rather than debating how to divide a limited supply of electricity more efficiently, policymakers should focus on producing more of it.

That challenge is especially relevant today. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and data centers reshape the American economy. A growing economy requires a growing supply of affordable, reliable electricity.

Fortunately, New Jersey doesn’t have to start from scratch. One of North America’s largest natural gas resources sits just across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.

Yet policies that have restricted pipeline development and limited new energy infrastructure have made it harder to deliver affordable energy to New Jersey consumers. When supply is constrained, higher prices are the predictable result.

The same supply-focused thinking is beginning to emerge elsewhere. Gov. Mikie Sherrill recently signed legislation designed to encourage continued investment in New Jersey’s nuclear fleet — a recognition that preserving and expanding reliable, around-the-clock generation must be part of any long-term affordability strategy.

Recent reforms are a good start

Against that backdrop, Sherrill recently signed an electricity reform package that deserves recognition.

The legislation strengthens oversight of utility transmission spending, eliminates an outdated incentive related to regional electricity markets and requires the largest new electricity customers to bear more of the costs they impose on the grid.

For New Jersey families who saw electricity prices rise sharply in 2025, these reforms are a welcome first step.

The changes could save New Jersey ratepayers more than $1 billion annually. More importantly, they signal a shift in thinking.

For decades, energy affordability has often meant rebates, subsidies, tax credits or bill assistance after electricity prices had already increased.

Those policies may help consumers cope with higher costs, but they do little to address why energy became more expensive in the first place.

The next step is even more important: building an energy system capable of producing enough affordable, reliable electricity to support long-term economic growth.

Building an energy-abundant future

One promising reform would allow large new electricity users — such as data centers and advanced manufacturers — to develop privately financed electricity systems operating independently from the traditional grid.

Rather than requiring every major new customer to use the same monopoly framework, New Jersey could allow companies to build private electricity networks tailored to their needs.

Creating this parallel path would accelerate investment, encourage innovation in how electricity is produced and delivered and strengthen New Jersey’s ability to compete for the industries driving the next generation of economic growth.

Abundance-minded reform means making it easier to build new generation, modernize transmission infrastructure, encourage private investment, expand opportunities for privately financed electricity systems and allow companies to finance the energy resources they need.

It also means embracing an energy strategy that preserves dependable baseload generation while expanding new sources of reliable electricity.

New nuclear energy, expanded natural gas infrastructure, renewables where they make economic sense and emerging technologies all have a role to play.

The objective should not be choosing winners and losers. It should be ensuring New Jersey has enough electricity to power the next generation of economic growth.

Consumers don’t care whether affordable electricity comes from a Republican idea or a Democratic one. They care that the lights stay on, businesses continue investing and monthly bills remain affordable.

The purpose of energy policy isn’t to manage scarcity. It is to create abundance. New Jersey’s future prosperity depends on producing more affordable, reliable electricity and the infrastructure needed to deliver it.