TRENTON, NJ – In his effort to outgreen the rest of the world, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wanted to mandate the replacement of all commercial and public heating systems from gas and oil to electric.
That plan short-circuited this week after the NJDEP shelved the proposal.
According to Senator Bucco, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has shelved a controversial and expensive mandate proposed by Governor Murphy that would have mandated the electrification of large commercial boilers by 2025.
“Governor Murphy’s plan to force the replacement of efficient, clean, and cost-effective gas boilers with electric versions short-circuited because it didn’t make any sense,” said Bucco (R-25). “His plan would have required thousands of businesses, schools, apartment complexes, and government buildings to pay millions each to convert to electric boilers that cost four times as much to operate as existing gas boilers. It would have been a massive and unnecessary cost for both businesses and taxpayers.”
As a result of these massively increased operating costs, thousands of buildings throughout the state would have been converted from gas to electric boilers at a cost of approximately $2 million.
“With the removal of the boiler mandate from NJDEP rules, we just dodged a multi-billion-dollar bullet that business owners, renters, school districts, and local governments couldn’t afford,” added Bucco. “This is a victory for now, but we need to make sure this proposal isn’t resurrected in the future. We’ll keep fighting to ensure that the other provisions of Governor Murphy’s Energy Master Plan, which would result in tens of thousands of dollars of unnecessary costs for families and homeowners are removed as well.”