TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill has pointed the finger at President Donald Trump for New Jersey’s recent 20% energy rate hike, which took effect on June 1, just a few weeks ago.
Today, in a post on X, Sherrill criticized Trump, claiming his policies, including tariffs and other actions, have driven up power costs across the Northeast.
However, energy experts and state officials disagree, arguing that the root causes of the price surge predate Trump’s presidency and stem from regional market dynamics and long-standing policy failures by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, President Joe Biden, and the Democratic-controlled New Jersey Assembly and legislature.
Sherrill, a U.S. Representative from New Jersey’s 11th District, made her remarks in a heated online exchange with Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli. “I can name a few [issues],” Sherrill wrote, listing grievances against Trump, including “increasing power costs across the Northeast.”
Her campaign has framed the energy hike as part of a broader critique of Trump’s economic policies, particularly his tariffs, which she argues burden businesses and consumers alike. The bulk of the damage has been done at the hands of New Jersey’s Governor, Phil Murphy, and his failed clean energy agenda, which has failed to produce a single watt of new energy for the Garden State to date.
The reality behind New Jersey’s energy price increase is more complex and tied to factors that were set in motion well before Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) and industry analysts point to a combination of rising electricity demand, supply constraints, and inefficiencies in the regional power grid as the primary drivers of the hike.
The NJBPU is stacked full of Phil Murphy loyalists and appointees.
New Jersey’s energy prices are largely determined by the annual Basic Generation Service (BGS) auction, overseen by the NJBPU. This auction, which sets electricity supply rates for the state’s four major utilities—Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G), Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), Atlantic City Electric, and Rockland Electric—saw a significant spike in costs for the 2025-2026 period. The results, announced in February 2025, led to residential bill increases ranging from 17% to 20%, translating to an additional $20 to $28 per month for the average household.
Failed wind energy projects derailed the governor’s clean energy agenda, but while Mikie Sherrill is blaming Trump, most Democrats in New Jersey had settled on another villain.
That villain, according to NJBPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy, was the PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator that manages electricity supply for New Jersey and 12 other states. In July 2024, PJM’s capacity auction—a separate process that secures future electricity supply—saw capacity prices soar nearly tenfold, from $34 to $270 per megawatt-day in some regions. This dramatic increase was driven by a combination of surging demand and limited supply, factors that were already in play during the previous administration.
One major contributor to the demand surge is the proliferation of data centers, particularly those supporting artificial intelligence (AI) operations.
These facilities, which require vast amounts of electricity, have strained PJM’s grid. A 2025 forecast by PJM estimated that summer peak demand would rise by over 3% annually over the next decade, with data centers potentially consuming nearly a quarter of the grid’s total electricity by 2040. This trend began years ago, as tech companies expanded their presence in the PJM region, well before Trump’s return to office.
Supply constraints have also played a significant role. PJM’s interconnection queue, which processes new energy projects, has been plagued by delays, with 79 clean energy projects—representing over 4 gigawatts of capacity—stalled in New Jersey alone as of early 2025. Critics, including state officials, have accused PJM of slow-walking renewable energy projects, such as offshore wind and solar, while favoring fossil fuel generation. For example, the cancellation of Ørsted’s Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects in late 2023, due to rising costs and supply chain issues, left a significant gap in New Jersey’s clean energy plans. These setbacks occurred under the Biden administration and were not influenced by Trump’s policies.
New Jersey’s ambitious clean energy goals, set under Governor Phil Murphy, have contributed to the supply-demand imbalance. Murphy’s Energy Master Plan, introduced in 2019, aims for 100% clean energy by 2035, primarily through offshore wind and solar. However, the state’s reliance on these sources, coupled with the closure of fossil fuel plants—like Atlantic City Electric’s coal plants in 2022 and PSEG’s divestment of fossil fuel stations in 2023—has reduced available generation capacity. NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor noted in February 2025 that “increasing demand while decreasing supply will drive up prices,” a consequence of policies that predate Trump’s presidency.
Sherrill’s claim that Trump’s tariffs and policies are responsible for the energy hike overlooks the timeline and mechanics of the price increase. The BGS auction results were finalized in February 2025, based on PJM’s capacity auction from July 2024—six months before Trump took office. Tariffs, which Sherrill cited as a cost driver, were not a factor in these auctions. While Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel, aluminum, and other materials could increase the cost of electrical equipment in the future, these policies had no bearing on the June 1, 2025, rate hike.
Trump’s energy policies, such as his executive order pausing offshore wind leasing, were enacted after the auction results were set. While these moves may impact New Jersey’s long-term clean energy goals, they did not influence the immediate price surge. Similarly, Sherrill’s reference to Trump’s cuts to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) conflates a separate issue—federal funding for energy assistance—with the underlying causes of the rate increase. LIHEAP cuts, announced in April 2025, affect affordability programs but do not alter the market dynamics driving electricity costs.
Sherrill’s remarks come as she campaigns to succeed Governor Murphy, who is term-limited, in the 2025 gubernatorial race. Energy costs have become a flashpoint in New Jersey politics, with Democrats and Republicans trading blame. Republicans, like Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, argue that Murphy’s clean energy agenda has prioritized ideology over affordability, while Democrats, including Sherrill, have sought to pin the issue on external factors, including Trump’s policies.
Governor Murphy has also criticized PJM, calling the cost spike a “foreseeable and preventable” crisis. In May 2025, he announced executive actions to mitigate the hike, including requiring utilities to propose cost-deferment plans and expediting new solar programs. Additionally, in June 2025, Murphy, alongside Senate President Nick Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, unveiled a $430 million relief package, funded by clean energy and greenhouse gas accounts, to provide at least $100 in bill credits to all 3.9 million New Jersey ratepayers.