The Ghost of the Christmas Electric Grid Yet to Come

Christmas Eve Electric Grid Emergency Shows Gov. Murphy’s Electrification Mandates are Unsound and Costly to Homeowners, Renters, and Businesses

TRENTON—On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, PJM – the regional electric grid operator – asked 65 million people in 13 states to conserve electricity to prevent rolling blackouts in the area.

In response, Eric DeGesero, Executive Vice President, Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey, issued the following statement.

“Two days of cold weather put such a strain on our electric grid that PJM had to request energy conservation system-wide — asking families and seniors to lower their thermostats in frigid temperatures and shut off holiday lights on Christmas Eve. If the grid can’t handle even two days of cold weather now, what will happen when Governor Murphy’s plan to electrify every building in New Jersey is implemented?”

“As we’ve been saying all along, Governor Murphy’s electrification mandates for all homes and businesses are impractical and unsound for our electric grid. On top of that, forcing New Jersey buildings to convert to electric will cost an estimated $20,000 per home or more, and approximately $2 million for a large building (public or private) to convert their boiler system. Additionally, the NJDEP estimated the cost of heating buildings will be four to five times greater with electricity as opposed to other energy sources.

“The PJM failure this holiday weekend shows that the Ghost of the Electric Grid Yet to Come is looking very dark when one considers Governor Murphy’s total electrification mandates. That’s why New Jersey renters, homeowners, and businesses deserve for the Legislature to consider bipartisan bills by Senator Gopal, Assemblyman Moriarty, and Assembly Minority Leader DiMaio — to put this electrification-only policy on pause until they can study the full costs and implications of the Energy Master Plan.”

Today’s editorial by the Wall Street Journal highlighted the contradictory and negative outcomes of such electrification-only mandates:

“The climate lobby wants to force all homes and buildings to shift to electric heating even though it is less efficient than gas furnaces in frigid weather. When temperatures fall below freezing, heat pumps consume more and more power. ‘With a generation fleet that is more nat gas heavy than ever before, we are using twice as much gas to heat homes through electricity as we do with gas furnaces,’ former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Pat Wood told Bloomberg.”

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