Will electric supply hold?
NJ utility rates to rise as demand peaks
By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... New Jersey residents will see a spike in their utility bills in the coming weeks, but as summer approaches, a new report by the region's grid operator shows there are concerns about adequate supply.
.....
PJM Interconnection, which runs the electricity grid for New Jersey and 12 other states in the Mid-Atlantic region, released its summer 2025 outlook last week [05/08/2025] and though officials said they think there is enough supply for "typical peak demand," they noted that the National Weather Service has predicted this summer to be hotter than average.
..... They expect energy use to peak at about 154,000 megawatts but said the "available generation capacity may fall short of required reserves" if demand reaches 166,000 megawatts.
..... The operator's record summer peak was set nearly 20 years ago, 165,563 megawatts in 2006. Last year, [2024] the summer peak was about 152,000 megawatts, and the year before [2023] it was 147,000 megawatts. they estimate that one megawatt can power about 800 homes.
..... "This outlook at a record peat heat scenario reflects our yearlong and mounting concerns as we plan for enough resources to maintain grid reliability," said Aftab Khan, PJM's executive vice president of petitions, planning and security. "all resources within PJM's footprint should be prepared to respond when called upon."
..... The state's utility rates are expected to rise by as much as $20 each month - or about 17% to 20% - because electricity auction prices were higher as a result of greater demand and lower supply.
.....
These rte hikes were approved by the state Board of Public Utilities in February. [2025]
.....
"It is just outrageous that after completely mismanaging and delaying the ability of thousands of renewable energy projects to connect to the grid, PJM is now preparing to ask New Jersey residents to help them avoid outages by 'volunteering' to reduce our energy consumption during the peak of what is predicted to be one of the hottest summers on recorded," he said May 12. [2025]
..... PJM is responsible for operating the electric grid for a huge swath of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, stretching from New Jersey to North Carolina and from the coast into Illinois, covering about 70 million residents within its service area.
..... Zwicker has previously said he thinks the Legislature and the governor should work together to put "immediate pressure on PJM to pressure them to get more projects onto their grid."
..... Governor Phil Murphy said he remains "committed to addressing the unacceptable cost crisis and issues with reliability resulting form PJM's practices."
..... "New Jersey is closely coordinating with our partner states to mitigate the impacts of the region-wide cost crisis - working to hold PJM accountable as the summer months approach and to ensure that reforms are in place ahead of the next capacity auction," he said. "For the first time in a long time, load is steeply growing."