New Jersey Republicans are taking aim at Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed 2024 Energy Master Plan.
State Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R-24) and State Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-25) both took issue with the plan, which Murphy introduced via press release on Jan. 20.
Murphy said planning for the new Energy Master Plan (EMP) would be released in 2024, and would reflect the state’s updated climate goals and impacts of recent state and federal policies. As part of the announcement, stakeholder meetings originally scheduled to begin in early 2023 would be rescheduled to later in the year.
Bucco: Delays are Political
Bucco in particular thought this aspect was “no shock” as with all 120 seats in the Legislature on the ballot this fall, the delay was purely political in his view.
“Let’s be clear that ‘later in the year’ means after Election Day,” said Bucco. “Trenton Democrats are scared that New Jerseyans might learn before November how much their energy bills will rise and how expensive it’ll be to convert their homes and businesses from gas to electric under Murphy’s…plan. People deserve the truth.”
“Green Energy Extremism’
“Delaying hearings is all about protecting the Democrat majority in the Legislature,” added Bucco. “The more people learn about Governor Murphy’s extreme green energy plan, the more they realize they can’t afford it, and that’s bad for Democrats.”
Oroho took aim at the 2024 EMP’s cost, saying New Jersey citizens would be unable to afford the existing green energy roadmap.
“New Jersey can’t afford more of the expensive green energy extremism that Governor Murphy has been trying to impose on our families and businesses,” said Oroho. “If his next Energy Master Plan continues on the same course, New Jerseyans will lose affordable energy choices, pay higher energy bills, and be hit with costly mandates to convert our homes and businesses from gas to electric.”
Oroho recently introduced legislation that would protect the rights of New Jerseyans to own and operator gas appliances, and has worked against the forced electrification of commercial boilers across the state.
Murphy Defends Delay
But the governor said the delay was needed due to the changes that have occured in the time that has passed since he laid out what he wanted.
“After five years of bold climate action in New Jersey, we must not only assess our progress to date, but renew our commitment to a clean energy economy while taking stock of the breadth of resources at our disposal,” said Murphy.
“Only by developing and diligently pursuing an updated climate mitigation strategy can we build upon our efforts to cultivate resilient and sustainable communities. In addition to taking into consideration the implications of new state and federal policies, the 2024 Energy Master Plan will seek to better capture economic costs and benefits, as well as ratepayer impacts, throughout our journey toward a clean energy future.”
The GOP would know a thing or two about delaying until after elections. That’s how they denied Obama his constitutionally granted authority and stole Merrick Garland’s SCOTUS seat in 2015-2016. Of course, the GOP believes different rules apply depending on your political loyalty to The Party and their Great Leader.
As the GOP themselves would say: Murphy is simply “letting the people decide” in the next election whether they want this plan or not.