Pablo Willis, Pablo.Willis@Sierraclub.org
Trenton, New Jersey - The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) released an analysis of potential massive cost impacts to New Jersey consumers as a result of the Trump-era federal meddling in the PJM capacity market. The federal rule, known as the Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR), essentially bails out uneconomic fossil fuel companies at the consumer’s expense by forcing them to needlessly pay twice for generation capacity.
The analysis found that the current version of MOPR would cost New Jersey’s consumers in excess of $280-$300 million annually and could increase electric bills across the PJM region by $1.9 to $2.3 billion. This dramatic rate increase would be a financial boon to the fossil fuel industry effectively making consumers subsidize dirty energy capacity they don’t need and don’t want.
MOPR was imposed with the intent to prevent states like New Jersey, Illinois, and Maryland from reaching their ambitious carbon reduction goals. Leaders across the PJM region are looking for approaches to safeguard their state’s economic and climate interests. In New Jersey, the Sierra Club recommended the Board prepare the state’s utilities to exit the PJM capacity market using the Fixed Resource Requirement (FRR) option in order to save consumers large rate increases, meet the state's ambitious climate goals and generate economic benefits. The analysis released by the board today affirms that a competently implemented FFR could save consumers 50% of the costs caused by MOPR.
Jeff Tittel, Executive Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:
“The recent Resource Adequacy Session shined a light on the imminent crisis that MOPR has put us in. As soon as 2025, New Jersey consumers will see a needless $300 million dollar increase in their electric bills. If the state allows this Trump rule to be implemented in its current form it would have a devastating impact on our climate goals and low-income residents. The Board must begin the process of designing an FRR option that guards against potential issues and calculates the serious savings to consumers that clean affordable energy can bring.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.