On Friday, January 20, Governor Murphy announced plans for a new Energy Master Plan (EMP), which is to be released in 2024. Additionally, the stakeholder meetings originally scheduled to begin this month will be rescheduled to later in the year with a goal of helping inform the new EMP’s goals and objectives.

Governor Murphy established the state’s 2019 EMP process with Executive Order No. 28, which directed the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) to lead the development of the Plan as a statewide blueprint to achieve a 100 percent clean energy economy by 2050.

During its initial rollout, the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) weighed in on the EMP. At that time, the CCSNJ supported the aggressive clean energy goals of the EMP, but also asked that the Administration include other energy sources in its final version arguing that the more options residents and businesses have as it relates to energy production in New Jersey, the more affordable it will be. The CCSNJ was also one of many statewide organizations that heavily questioned the unknown costs of its implementation asking for a cost analysis before the EMP’s adoption, which unfortunately fell on deaf ears.

The CCSNJ looks forward to participating in future EMP hearings and is hopeful that the Administration will seek greater transparency on the real costs of implementation moving forward.

To read the CCSNJ’s 2019 EMP testimony, click here