For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jackie Greger, Jackie.Greger@sierraclub.org
Clean Energy Fund Raids Continue to Bail out NJ’s Budget Shortfalls
Trenton, NJ - Late on Friday, June 27th, the state legislature introduced a budget bill containing approximately $190 million in raids to the Clean Energy Fund (CEF). This includes the same $70 million from last year’s budget that goes to NJ Transit operations, plus an additional $70m for NJ Transit operations, and an additional $50m going to the General Fund.
The total amount of Clean Energy Fund dollars raided over the last 15 years is more than $2 billion. The New Jersey Clean Energy Fund's primary purpose is to promote energy efficiency and the development of clean, renewable energy sources.
The FY 2026 Governor's Budget also recommends a total appropriation of $1.81 billion for the Department of Environmental Protection from State, federal, and all other funds combined. This amount represents a decrease of $258.9 million, or 12.5 percent, from the total FY 2025 adjusted appropriations of $2.07 billion.
Anjuli Ramos-Busot, Director of the NJ Sierra Club, issued the following statement:
"The Clean Energy Fund continues to be significantly raided. New Jerseyans pay a surcharge for clean energy initiatives and solutions, not for an endless bucket of money for administrations to tap into whenever there is a budget problem. As we continue to see electricity rates rise, we need to be deploying affordable clean energy more than ever, and these rate hikes are counterproductive to those efforts, robbing New Jerseyans of a cleaner future for the sake of poor planning," said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, NJ State Director for the Sierra Club. "We demand the fund gets used for its intended purpose, clean energy, and for our government to use the ratepayer's money responsibly."
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About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of 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 about our work in New Jersey, visit www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey.