For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jackie Greger, jackie.greger@sierraclub.org (732)-979-0852
NJ Elected Officials & Affordable Energy Advocates Highlight How Higher Electricity Bills Dig into Family Budgets at Trenton Farmers Market
Demonstrating how families struggle with energy and food costs, advocates call on regional electric grid manager PJM Interconnection to protect families from rising electricity bills
Trenton, NJ – Affordable energy advocates and electricity consumers gathered for a press conference today at the Trenton Farmers Market calling on PJM Interconnection to do more to protect New Jersey families from continually rising electricity bills and bring more new clean, reliable, affordable energy to the grid to meet soaring electricity demands in the region.
There, advocates created a clear visual of the financial burdens caused by PJM's mismanagement by showing the amount of healthy food that families would have been able to purchase with the money now being used to pay for their new energy burden. The most recent electricity bill hike, which occurred this summer, is costing New Jersey families an average of $400 this year with more bill hikes are expected unless steps are taken to avert them.
The organizations holding the event, Isles, NJ Sierra Club, NJ League of Conservation Voters, NJ Working Families Alliance, Vote Solar,, as well as state Senator Andrew Zwicker (D16) and Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora, squarely placed blame for the price increases on a little-known company called PJM.
Speakers urged PJM to prioritize electricity consumers by clearing its backlog of nearly 2,000 new energy projects waiting for approval to connect to the grid and give consumers a greater say in electric grid decisions that affect their utility bills.
Pictured: Senator Andrew Zwicker, District 16
Pictured: Anjuli Ramos-Busot, NJ Sierra Club Director
“Today’s farmers market haul makes clear the real, tangible impact that PJM is having on NJ families. New Jersey is one of the most expensive states to live in, and combined with the potential of losing medicare and medicaid, families are being hit in every direction with rising costs. Instead of spending this sum of money on essentials like groceries, they are now unnecessarily being used to pay for PJM’s mismanagement and mistakes,” said NJ Sierra Club Director, Anjuli Ramos-Busot. “We thank Senator Zwicker for joining us today, and urge our elected officials to continue the momentum to hold PJM accountable to connect cleaner, cheaper energy, provide relief for our ratepayers, and demand urgent grid reform.”
“New Jersey families are the ones paying the bills every month—and they’re paying more because PJM continues to delay clean energy projects that would lower costs,” said Ed Potosnak, Executive Director of New Jersey LCV. “PJM is serving oil and gas CEOs and propping up outdated, dirty fossil fuel plants which is raising electricity costs—to bring down electricity bills PJM should be prioritizing affordable, reliable clean energy that benefits ratepayers and our communities. Clean energy, particularly solar, is the cheapest and fastest-growing solution to meet our energy needs, creates good local union jobs, and protects public health. It’s time for PJM to stop standing in the way of bringing on clean energy projects. New Jersey families can’t keep footing the bill for PJM lining the pockets of oil, methane gas and coal shareholders.”
Pictured: Dante Alston, Isles Education Manager
“In cities throughout our state, energy affordability is about more than just keeping the lights on. It’s about keeping families safe, housed, and healthy. Rising utility costs hit hardest in older, inefficient homes and overburdened neighborhoods already facing environmental and economic challenges. As a state we can’t ignore these critical issues. Isles is working to make energy efficiency, affordable clean energy and healthy homes accessible for every household so families don’t have to choose between paying their bills and living comfortably in the communities they call home,” said Laura Fenster-Rothschild, Chief Operations Officer at Isles.
“Working people are paying the price of higher utility bills due to PJM’s failures. In what world does using less energy still result in paying more in costs? That’s exactly what’s happening to so many workers and families across our state, and it shouldn’t be this way,” said Antoinette Miles, Executive Director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. “Families are getting squeezed on both sides by Big Tech’s power-hungry data centers and Big Grid’s fossil fuel favoritism. PJM’s delay in modernization is forcing more people to make the impossible choice between putting food on the table and keeping the lights on. It’s time for PJM to do its job and bring clean, reliable, and affordable energy to the grid.”
Background on PJM
PJM is the company, or grid operator, that manages the electricity grid for 67 million people in New Jersey and a dozen other states across the region. PJM is lagging far behind other regions in adding new resources like solar, wind, and battery storage that are low cost and combine well with other energy sources to produce power when and where it’s needed. With demand for electric power rising rapidly thanks largely to the expansion of AI data centers, the need for new, affordable energy sources to keep up is more critical than ever. Without it, costs will continue to rise.
This July, PJM released its 2025 capacity auction results, signaling a continuation of high energy prices for its 13-state service region.
The capacity auction ended at the price cap of $329.17/MW-day, even higher than last year’s record-breaking clearing price and more than 10 times higher than the clearing price from the 2024/2025 capacity auction. The results of the 2025 PJM capacity auction have forced families and overburdended communities to choose between turning the lights on or essentials like groceries for the week or medicine.
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About the New Jersey 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, visit www.sierraclub.org.