If New Jersey wants to reduce electricity costs by fixing the current imbalance in its energy supply and demand, it needs an integrated approach for increasing power generation that includes nuclear, says South Jersey Industries (SJI) President & CEO Michael Renna.
“We have got to bring on large-scale baseload nuclear energy in New Jersey if we want to even attempt to be able to drive down the cost of electricity in New Jersey,” Renna told an audience of more than 400 people at NJBIA’s recent Energy & Environmental Forum.
“The problem is we have this deficit now,” Renna said. “There is a new industrial revolution that's going on right now, and that is all around data centers and AI, and they use an enormous amount of energy. If New Jersey wants to compete in this space, we have got to solve this problem.”
Unless New Jersey brings more power online to meet increased demand, AI data centers and the large-scale cloud service providers will not come to New Jersey, he said.
“We are going to fall behind from an economic development standpoint,” Renna said. “Despite all the advantages New Jersey offers, we're going to end up falling behind, because those developers are going to go where the energy is.”
Increasing energy generation cannot be done overnight, Renna added, noting it takes at least five years to bring gas-fired power generation online.
“It's probably going to be closer to seven (years) when you factor in the permitting and the supply chain challenges that exist in New Jersey,” he said. “So, if we're dealing with a deficit right now where we're importing more energy – and then we are therefore subject to the prices associated with importing that energy – we are at least seven years away from any kind of meaningful generation being brought online in New Jersey.”
“And I will say this as a gas guy, it is absolutely an all-of-the-above strategy that starts and ends with nuclear” which is needed, Renna said.
To watch the entire fireside-style chat with Renna and NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka, go here.
