At NJBIA’s annual Energy and Environmental Policy Forum on Tuesday, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie advised business leaders on how to move forward with the next governor.
But he also looked to set the record straight on his energy policy past, while simultaneously taking aim at Gov. Phil Murphy’s policy direction as it relates to New Jersey’s energy affordability crisis.
“You don't close multiple plants in the state as governor when you don't have any state-generated energy to replace it,” Christie told a ballroom of more than 400 attendees at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Somerset.
“The crisis, which is the result of the decreased energy production in the state, is the creation of the Murphy administration. There's no other way to conclude it when you look at the fact we were energy self-sufficient in 2016 and in 2017 were an energy exporter.
“We had developed, along with our partners in the utility businesses, not only an ability to sustain all the demands we had in New Jersey, but also to export energy beyond that. … How do we get to the position now where we're importing near 40% of our electricity?”
Christie, who was one of eight recipients accepting an award for his work in the energy and environment sector during his two terms as governor, was speaking on the topic of energy costs -- one of the main hot button topics during both gubernatorial campaigns this year.
Many, including NJBIA, had warned of the Murphy administration’s 2019 Energy Master Plan, which stepped far away from natural gas and nuclear development and focused more on offshore wind, which never took flight due to a myriad of reasons.
As a result of New Jersey becoming a net importer of energy as part of the PJM grid, New Jersey residents saw major increases in their electric bills over the summer.
The Murphy administration and some Democrats laid the blame at PJM, asserting that some renewable energy projects in the state had not moved quickly enough through its queue.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about this and let me just say, yes, PJM is guilty of poor planning,” Christie said. “PGM is guilty of being a victim in some respects by premature plant closings that were absolutely demanded by the Biden administration.
“But Phil Murphy's actions, in my view, have been 75% of the cause of the problem. Let’s put the blame where it belongs.”
“I understand that the governor wanted to rely upon wind energy. And, by the way, I signed the first wind energy bill when I was governor. I'm not opposed to wind energy -– but only as a small part and certainly not as part of base that we need to turn the lights on every day,” Christie added.
The former governor, who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016 and 2024, also responded to some recent criticism by Democrats that he was, in fact, responsible for certain New Jersey power plant closures during his reign.
“You have some members of the State Legislature on the Democratic side saying, ‘Oh, yeah, it was Christie who closed Oyster Creek and caused all these problems.’ Let's be clear about the facts on this: Exelon closed Oyster Creek.
“Exelon came to the administration and said it was no longer economically viable for them to run the plant.
“We negotiated a 10-year closure plan to give PJM and the next administration enough time to fill in for what would be lost by the rest of the closing -– which by the way, remember, too, was the oldest operating (nuclear) plant in the country when it was closed,” Christie said.
Christie said New Jersey’s next governor – whether it’s Democrat Mikie Sherrill or Republican Jack Ciattarelli – will need to be more welcoming and accepting of natural gas to bring more affordability to New Jersey’s energy crisis.
“Their first step in my view would be to sit down with utilities and say, ‘What do we need to do to get you to open two or three new natural gas generation plants as quickly as possible?’” Christie said.
“But all of you understand, even if they do that, it's three to five years before they're open. Given the permitting processes that go on and the supply chain challenges that are out there to get the turbines and all the rest that you need.
“And so if you want to cut in line, you're going to probably have to pay a big premium to do it, and our ratepayers will pay for that, too.”
Christie encouraged NJBIA and the business and utility community to “continue to be a voice, and even a stronger one” when it comes to the next administration.
“When (the administration) just changes, they're looking to make friends early,” he said. “When they start to get settled in, they have figured out who their friends are, and it's harder to make new friends then.
“You need to try to make friends with whoever this new governor is early to try to get your agenda to the front of the list,” Christie said.
