In this news:
Democrats are in for a long, hot summer.
The party that has so publicly pledged itself to making New Jersey a more affordable place to live will be sweating it out as electricity bills go up an average of 25 bucks a month across the state.
So, what’s driving the rate hikes? According to some GOP legislators, it’s the push towards renewable and green energy sources, but the real answer is supply and demand.
New Jersey imports more power than it produces and that makes us vulnerable to the whims of the market. If you’re looking for someone to blame, don’t tilt at the windmills.
It’s still crucial for states to focus on renewable energy, in addition to other sources like natural gas and nuclear, in order to meet the increasing demands of the current technology.
AI data centers are multiplying like spotted lanternflies and they consume an ungodly amount of electricity. Crypto mining is somehow still a thing, and one bitcoin farm consumes as much energy as a small country.
When we can’t meet our own demand, we have to pay for someone else to supply.
A very noticeable increase to monthly utility bills is bad news for Democrats who pledged their devotion to the gods of affordability following a too close for comfort gubernatorial election a few short years ago.
For a lot of families $20 or $25 a month is a significant increase, you could buy half a dozen eggs with that kind of money.
Party leaders are already plotting stopgap measures to lessen the blow, but the only lasting solution is to widen the net on how we power our state.
Award-winning illustrator and children’s book author Drew Sheneman has drawn political cartoons for The Star-Ledger since 1998. His work is syndicated nationally through Tribune Content Agency. Find him at
Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting with a subscription.
.png)
