Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addressed over 400 business leaders at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s annual Energy and Environmental Policy Forum, held at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Somerset. During his remarks, Christie reflected on his administration’s approach to energy policy and criticized current Governor Phil Murphy’s handling of the state’s energy strategy.
“You don’t close multiple plants in the state as governor when you don’t have any state-generated energy to replace it,” Christie said. He argued that New Jersey’s current “energy affordability crisis” is a direct result of decisions made under the Murphy administration. “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.”
Christie stated that during his time as governor, New Jersey had achieved self-sufficiency in energy production and was able to export electricity out-of-state through partnerships with utility companies. He questioned how New Jersey now finds itself importing nearly 40% of its electricity.
He also accepted an award for his work in energy and environmental policy during his two terms as governor. The forum focused on rising energy costs—a prominent issue ahead of upcoming gubernatorial elections.
Many stakeholders, including NJBIA, had previously warned against Governor Murphy’s 2019 Energy Master Plan. This plan reduced reliance on natural gas and nuclear power while emphasizing offshore wind development, which has faced numerous setbacks.
As a consequence of becoming a net importer within the PJM grid, residents saw significant increases in electric bills this past summer. Some members of Murphy’s administration and Democratic lawmakers attributed these rate hikes to delays by PJM in advancing renewable projects.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about this and let me just say, yes, PGM 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.”
Christie acknowledged supporting wind power during his tenure but cautioned against relying too heavily on it: “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.”
Responding to recent criticism from Democrats regarding plant closures during his term—including Oyster Creek—Christie clarified: “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 closing -– which by the way, remember too was oldest operating (nuclear) plant in country when it was closed,” he added.
Looking ahead to New Jersey’s next gubernatorial term—whether Democrat Mikie Sherrill or Republican Jack Ciattarelli—Christie advised embracing natural gas as part of solving affordability challenges: “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?’”
He cautioned that even with prompt action it could take three-to-five years before new plants are operational due both to permitting processes and supply chain issues: “And so if you want to cut in line you’re going probably have pay big premium do it our ratepayers will pay for that too.”
Concluding his address, Christie encouraged NJBIA members and business leaders: “Continue be voice even stronger one” for their interests with incoming leadership. He emphasized early engagement with whoever becomes governor: “You need try make friends with whoever this new governor is early try get your agenda front list.”
