Democratic Governor-Elects Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey champion energy policies that could spell bad news for the East Coast states, several energy policy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Affordability was a major factor in both gubernatorial races, with Sherrill and Spanberger both vowing to lower energy costs during their tenures as governor. Democratic energy policies backed by Sherrill and Spanberger could spike energy costs and strain grid reliability in the states, several energy policy experts warned.
The “election results are bad news for affordable energy. With climate-obsessed Democrats taking full control in Virginia, expect a return to costly net-zero mandates that raise electric bills and drive industry out of the state. In New Jersey, Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill will continue the state’s push for climate-driven energy policies that make power less reliable and more expensive,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told the DCNF. “The message is clear: energy costs will rise, reliability will fall and working families will pay the price.”
Spanberger and Sherrill’s campaigns did not respond to the DCNF’s multiple requests for comment.
Energy demand is on the rise for the first time in decades due to influxes of artificial intelligence data centers and onshore manufacturing.
New Jersey and Virginia share a power grid with many other states on the East Coast, as their grid is managed by the operator known as PJM Interconnection. Notably, states along the PJM grid are experiencing rising utility costs and several Democratic governors in the region and Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin attributed blame to the grid operator in recent months.
Past and present Democratic leadership along the PJM region, including in New Jersey and Virginia, set aggressive green energy targets in the past few years while phasing out reliable power plants. Sherrill and Spanberger both historically supported prioritizing “clean” energy resources, including intermittent sources like solar and offshore wind, and both voted for former President Joe Biden’s signature climate law known as the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
Several energy policy experts told the DCNF that Tuesday’s election results mean that New Jersey and Virginia will only continue to see energy cost increases and reliability challenges.
“The Biden administration’s rush to shut down conventional energy and replace it with wind and solar caused the most severe electricity price spikes in American history,” James Taylor, President of the Heartland Institute, told the DCNF. “Voters in New Jersey and Virginia chose to do the same thing all over again while expecting different results. They will be severely disappointed.”
Senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute Steve Milloy told the DCNF that “Democrat wins in New Jersey and Virginia governors’ races mean that electricity prices will continue to spiral upwards thanks to funding from the ongoing Green New Scam.”
Spanberger’s campaign website notes that her energy policies will protect the environment while lowering energy costs. Campaign materials note that Spanberger seeks to “expand and incentivize the development and deployment of solar energy projects in commonsense locations such as abandoned mine sites, former industrial sites, rooftops, and parking lots, and locations where the reduction in energy costs would have an impact on the local community, such as schools and public buildings.”
The website also notes the governor-elect will encourage other emissions-free energy resources like nuclear and geothermal. However, some energy policy experts are concerned that Spanberger’s comments on natural gas and voiced support for the “long-term goals” of the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) may mean that Virginia will pursue a rapid and expensive green energy transition under this new leadership.
“Governor-elect Spanberger might have campaigned on energy independence, but will prioritize climate-first energy policies. This is a serious misreading of the energy abundance moment we’re in,” Director of Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation Gabriella Hoffman told the DCNF. “Spanberger’s Affordable Energy Plan was heavy on flowery language but low on tangible specifics to bring down energy costs. Although she touted new nuclear fission, fusion energy, and geothermal, she prefers intermittent solar and offshore wind to new natural gas.”
While Spanberger promised to allow for natural gas when needed, she also said in an interview that “we really need to be focused and sort of thinking carefully about the lifespan of those [natural gas] projects and whether indeed they are the most cost-effective solution.”
Natural gas is a major energy source in Virginia, and it imports most of the natural gas it uses from other states, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Virginia has also closed most of its coal plants and set a goal for some major energy companies to deliver electricity from 100% “renewable” sources by 2050 through the VCEA.
“Despite her so-called moderate veneer, Spanberger will strengthen — not roll back — the flawed and costly VCEA of 2020 to transition the Commonwealth to 100% renewables by 2050. She’ll put Virginia back into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) that’ll raise energy costs on low-income Virginians and drive out businesses that are too ‘carbon-intensive,’” Hoffman told the DCNF. “The Commonwealth, sadly, could see more premature retirements of reliable coal and natural gas power plants under the new administration.”
New Jersey shut down all its coal plants in 2022 and pursued aggressive green energy targets as it is a part of the RGGI. Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy set a goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035, and the state is a net importer of energy, with one-fifth of its power supplied from generators in other states in 2023, according to data from the EIA.
Sherrill promised voters that as part of her “day one declaration,” she will “freeze utility costs.” However, Murphy told a local news outlet that he is “not sure” how Sherrill could accomplish this.
“Democrats had a good night and won governorships in two states that have not voted for a Republican presidential candidate in decades, but Republicans should regroup and focus on next steps to tout their economic wins and plans for the future,” Republican Strategist Mark Bednar told the DCNF. “Look for Republican campaigns around the country to spend the next year tying Democrat candidates to Mayor-elect Mamdani’s policies, and when it comes to energy affordability, to his opposition to supporting the fossil fuel infrastructure American communities need to prosper.”
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