It’s no secret that it costs more and more to keep the lights on in New Jersey.
And for those who heat with electricity in the winter or depend on air conditioning in the summer, monthly utility bills are increasingly becoming unaffordable.
The growing crisis was a central issue during the gubernatorial campaign, with Democrat Mikie Sherrill promising as a candidate that she would declare a state of emergency on utility costs and freeze utility rates on “Day One as New Jersey’s next governor.”
On Tuesday, now-Gov. Sherrill did just that.
“First, I am issuing an executive order giving the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities the authority to pause new utility requests for additional rate increases, and I will freeze rate hikes to finally provide families with real relief on their energy bills,” she said in her inaugural address.
She was met with loud applause as she signed the order while she spoke, holding it up to show the large crowd at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
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