Low Voltage Relief: Sherrill's $25 Credit Won't Keep the Lights On, Kanitra Says
The Assemblyman says a $25 bill credit is an insult to families who spent days without power in dangerous heat.
TRENTON — Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s newly touted “ratepayer relief” is neither new nor much of a relief, according to Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R-10th), who blasted the administration this week for repackaging a Murphy-era electric bill credit at a fraction of its original value.
The credit at the center of the dispute — a one-time payment applied to every residential electric bill in New Jersey this August — was launched under former Gov. Phil Murphy at $100 per customer. Under Sherrill, it has been reduced to $25. Low-income households will receive additional monthly credits of $50 in August, September, and October through the state’s Residential Energy Assistance Payment program, down from $175 under the previous administration.
Sherrill unveiled the measure at a July 7 press conference framing it as part of a $90 million investment in energy affordability — days after Independence Day weekend storms knocked out power to more than 200,000 customers statewide, with tens of thousands left in the dark for several days during a stretch of extreme heat. Kanitra and his district-mate, Assemblyman Greg McGuckin, joined a chorus of republicans that demanded accountability from Sherrill, the BPU, and JCP&L.
That timing did not sit well with Kanitra, whose district absorbed some of the worst of the outages.
“When your electric bill is $500 or $600 a month and you don’t have power in the sweltering heat, $25 bucks means nothing,” Kanitra said.
“Twenty-five dollars doesn’t even cover a fast-food bill for a family, let alone deliver ratepayer relief or increase grid reliability. Sherrill celebrated at the FIFA World Cup games she criticized and then held a press conference on affordability, while struggling residents in Ocean and Monmouth counties sat at home in dangerous heat. It just shows how out of touch she is.”
— Assemblyman Paul Kanitra
The assemblyman argued the credit fails on every metric that matters — it does nothing to lower monthly bills that have soared into the hundreds of dollars, and nothing to harden a grid that buckled under a summer storm. He pointed to the governor’s appearance at FIFA World Cup matches — events she had previously criticized — while residents of Ocean and Monmouth counties sat in sweltering homes, calling the contrast evidence of an administration out of touch with the people paying the bills.
Kanitra’s broader critique extends past the credit itself to the state’s energy posture. Sherrill’s continuation of Murphy-era strategy — offshore wind, expanded solar, and what he characterized as nominal bill credits — offers no relief in either the short or long term, he said, arguing that only a full reversal in Trenton, whether by Democrats adopting Republican energy policies or voters replacing them, will change the trajectory.
The exchange is the latest in a string of Republican broadsides over the state’s storm response. Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and Kanitra demanded answers from utilities and regulators after the holiday weekend outages, and Assemblyman Alex Sauickie (R-12th) has called for a Board of Public Utilities hearing into the failures.
The administration has not responded to the assemblyman’s characterization of the credit reduction.
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