the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, New Jersey’s skyrocketing electricity bills are sparking outrage, and voters are pointing fingers squarely at Governor Phil Murphy’s energy policies. According to the latest Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll, conducted in partnership with the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey, utility companies top the blame list — but nearly one in five voters now say Murphy himself is responsible for the surge in costs.
Murphy’s administration has aggressively promoted data center development — particularly for cryptocurrency and AI projects — as a path to economic growth. But these massive facilities are power-hungry, and critics say Murphy failed to ensure the grid could handle the demand without driving up costs for everyday New Jerseyans.
“The narrative about these price increases is still very much up in the air,” said Dan Cassino, Executive Director of the FDU Poll. “The fact that we’re not seeing movement in how people view the supply side points to a real lack of leadership on these matters.”
Who New Jersey Voters Blame for Higher Power Bills
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Utility companies: 26%
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Governor Murphy: 19%
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Energy producers: 10%
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State Legislature: 9%
The partisan split is clear:
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Republicans overwhelmingly blame Murphy (33%) and the Legislature (18%).
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Democrats point the finger at utility companies (31%) and the federal government (22%).
Cassino summed it up:
“Republicans blame Democrats in Trenton; Democrats blame Trump and what they see as greedy companies.”
Murphy’s Data Center Push Backfires
One of the poll’s most telling findings: independent voters are increasingly skeptical of Murphy’s high-tech economic growth strategy. The share of independents who say the state should simply stop building new data centers jumped to 25%, up from 19% in February.
When asked how to meet the rising energy demands:
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34% want more nuclear power
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29% favor new natural gas plants
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25% say stop building data centers altogether
Among Democrats, support for natural gas plants rose seven points since February, while independents moved away from fossil fuel expansion entirely.
Eric DeGesero of the Fuel Merchants Association cut to the chase:
“Green power isn’t being artificially kept off the grid; it’s just too unreliable right now. We’ll see what the public thinks after a summer of record high electric bills.”
Partisan Energy Divide
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Democrats: 54% prefer green energy, 22% nuclear, 17% natural gas
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Republicans: 38% natural gas, 36% nuclear, 21% green energy
With no clear consensus and Murphy’s administration doubling down on energy-intensive projects, the stage is set for an explosive debate heading into the next gubernatorial race.
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The worst elected official ever……..this guy is a POS and enjoys his estate in Italy than relaxing at the Jersey Shore………
It’s a longer flight to catch him lounging…………………….
So sad he couldn’t buy his unqualified, do-nothing wife a senate seat.
The lockdown was very hard on her. Do you have any idea how hard it was to find decent staff for the villas in Tuscany and Costa Rica during a pandemic? And she had to cancel at least 50 tennis dates.
People have no idea the sacrifices the Murphy family made.
Do you really think he is the worst? I don’t know, really think about that one. What about Corine, remember the company he was working for there was a loss of billions of dollars they didn’t know where it went,Hummmm, what about Christie Whitman? Remember, she took big money from the pension authority to pay for all the construction. Remember that One please stop you don’t know your information.
November can’t come soon enough. Vote for Jack to get New Jersey back!