New Jersey has stepped up its fight with PJM Interconnection, the massive grid operator that manages electricity for 65 million people across 13 states and Washington, D.C. Governor Phil Murphy last week signed two new laws aimed squarely at reforming PJM’s opaque governance and giving the public a clearer view of how utilities wield their votes inside the system.
“These bills are about accountability,” Murphy said. “For too long PJM has operated in ways that drive up bills for New Jersey families without delivering the new generation we need. We’re demanding a system that’s fair, transparent, and responsive to the states it serves.”
Murphy’s frustration isn’t unique. Governors in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Illinois have also called for PJM reforms. But New Jersey’s electricity bills — which jumped nearly 20 percent after PJM’s 2024 capacity auction — put the issue into sharper relief. The state has already rolled out a $430 million relief package for ratepayers, and another price hike is expected next year.
Two-pronged approach
The first new law, a resolution sponsored by Sen. John Burzichelli, directs the Board of Public Utilities to scrutinize PJM’s Reliability Pricing Model — the mechanism behind the controversial energy auction. Burzichelli didn’t mince words: “The auction that caused this spike is broken. We need to know why, and we need reforms that cut costs while opening the door to new energy sources.”
The second law takes aim at secrecy. Assembly Bill 5463 forces major utilities — including Public Service Electric & Gas, Atlantic City Electric, and Jersey Central Power & Light — to disclose how they vote in PJM’s complicated committee system. Until now, PJM has only published aggregate results, making it nearly impossible for the public to know how individual companies shaped decisions that directly affect bills.
Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, a co-sponsor, argued that disclosure will “hold utilities accountable for the choices they make inside PJM, and start to rebuild public trust.”
An opaque system
PJM’s decision-making runs through layers of committees that function a bit like Congress. At the top is a Members Committee, where each sector — utilities, generators, consumer advocates — gets a single vote. Below that are technical committees where companies vote individually. Independent power producers, often holding multiple affiliates, wield outsized influence at these levels.
For consumer advocates, this opacity is maddening. “The lower committees decide which proposals ever make it to the top,” said Clara Summers of the Citizens Utility Board. “Right now, we don’t know how any company voted. The disclosure bill is a game-changer.”
She recalled how a proposal to simply add a clean energy expert to PJM’s board was quietly killed in a secret ballot. “If something that harmless can be blocked behind closed doors,” she said, “imagine the impact on issues tied to billions in electricity costs.”
The wider fight
States are also pushing for reforms to cut PJM’s high capacity prices, streamline its clogged interconnection queue for renewables, and expand transmission planning. Maryland and Delaware have already adopted their own transparency laws, and bills have been introduced in at least eight more PJM states.
For its part, PJM insists it’s being scapegoated. In a statement, the grid operator argued that “price increases reflect market realities of supply and demand, not flaws in governance.”
But New Jersey lawmakers say that’s missing the point. “Transparency doesn’t solve everything overnight,” Summers acknowledged. “But it finally tells us whether utilities are voting in line with the state’s clean energy goals — or against them.”