New Jersey residents are facing huge spikes in energy costs this year, and rising outrage is leading to speculation that it could cost the state's Democratic leaders in upcoming elections.
Most New Jersey households were hit with a 17-20% rate hike starting in June, approved by New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities. Garden State residents who spoke with Fox News correspondent CB Cotton expressed shock and confusion when they saw their new rates at the end of last month.
"$200 more, I know my electrical bill," one woman told Cotton in Rutherford, N.J., on Tuesday. "I was shocked. So to say the least, I'm very disappointed. This is killing us, and every time you turn around it's something more. You only get little pleasures in life that you enjoy, and my air conditioner is one of them."
New Jersey's electric bills currently rank 12th highest in the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal, with prices sitting roughly 15 percent higher than the national average.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is facing dissatisfaction from state residents who are seeing their energy bills skyrocket. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Critics have tied the spike in energy costs in part to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy's decision to shut down the state's nuclear and coal power plants, even without setting up meaningful replacements. Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate seeking to replace Murphy in the 2026 election, has capitalized on the high energy costs as a pain point for Democrats. Murphy himself is term limited from running for office again, but the Democratic nominee in the race, Mikie Sherill, is facing many of the same criticisms.
Ciattarelli has focused on Democrats pushing offshore windfarms and other alternative energy sources that have yet to come to fruition, arguing the party's shortsightedness has cost New Jersey residents in their wallets.
Sherill has sought to deflect blame to the region's grid operating company, however, arguing they are "ripping us off and refusing to connect new projects."
Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli (left) and Matt Servitto (right) attend 2025 Paisan Con at The Williams Center on May 10, 2025 in Rutherford, New Jersey. (Bobby Bank/Getty Images / Getty Images)
A StimSight Research poll of New Jersey residents released August 5 found that Sherill has a 6-point lead over Ciatarelli.
The November gubernatorial election is among those considered a bellwether for the 2026 midterm elections. Congressional Republicans currently cling onto a razor-thin majority nearly eight months into President Donald Trump's second term.
With just three months until the general election, Sherrill has 48% support and Ciattarelli has 42% support, according to a StimSight poll. Just 32% of respondents said they were definite about voting for Sherrill and 31% said they were definite about Ciattarelli, suggesting there's room for movement on either side.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-NJ, is now the Democratic nominee for New Jersey governor, running against Republican Jack Ciattarelli. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
New Jersey voters consider affordability and taxes the top issues in the contest. The poll had 53% of respondents say affordability was the top issue and 43% said it was taxes.
Sherrill, a sitting U.S. congresswoman representing New Jersey's 11th District, leveraged criticism of Trump and former Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk to emerge from a field of five experienced rivals in the June Democratic primary. She is a former Navy helicopter pilot and former federal prosecutor and has held her House seat since 2019.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.