It's time to learn the real cost of Phil Murphy’s total electrification plan | Opinion

Regarding "New Jersey needs a new Energy Master Plan. Why? The world has changed," USA TODAY Network New Jersey, Feb. 7:

Last month, Gov. Phil Murphy announced he was shelving his update of the Energy Master Plan until 2024 so there would be time to evaluate how recent policy changes impacted his original plan. Many of Murphy’s supporters were afraid he’d grown skittish about the EMP due to cost concerns. Last week, Jane Cohen, the governor’s top adviser on energy policy, wrote in these pages to assuage those fears. While her piece did an excellent job of reassuring the governor’s environmental base, taxpayers should still be concerned about the cost to “electrify everything,” one item Cohen did not address.

Indeed, in his seven years of football spiking on “clean energy,” there is one thing Murphy has never discussed — the cost to retrofit every building in the state with electric heat. At a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, it will simply cost every family, business and taxpayer more. The existing fossil fuels that heat over 85% of our homes —natural gas, heating oil and propane — all have paths to achieving net zero emissions, yet the governor’s Energy Master Plan allows for only one choice — electrification.

In December 2021, we got a sneak peek at what all-electric heating would cost when the Murphy administration proposed that all boilers in apartments, schools and commercial buildings be converted to electric when their current system needed to be replaced. The NJDEP disclosed the cost to operate an electric boiler would be four to five times more than a natural gas boiler. What the Murphy administration didn’t disclose was that it would cost $2 million per building to upgrade the electrical system to do so. Many towns have multiple public buildings, as well as apartments and commercial buildings, that would be impacted. When confronted with the retrofit costs and potential property tax increases, the governor’s comment was “no comment.” Less than 90 days later, the administration abandoned the proposal.

In her piece, Cohen leaves the reader with the impression that there is up to a $14,000 rebate for electrification of a home. That is true. But there are a few important caveats that were omitted. First, this is the maximum amount of the rebate. So, the next question is, what is total the cost to electrify a house? According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, it’s approximately $35,000. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul states it is $21,000 for heating conversion, but she uses cherry-picked, low-ball assumptions and hasn’t released the background document her assumptions rely upon. Whatever the cost, it’s far more expensive to replace your existing system than to simply use net-zero carbon alternatives in the future.

An even more glaring omission from the piece is that the $14,000 rebate is limited to those earning 150% of area median income. While it’s critical for Murphy to ensure electrification for low and moderate income communities, what about everyone else?

Here are six random towns and what 150% of HUD Median Income is for a family of four:

• Haddonfield: $111,450

• High Bridge: $145,050

• Howell: $127,500

• Paramus: $131,250

• Parsippany: $126,600

• Plainsboro: $145,050

If you are a family of four and earn more than the HUD limits, you receive no more than $4,000 from a separate rebate. And for those in low and moderate income communities, while you may get a rebate for some of your electrification, you pay more in higher property taxes for schools, municipal, and county buildings, and grocery stores.

New Jersey residents deserve to know the true costs of the governor’s electrification plan. That’s why the Legislature needs to consider S-2671 , sponsored by Sen. Vin Gopal and state Sen. Holly Schepisi, which requires a study of costs and a delegation of legislative authority before Murphy can propose regulations to electrify everything.

While we all support clean energy goals, we need to make sure we get there in a way that’s sustainable and affordable for all New Jersey families.

Eric DeGesero is executive vice president of the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ energy master plan: What's the cost of going all in on electric?