The climate crisis reached another grim milestone in New Jersey. Throughout the summer, residents have repeatedly breathed in dangerous pollution from Canadian wildfires while global temperatures have reached new heights, harming our health and forcing us to seek refuge indoors. Yet for many of us, the call is coming from inside the house. The fossil fuels we burn in our buildings are a major driver of our emissions, making up 28% of them.
Luckily, we have a historic opportunity to build a clean-energy future in our homes and businesses. Thanks to Gov. Phil Murphy’s Executive Order 317, our state is beginning an overdue conversation about how to measurably reduce emissions from the methane gas system, following in the footsteps of states such as Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. Yet as this process begins, we ask: Can we choose another path?
Around 73% of New Jerseyans rely on methane gas for heating and cooking, exposing them to a cocktail of toxic, harmful pollutants that cause 12.7% of childhood asthma nationwide and benzene levels worse than secondhand smoke when burned inside. When vented outdoors, pollution from burning fossil fuels in our homes contributes to the formation of smog, helping to drive poor air quality across the state.
Utilities are barreling ahead with plans that would spend billions, paid for in our monthly gas bills, to maintain the gas distribution system. These plans assume that everyone who uses gas today will still do so 50 years from now. We know that’s not the case. With up to $4 billion in federal incentives coming from the Inflation Reduction Act to help New Jerseyans adopt highly efficient, all-electric appliances like heat pumps and home upgrades, more New Jerseyans will choose to leave the gas system in favor of the health, safety, economic and climate benefits of all-electric homes.
As households electrify, gas bills will rapidly increase for those who remain on the system. According to the Board of Public Utility’s own research, annual gas bills will increase 35% by 2030 as more residents upgrade their homes with clean energy. If the price of natural gas itself continues to rise, as it has done over the past two years, New Jerseyans will be hit with rising costs on both sides of their gas bill. Rather than allow the status quo to drive an affordability crisis, we should plan ahead for an affordable clean-energy future that works for all of us.
The BPU’s future-of-gas proceeding is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a healthier, more affordable New Jersey. Thanks to innovations in highly-efficient heat pump technology, and increasingly expensive gas rates, today New Jersey households can save up to 41% on their annual energy bills by swapping gas for electric, and up to 47% by adding in weatherization and insulation. Households in draftier homes could save customers anywhere from $1,550 to $3,240 per year, putting money back in their pockets for groceries, childcare and other daily necessities.
Beyond solutions for individual homes and businesses, Massachusetts, New York and cities around the world are exploring new approaches that enable entire communities to upgrade to clean energy. In Massachusetts, a new project will rely on a combination of heat pumps and the ambient underground temperature of the earth to comfortably heat and cool 40 homes and businesses year-round. This networked geothermal project will not only replace methane gas, but reduce emissions by 60% and promises to reduce energy bills as well. In New Jersey, Princeton University is nearing completion of its own geo-exchange system that can serve as a template for how to equitably allow communities across the state to reap the benefits of clean energy in their homes.
New Jersey is at a crossroads: We can continue down the road of throwing billions of dollars of our hard-earned money into a dilapidated, aging gas system that puts our health at risk, or we can chart a new path to invest in healthier homes that save people money and protect us against the worst impacts of climate change. We hope the BPU will put us on the path that prioritizes our health, safety and our climate.