“This is a blatantly misleading, desperate smear from Jack Ciattarelli's MAGA allies and makes crystal clear they’re terrified that Mikie’s plan for a State of Emergency on Utility Costs is dominating the in-state conversation. This is a false, incoherent life preserver thrown to a desperate, lying candidate who’s covering up his 100% MAGA agenda that would only drive up costs,” said Mikie Sherrill for Governor spokesperson Sean Higgins.
Here’s what you need to know:
On Day One as governor, Mikie will declare a State of Emergency on Utility Costs to end the rate hikes.
Mikie’s energy plan also includes more solar, modernizing natural gas, and expanding nuclear generation capacity.
MAGA Republicans are manipulating Mikie’s words into appearing to have said the precise opposite of what she actually said. In the interview, Mikie was criticizing failed Democratic messaging that led to the belief that clean energy would require higher electric bills. She goes on to clarify that we can invest in clean energy that is cheap and efficient.
WNYC’s Nancy Solomon debunks Jack’s lies that Mikie Sherrill’s clean energy plan is going to raise electric rates, saying “there's no foundation” for that.
Mikie Sherrill: I mean, we just, we have to do better. And I think that vision, which I've laid out, my Affordability Agenda of driving down housing costs, investing in clean, cheap power. I tell because people, you know, again, sometimes our messaging in the Democratic Party, not great, meaning, I think for years, we've sort of said “we need to move into clean power,” and there's almost been this understanding “it's going to cost you an arm and a leg,” but if you're a good person, you'll do it.
Sherrill: So that, now that we're actually in that place, that we promised, it was going to be cheaper than any other source of power, people are skeptical. So I have to tell people in New Jersey like, look, “Texas is leading in solar,” and everybody in New Jersey sort of feels like, “If Texas is doing it, they're not doing it because it's just clean. It's got to be economical, right?” And we've sat on it in Jersey. We've only, you know, gone up solar into our grid about 25%. The national average, I think, is about 150%. So we've been sleeping on solar. We got to do more on that to drive down utility costs. Our grid operator is not getting clean power into the grid in the way it should. We've got to take that on.
Nancy Solomon, WNYC reporter: Ciattarelli is no angel when it comes to this stuff. I mean, [Jack] says that Mikie Sherrill’s clean energy plan is going to raise electric rates. It's just not true. I mean, that's, it's just, there's no foundation to say that.
