New Jersey’s 2024 Energy Master Plan (EMP) serves as a long-term strategic roadmap for meeting the state’s climate and clean energy goals—including an 80% reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, as mandated by the Global Warming Response Act (GWRA), and the target of 100% clean electricity sales by 2035, as established in Executive Order No. 315.
This edition of the EMP builds on the 2019 EMP, incorporating the latest advancements in technology, policy, and programming to create a cost-effective, sustainable energy future. The 2024 EMP includes an accounting of progress made on the State’s carbon reduction strategies, a summary of stakeholder feedback collected throughout the EMP process, and an updated Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) based on economy-wide energy system modeling of New Jersey’s pathways for meeting near and long-term climate and energy goals.
The 2024 EMP was developed during a period of rapid change and growing complexity in the U.S. energy landscape. For the first time in two decades, national electricity demand is increasing annually, a trend expected to accelerate. In addition, New Jersey is navigating significant shifts within the PJM regional electricity market, including evolving resource adequacy rules and market design changes that are influencing electricity costs statewide.
At the federal level, ongoing uncertainty around the long-term availability and timing of clean energy funding, permitting processes, and regulatory support-particularly for large-scale infrastructure like offshore wind and transmission-poses challenges for project development and long-term planning.
This edition of the EMP therefore emphasizes the pillars of planning and decarbonization that would apply in a range of futures. As the energy landscape continues to evolve, ongoing tracking of policy shifts, market developments, and implementation progress will be essential to maintaining alignment with New Jersey’s clean energy and climate goals.
In the coming years, New Jersey will have to remain focused on energy affordability. However, there is no silver bullet addressing affordability, because energy pricing is the product of a multitude of factors ranging from global energy markets all the way down to the local distribution system. Therefore, the State should pursue a range of affordability measures including leveraging federal funds where available, reforms at PJM, investments in long-term assets like power generation, the transmission system, and the distribution system, utility regulatory reforms, programming that reduces bills for residents and businesses, and direct bill relief.
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