By Assemblyman Alex Sauickie

It wasn’t long ago that I wrote in these pages about a suggestion that the federal government would ban gas stoves. That suggestion was followed by public backlash, and then a state­ment by the Biden administration that it would not pursue such a ban.

Faithful readers of this column will recall that I also discussed Gov. Mur­phy’s Energy Master Plan, which many say will phase out the use of natural gas in New Jersey. It sure looks that way, although there is some wiggle room in the fine print.

Forced electrification of homes and businesses will make energy more expensive, require tens of thousands of dollars in conversion costs for each home and building, and strain our electrical grid far beyond what it can handle. Remember during the very cold weather around last Christmas the notice from power companies ask­ing residents to conserve power due to the strain on the system from electric home heating? Without a substantial and expensive upgrade to the grid, we’ll have more power outages and brownouts than California does.

Because of the Biden administra­tion’s statement and the extreme consequences of a hasty, ill-planned conversion to all-electric power, one might conclude that it just won’t hap­pen in New Jersey. In fact, as I write this, the Philadelphia Inquirer has is­sued a report on Gov. Murphy’s latest energy proposals that quotes him as saying, “No one is coming for any­one’s gas stove. No one is walking into anyone’s kitchen. No one is going to be forced to do anything, in any way.”

Why did the gover­nor feel the need to say that? Perhaps because of questions sur rounding his “goals” of requiring residents to subsist on 100% “clean” energy by 2035, less than 12 years from now.

His plan includes converting hun­dreds of thousands of homes and businesses from natural gas to electric heating and cooling systems. Now, he’s made his plan even more aggres­sive and expensive by mandating that all new cars and light-duty trucks sold in New Jersey to be zero-emission by 2035.

But while he’s telling you not to wor­ry about keeping your gas stove, he’s telling the energy-regulating Board of Public Utilities to “consider” tougher building electrification targets, pres­suring gas companies to “minimize investment in new infrastructure,” and even converting gas pipelines to provide decarbonized heating and cooling. That sure sounds like gas companies supplying a lot less gas.

In fact, Murphy’s latest order refers to a “shrinking customer base” for gas companies. So it may be true that nobody’s coming for your gas stove, but somebody is coming for your gas supply. What you do with your obso­lete gas stove, clothes dryer and water heater will be up to you. Maybe you’ll have to call that company that says in their ads that they’ll take whatever “junk” you point at.

Government officials in New York City and Los Angeles have disposed of pretense and enacted outright bans on gas energy in new construction. San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle also have varying restrictions on the use of natural gas. The idea that this can’t happen in New Jersey unfortunately ignores what’s already happening in places governed by people with an ideological distaste for low-emission energy sources just because they fall under the label of “fossil fuel.”

In case you’re skeptical of these ex­pensive, anti-consumer policies but willing to go along in the spirit of fighting carbon emissions, please keep in mind that over the past five years, China has commissioned 226 domestic coal-powered plants and 96 coal plants in other countries, according to USA Today. And China accounts for only half of global coal plant growth.

The result of these policies is not reduced overall carbon emissions. It’s tens of thousands of dollars out of your pocket without anything to show for it except more blackouts and brownouts.

Alex Sauickie is a life-long Jackson resident who represents his hometown and 13 other towns in the State Assembly.

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Note: This opinion piece originally appeared in The Jackson Times by Jersey Shore Online in its publication dated February 25, 2023.