NJDSC: Politico Debunks Jack’s False Claim About New Jersey Power Plants

Core of Jack’s energy policy stump speech is flat-out false

TRENTON, NJ – Can you count the lies per minute coming from the Ciattarelli campaign?

Here’s the latest, from Politico: His false claim that Governor Murphy shut down six power plants, when in reality four of those plants were closed for economic reasons or by GOP governor Chris Christie.

It's a tired old line that Jack has trotted out again and again while Mikie Sherrill lays out a real plan to end energy rate hikes and cut costs for families.

“Ciattarelli’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment” – go figure – with less than 30 days to go Jack is crashing out and spouting lie after lie.

Read more:

POLITICO's Weekly NY and NJ Energy: Murphy didn't shut down six power plants

By Mona Zhang

• FACT-CHECKING CIATTARELLI’S CLAIMS: As skyrocketing electric bills take center stage in New Jersey’s governor’s race, Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli keeps blaming Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy for shutting down six power plants that helped contribute to higher bills.

• But the six power plants that shut down during Murphy’s tenure weren’t all closed by the Democrat. Former Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s administration actually signed agreements to shut down nuclear plant Oyster Creek and coal plant B.L. England.

• Another two coal plants, Hudson Generating Station and Mercer Generating Station, shut down in 2017 due to economic forces. Due to competition from natural gas, neither plant had cleared PJM’s capacity auction price for two years before PSEG announced it was shutting down the plants.

• Ciattarelli’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment when asked about the other factors contributing to four of the plants’ closures.