As state lawmakers wrap up work in Trenton, Climate Jobs New Jersey celebrates progress on building local clean energy, protecting ratepayers, and creating good union jobs.

Climate Jobs New Jersey, a coalition of labor unions, launched in January with a plan to create good union jobs, tackle the climate crisis, and make life more affordable for working families. In the first half of 2026, we have already seen effective progress on this mission. We thank Governor Sherrill and members of the legislature for passing legislation to set New Jersey on a path to expanding local clean energy and truly delivering for working people.

Notably, the Power NJ Act (A4881/S4296) will open New Jersey to a new source of reliable, emissions-free energy built here at home: nuclear power. The state will work to build over a gigawatt of new nuclear energy to meet New Jersey’s rising electricity demand and keep costs down for consumers. Proposed projects will be evaluated in part on plans to pay and treat workers fairly, ensuring the industry supports high-quality careers.

The Advanced Grid Technologies Act (A5188/S4411) will bring state oversight to supplemental transmission projects, ensuring that upgrades to our energy grid maximize efficiency and cost savings for consumers. The law incentivizes the use of advanced technologies to bring New Jersey’s grid into the 21st century, relying on the skilled work of New Jersey’s union workforce.

The Data Center Fair Share Act (A796/S731) will establish tariffs for large data centers with a goal to shield other customers from the costs of data center-driven electricity demand growth. The law will require the tariff to incentivize data centers to bring their own clean energy and to fund demand flexibility initiatives on the energy grid – these include energy efficiency upgrades, energy storage, demand response, and managed electrification. With this opportunity to channel data center development into investments in clean grid reliability for residential and commercial customers, New Jersey should ensure that this work creates an opportunity for highly skilled and trained union workers.

For too long, New Jersey residents have dealt with skyrocketing energy bills and watched energy production – and the jobs it creates – go out of state. The progress made in this portion of the legislative session will go a long way toward retaking control of our energy system and making life more affordable in New Jersey. Labor unions are excited to build on this progress and put our state on track to a stronger, more affordable, and brighter future.

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Climate Jobs New Jersey is a coalition of unions united to power New Jersey’s clean energy economy with union jobs and tackle the energy affordability crisis with a plan that works for every working family. With energy demand at its highest level in decades, we need to build clean energy in New Jersey, for New Jersey, to lower costs, create thousands of good union jobs in our state, tackle the climate crisis, and secure a brighter future for all New Jersey families and businesses. Learn more at https://climatejobsnj.com