DCCC: What North Jersey is Reading: Tom Kean Jr. is to Blame for NJ’s Affordability Crisis
February 25, 2026, 4:29 pm | in
What North Jersey is Reading: Tom Kean Jr. is to Blame for NJ’s Affordability Crisis
In a blistering new column in NorthJersey.com, Tom Kean Jr. is getting called out for his cost-spiking record that has jacked up electricity bills and made life less affordable for New Jersey families.
When it comes to soaring electricity prices across New Jersey, Kean Jr. “made matters worse by voting for a GOP budget bill that slashed clean energy tax credits he once claimed to support,” the columnist writes.
Because of Kean Jr.’s vote, “four major clean energy projects in our state have been canceled or delayed, costing us more than 7,900 good-paying jobs and $2.7 billion in investment.”
Kean Jr.’s disastrous vote is projected to “raise New Jersey families’ annual energy bills by $180 by 2030 and eliminate 10,000 jobs in that same year alone.”
Read for yourself how Kean Jr. has voted to spike costs for New Jersey:
In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump once again tried to paint a rosy picture of an economy that working families simply aren’t experiencing. Here in New Jersey, people feel the truth every time they open their bills. Household electricity costs have climbed more than 15%, driven in large part by federal policies that undermine clean energy and limit the affordable options available to our state.
New Jersey has felt the consequences firsthand. Four major clean energy projects in our state have been canceled or delayed, costing us more than 7,900 good-paying jobs and $2.7 billion in investment. These were jobs manufacturing components, installing solar, upgrading our grid but most importantly, jobs that support families and keep New Jersey at the forefront of innovation.
Rep. Tom Kean Jr., the Republican who represents New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, made matters worse by voting for a GOP budget bill that slashed clean energy tax credits he once claimed to support. Those credits spurred innovation, attracted private investment, and created jobs.
[Kean Jr.’s] vote for OBBBA is projected to raise New Jersey families’ annual energy bills by $180 by 2030 and eliminate 10,000 jobs in that same year alone.
This isn’t just about economics. It’s also about our health, and our family’s safety. In his first year back in office, the President gutted 31 pollution protections and cut disaster preparedness funding, leaving states like ours to shoulder the cost of increasingly severe storms and outages. After living through Sandy and Ida, New Jerseyans know exactly how dangerous and expensive that neglect can be.
With the midterms approaching, New Jerseyans have an opportunity to hold Kean Jr. and his Republican colleagues accountable. They've raised our utility costs while driving clean energy jobs out of our state. They’ve undermined the industries that could make New Jersey a national leader in affordable, reliable, homegrown energy.
