If the states do not confront America’s growing energy crisis head-on, the political stalemate currently being realized in New Jersey will be repeated across the country.
New Jersey’s skyrocketing electricity costs and the voter backlash they’ve triggered ought to worry every other state in the country. Energy prices are rising, capacity is shrinking, and too many politicians are clinging to policies that make both problems worse. As a former senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and vice chairman of the Digital Consumer and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, I’ve learned how vital it is to build new generation capacity and modernize our electric grid. Fortunately, states across the Southeast are taking that challenge seriously — while others, such as New Jersey and California, are not.
New Jersey ratepayers are in sticker shock, and most have had their bills jump by close to 20% since June. GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli is right to call out the political establishment for closing plants and blocking new ones. Regardless of who wins the state’s governor election, the issue of rising energy costs won’t disappear — and this problem is not confined to the Garden State either.
BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE, BUILD THE AI BOOM
California offers an even clearer cautionary tale. State leaders waged war on traditional energy, shutting down nuclear plants, choking off natural gas projects, and driving out refineries with red tape. The result? Californians now pay the second-highest electricity rates in the nation, just behind Hawaii — a direct consequence of letting ideology trump common sense.
These decisions have failed ratepayers. Everyone knows power demand is growing faster than supply. Forty years ago, households mainly powered lights, TVs, and refrigerators. Today, that same grid must handle smartphones, laptops, routers, security systems, electric cars, and a flood of AI-driven data centers that will multiply electricity demand exponentially. Yet, our leaders have allowed coal plants to close, nuclear facilities to be dismantled, and new pipelines to be blocked — even as the country’s appetite for power explodes.
The Southeast, however, has made better decisions. Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas, Louisiana, and Alabama are proving that reliable, affordable, and abundant energy is still possible in America.
Mississippi has just broken ground on the Delta Blues Advanced Power Station — the state’s first new natural gas plant in 50 years — set to become operational in 2028. Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) is also charting the course toward the next generation of nuclear power because he understands that nuclear power is among the safest and most efficient sources of power in the world.
Florida, which has four commercial reactors in operation today, is building new gas-fired generation and looking ahead to small modular reactors to accommodate its increased population base and business. Georgia has gone a step further by adding a new nuclear unit in the past year — the first in a generation — and will do it again. That’s leadership.
This forward-looking approach is already paying dividends. By ensuring reliable power, Southeastern states are attracting new manufacturing, data centers, and high-tech investment that blue states can only dream of securing. A single hyperscale data center can generate hundreds of millions in annual economic activity and support thousands of local jobs. Georgia’s own study found that one new facility alone would generate $431 million in yearly output and nearly 2,000 jobs. It’s no wonder AVAIO Digital, a data center developer, just announced a $6 billion data center investment in Mississippi — because the state can actually power it.
These massive new industries need consistent baseload power that renewable energy alone can’t yet provide. They need real, dependable energy. To do so, they need to save current power plants, constructing new natural gas infrastructure, hastening new nuclear projects, and investing in a robust transmission network. States that act decisively to build capacity will win the jobs, the investment, and the future. Those that don’t will face decreased reliability and economic decline.
ENERGY ABUNDANCE, NOT NET ZERO, WILL LOWER ELECTRICITY PRICES
New Jersey and California show what happens when states ignore capacity constraints, while Mississippi and Georgia demonstrate the benefits of planning ahead. States that expand their generation capacity will attract investment, while states that block new projects will continue to see rising costs and slower growth.
Nevertheless, thanks to conservative leadership in the Southeast, America still has a region ready to power its future and remind the rest of the country what real energy leadership looks like. Now it’s time for the rest of the country to follow suit.
Gregg Harper was a member of Congress from Mississippi, where he sat on the Energy and Commerce Committee and was the chairman of its Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection.
