Ciattarelli’s new TV ad smacks increasing electricity costs, says he’ll ‘clean house’ at BPU

A new TV ad for Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli takes aim at the rising cost of electricity in New Jersey, saying his would put halt a plan to base utility bills on income rather that usage, and said he would “clean house” at the Board of Public Utilities – which includes demanding the resignation of commissioners and the firing of political appointees who have implemented Gov. Phil Murphy’s energy plan.

In “Dumb,” Ciattarelli narrates his own ad bashing equity pricing for electric bills.

Script: “(Ciattarelli) Trenton’s latest dumb idea, equity pricing? So now your monthly electric bills are based on how much money you make, not on how much electricity you use. Who does that? When I’m governor, the days of Trenton Democrats raising taxes, wasting our money, and ruining our state are over. I’ll root out wasting corruption to cut spending. We’ll cap property taxes for families and freeze them for seniors. And I’ll end Murphy’s radical energy agenda that’s driving up our electric bills in New Jersey. It’s time to make our state affordable again. When I’m governor, we will.”

“New Jersey Democrats – including every one of the candidates for governor – have embraced Phil Murphy’s disastrous energy policies, and I am going to hold them all accountable for it this November – starting by cleaning house at NJ BPU,” Ciattarelli stated. “The policies adopted by the current BPU leadership have been an abysmal failure and New Jerseyans are paying the price with higher utility bills. And so, I’ll be calling for their resignation on Day 1 of my administration.”

Ciattarelli cited data on the BPU website that shows electricity rates going up by between 46% to 65% over the last five years.

All four BPU commissioners – Christine Guhl Sadovy, Zeon Christodoulou, Marian Abdou and Michael Bange – were appointed by Murphy.

“From the offshore wind farm boondoggle to the big government electric vehicle mandates to an equity pricing scheme that would base utility rates on income rather than usage, New Jersey Democrats have created an energy crisis in our state that is punishing working families, retirees, and small businesses with no end in sight,” Ciattarelli explained. “When I’m governor, we are going to enact a new Energy Master Plan for our state that invests in clean natural gas and nuclear to supercharge in-state energy production, increase supply to more than meet our demand, and lower costs in the process for every home and business owner in the state. On top of that, we are going to pull out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), kill offshore wind once and for all, and forever abandon big government plans for electric vehicle or home appliance mandates.”