Opinion: Why New Jersey needs a rate school now — and why it matters for every resident

OPINION

New Jersey is at an inflection point. Our energy system is transforming faster than our regulatory workforce can keep up. Utilities are modernizing grids, electrification is accelerating, and affordability pressures are rising for families and small businesses. Yet the people responsible for reviewing billions of dollars in infrastructure investments — the analysts, attorneys, economists, engineers, advocates, and commissioners — often enter the field without structured training in the fundamentals of ratemaking.

That knowledge gap affects everyone. When regulatory staff are stretched thin or learning on the job, rate cases can take longer, decisions become harder, and ratepayers shoulder the consequences.

New Jersey deserves a regulatory workforce equipped with the tools, context, and confidence to evaluate complex filings and make decisions that balance reliability, affordability, and equity. That is why CESAC (Clean Energy and Sustainability Analytics Center)  launched the New Jersey Rate School — a public private partnership designed to strengthen the state’s regulatory ecosystem and prepare the next generation of professionals who will steward New Jersey’s energy future.

Rate School is built on a simple idea: regulation is a profession, and practicing professions requires training. Law schools teach case law. Engineering programs teach design principles. Business schools teach financial analysis. But utility regulation — a field that determines how much every household pays for essential services — has historically lacked structured, accessible, New Jersey specific education.

The Rate School program changes that. Participants will learn how rates are designed, how utilities recover costs, how capital investments are evaluated, how affordability programs work, and how emerging technologies — from distributed energy resources to advanced metering — affect regulatory decisions. They will practice reading real filings, analyzing testimony, and understanding the perspectives of utilities, consumer advocates, environmental organizations, and regulators.

Rate School must be designed to focus on equity. New Jersey’s energy landscape is shaped by disparities in income, housing, and access to clean technologies. Regulators and stakeholders need tools to evaluate how decisions affect different communities — and how to design policies that expand benefits rather than widen gaps. Rate School integrates equity analysis into every module, ensuring that affordability and fairness are core competencies are not afterthoughts.

Rate school initiative also strengthens New Jersey’s workforce pipeline. Many talented early career professionals would like to work in public service but lack exposure to utility regulation. Rate School provides a pathway into a field that offers stable careers, meaningful impact, and opportunities to shape the state’s clean energy transition. For mid-career professionals, it offers a chance to deepen expertise and expand leadership capacity.

Rate school benefits extend beyond government. Utilities gain staff who understand regulatory expectations. Advocates gain colleagues who can analyze filings with confidence. Community organizations gain partners who can translate technical concepts into accessible language. And ratepayers gain a regulatory system that is faster, more transparent, and more capable of protecting the public interest.

New Jersey has long been a national leader in clean energy ambition. But ambition requires capacity. As the state advances offshore wind, modernizes transmission, expands energy efficiency, and prepares for widespread electrification, the complexity of regulatory cases will only grow. A strong regulatory workforce is not a luxury — it is a prerequisite for achieving the state’s goals while keeping energy affordable.

Rate School is an investment in people, in institutions, and in the future of New Jersey. It is a commitment to building a regulatory system that is prepared, resilient, and grounded in public service. And it is an invitation — to students, professionals, advocates, utilities, and community leaders — to join in strengthening the foundation of our energy future.

New Jersey deserves a regulatory workforce as strong as its ambitions. Rate School is how we can build it.

Upendra Chivukula is a former assemblyman and Board of Public Utilities commissioner.