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Mikie Sherrill Is A Climate & Clean Energy Champion

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Last Updated: 10/23/25

Mikie Sherrill, who was elected to represent New Jersey’s 11th congressional district in 2018, is a champion for clean energy and a leader in the fight against climate change. In Congress, Sherrill spearheaded legislation to expand clean energy tax credits and fought to establish programs to reduce methane pollution and to clean up brownfield sites. In Congress, Sherrill secured funding for zero-emission electric buses in her district, as well as millions in funding for flood mitigation, stormwater system improvements, and lead service line replacements. 

In 2024, Sherrill launched her campaign for New Jersey Governor, pledging to continue fighting for clean energy and environmental protections. Sherrill knows wind and solar energy are key to lowering utility costs, and has called clean energy the “next frontier” in New Jersey’s history of innovation. Sherrill has promised to work to lower utility costs while expanding clean energy by optimizing ratepayer protection funding and pressuring the state’s grid operator to plug clean energy into the grid to bolster supply. Sherrill pledged to declare a state of emergency over utility rates on day one and to freeze rate hikes for one year. Sherrill acknowledged the role climate change plays in increasing extreme weather and adverse health outcomes, and vowed to work to reduce toxic air pollution and to build climate-resilient infrastructure to help protect New Jerseyans when climate disasters hit.

Sherrill Is A Clean Energy Champion

• Sherrill has a history of supporting wind and solar development:
  • Sherrill pledged, as governor, to invest in the production of clean energy like solar, which she noted is “one of the cheapest energy sources to develop.” 
  • In her campaign for governor, Sherrill said solar was the “key” to lowering utility costs in New Jersey, and said she wanted to make the state a leader in community and utility-scale solar to drive down utility bills. 
  • During the October 2025 New Jersey Gubernatorial Debate, Sherrill said she would build an “energy arsenal” and scale solar and battery storage. 
  • In a 2024 op-ed, Sherrill called offshore wind the “next frontier” in New Jersey’s history of innovation, and touted its potential to create good-paying, union jobs, stabilize energy bills for families, and reduce reliance on foreign oil.
  • In 2022, Sherrill celebrated the federal government’s move to auction offshore wind rights on the New Jersey coast, saying New Jersey had the potential to be a “global leader in the renewable offshore wind space.” 
• Sherrill promised to work as governor to lower utility costs for New Jerseyans:
  • During the first New Jersey gubernatorial debate in September 2025, Sherrill pledged to declare a state of emergency on utility rate hikes on day one. 
  • During an August 2025 press conference, Sherrill vowed to declare a state of emergency over utility rates on, arguing that rising electric bills were “breaking the back of too many families when we have an overall affordability crisis.”
    • Sherrill acknowledged that “rate hikes are forcing families to make impossible choices between putting food on the table and paying for electric bills.”
    • Sherrill pledged that average New Jersey families would not see utility rate increases for one year under her plan. 
  • In October 2025, Sherrill attended the “Made In NJ” Manufacturing Day Forum in Freehold, where she reiterated her pledge to freeze rate hikes on day one and to build out clean energy generation.
    • Sherrill pledged to work with the manufacturing community to solve permitting issues, lower energy costs, and improve workforce development programs. 
• Sherrill ran several ads highlighting her plan to lower utility costs:
  • In a September 2025 ad, Sherrill said, “Day one as governor, I’m declaring a State of Emergency on Utility Costs. Using emergency powers to end these rate hikes and drive down your bills.”
    • In a second September 2025 ad, Sherrill featured headlines about her proposed utility bill freeze. 
  • In a May 2025 campaign video, Sherrill called out PJM for failing to add clean power to the grid, saying, “268 gigawatts of power is just waiting to be added to the grid. Most of it, actually, clean power. And PJM has taken far too long to add it, taking up to six years to permit and add these new projects to our grid. And here’s the kicker. Adding just 7 gigawatts of new power could have drastically reduced prices and improved reliability this summer.”
    • Sherrill accused PJM of failing to add clean power to the grid because of “Big Oil and gas interests on the board.” 
  • In her first campaign ad in April 2025, Sherrill highlighted driving down utility costs as a priority. 

• In a June 2025 op-ed for NJBIZ, Sherrill said she would work with the Legislature and Board of Public Utilities to optimize ratepayer protection funds, which offer temporary assistance to cover sudden rises in utility costs. 
• Sherrill cited the electricity shortage as the cause of utility-price hikes and said clean energy sources were “ready and waiting to come online to our grid” and would bring down energy costs.
  • Sherrill said she would seek to expand community solar projects on warehouses and commercial spaces, build solar fields on landfills, brownfields, and other underutilized spaces, and push for energy storage projects. 
  • In an October 2025 interview, Sherrill blamed the mismanagement of utilities for higher electricity costs. 
• Sherrill pledged to hold regional grid operators accountable for stalling clean energy projects, and said she would pressure PJM to plug clean energy into the grid, who she accused of being influenced by big oil and gas interests.
  • In July 2025, Sherrill criticized PJM over its planned utility rate increase and said the grid operator was giving preference to coal and oil while refusing to plug clean energy into the grid. 
  • During the first gubernatorial debate, Sherrill promised to create a dashboard on permitting to increase transparency, saying, “I’ll make sure that we have a report card online so you can see exactly where your money goes and hold me accountable when the state’s not performing well.”
    • Sherrill pledged to add “massive amounts of power to the grid” and hold PJM and Virginia data centers accountable for draining power from New Jersey’s markets. 
• During her remarks at the March 2025 Morris County Democrats Convention, Sherrill criticized Republicans for failing to invest in clean energy while utility rates increased. 

• Sherrill sponsored and supported legislation promoting clean energy and secured funding for clean energy projects:
  • Sherrill supported the Inflation Reduction Act and celebrated its investments in clean energy production and manufacturing. 
  • In 2021, Sherrill cosponsored the Revamping Appropriate Incentives for Solar Energy for (RAISE) the Roof Act, which expanded the solar investment tax credit to more families. 
  • In 2022, Sherrill secured rebate funding as part of the EPA’s Clean School Bus program to replace 10 old diesel buses with new zero-emission electric buses in NJ-11’s Parsippany-Troy Hills Township schools. 
• Sherrill criticized the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and its threats to clean energy projects that will hike utility costs:
  • In July 2025, Sherrill visited the BEMS West Solar Farm in Southampton Township and said the bill could pull the plug on the project, and lead to higher utility bills for New Jerseyans. 
  • Sherrill said Trump’s bill would slash investments that help New Jersey build resilient infrastructure, create good-paying jobs, and combat climate change, all while raising energy costs.
  • During an August 2025 press conference, Sherrill called out how the OBBBA would raise utility bills, saying, “Trump’s tax hike bill is raising utility costs by $220 each year.”
  • In October 2025, Sherrill spoke at the PIX11 Forum and called the OBBBA an “attack on our economy” that would raise utility costs. 
  • During the October 2025 New Jersey Gubernatorial Debate, Sherrill said the OBBBA raised energy costs and accused Trump of having “cut energy support amid a utility crisis.” 
• In her gubernatorial campaign, Sherrill highlighted the importance of taking action to ensure data centers did not increase New Jerseyans’ energy costs.
  • In October 2025, Sherrill noted the increased energy demand caused by data centers and said a lack of new energy generation in the state was causing utility rate hikes. 
  • In October 2025, Sherrill stressed the need to take action to reduce energy prices and ensure that data centers paid their fair share. 

Sherrill Supports Climate And Pollution Protections For New Jersey’s Air And Water

• During her gubernatorial campaign, Sherrill tied climate change to increased housing costs.
  • In an October 2025 interview, Sherrill said that because of climate change, New Jersey had some of the “most environmentally fragile places” and cited river flooding and the Jersey Shore’s increased risk from rising sea levels. 
• Sherrill said that as governor, she would work to build climate-resilient infrastructure to combat the threat of flooding, protect jobs in the forestry and farming industries, and increase families’ savings through lower insurance premiums. 
• During the first gubernatorial debate in September 2025, Sherrill acknowledged the role climate change plays in increasing and worsening extreme weather events, saying, “We’ve seen flash flooding here in New Jersey, killing 70 throughout the state. We’ve seen tornadoes and hurricanes like we’ve never seen before. Our climate is changing, and we need to act, because in too many of our urban areas, we’re seeing high incidences of asthma, for example.” 
• Sherrill linked climate change to negative health outcomes like asthma and said she would work to reduce toxic air pollution. 
• Sherrill pledged as governor to incentivize brownfields redevelopment to protect the environment and open up economic and housing opportunities.
• Sherrill supported U.S. involvement in the Paris Climate Agreement, saying the agreement affirmed the U.S. commitment to mitigate climate change, which she called a “pressing national security threat.” 
• In Congress, Sherrill supported legislation and secured funding for environmental protection efforts while working to ensure utilities did not increase rates:
  • In 2024, Sherrill secured funding for 15 projects in NJ-11, including nearly $1 million for new stormwater systems in Maplewood, nearly $1 million to replace lead service lines in Belleville, and over $4 million for preservation of the Drew Forest in Madison. 
  • In 2023, Sherrill cosponsored the Brownfields Redevelopment Tax Incentive Reauthorization Act, which allowed state and local governments, nonprofits, and developers to deduct the cost of environmental remediation of brownfields and vacant industrial and commercial areas. Sherrill noted the potential for these sites to be revitalized, citing a project in Bloomfield that established a community park and flood mitigation area on a former brownfield site.
    • Sherrill reintroduced the legislation in January 2025.
• In 2021, Sherrill cosponsored legislation to reduce toxic methane leaks at oil and gas facilities and directed the U.S. Department of Energy to establish a grant program for states to offset the impact of utility rate increases to low-income households.
  • Sherrill also sponsored the Mitigate Methane Now Act in 2020.
• Sherrill sponsored legislation to improve climate data collection and secured funding to mitigate extreme weather impacts:
  • In 2022, Sherrill sponsored the Providing Research and Estimates of Changes In Precipitation (PRECIP) Act, which provided funding to NOAA to collect new precipitation data and conduct studies.

• In 2022, Sherrill secured millions of dollars in funding for several projects in NJ-11 to mitigate flooding, strengthen water infrastructure, and reduce PFAS.