A pitch by Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill to freeze energy rates for a year if she is elected governor in the fall could boost affordability for New Jersey residents amid a steep and continuing spike to wholesale electricity prices — but designing such a freeze won’t be simple.

Sherrill’s path to rate caps would prove winding because the price-setting capacity auctions spurring recent rate spikes fall outside of state officials’ control, and offsetting those increases elsewhere could cost the state hundreds of millions in revenue, risk delaying new power generation, or leave ratepayers with larger bills down the line.

New Jersey and the 12 other states on the grid run by PJM Interconnection have seen electricity prices soar as artificial intelligence data centers’ mammoth energy needs pu

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