Attentive Energy Two Quarterly Update: Summer Across New Jersey

August 21, 2025

Quarterly Update
New Jersey Summer Roundup

This summer, the Attentive Energy team deepened its outreach across New Jersey. From hands-on workshops with students to timely energy conferences tackling grid reliability and offshore wind deployment, our team has been focused on building awareness around clean, reliable electricity in New Jersey and community conversations on offshore wind. As New Jersey’s energy needs grow, we’re committed to supporting scalable solutions like offshore wind that can meet demand quickly and affordably, and developing the infrastructure needed to power our State.

Spotlight on AE2 Community Advisory Board Member: American Dreamers Hosts a Summer Youth Program in Newark on Renewable Energy and Sustainability

In July, Attentive Energy teamed up with over 30 students from Newark for a hands-on summer workshop organized by AE2 Community Advisory Board Member American Dreamers, a NJ based non-profit focused on helping communities build financial strength, revitalize neighborhoods, and create long-term wealth. Hosted at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, the students took part in a “Find the Power!” scavenger hunt and got a crash course in offshore wind through virtual reality experiences that showcased clean energy careers. These activities, supported by a grant from Attentive Energy, were led by Attentive Energy team members and designed to spark an interest in everyday energy usage and renewable energy. Attentive Energy’s 2025 Community Advisory Board grants are helping power these efforts—supporting local development, workforce training, and sustainability programs.

Career Awareness with Operation Grow

Operation Grow helps high school and college students in northern New Jersey explore the future of clean energy through hands-on, engaging activities. The Attentive Energy team was excited to join 15 high school and college students from around Essex County to discuss generating clean reliable electricity with offshore wind and related career pathways in the clean energy industry. The session included thoughtful questions from the students, interactive discussions, and virtual reality experiences that brought offshore wind careers to life.

Clean, reliable electricity to meet the challenge ahead: Rising demand and rising costs discussed at key conferences

Attentive Energy team members were on the ground in New Jersey at two very timely and topical conferences in August. We were pleased to support Jersey Renews’ Powering the Future event, held at IBEW Local 400 in Wall, NJ. The focus was on upgrading the grid, expanding offshore wind and bringing tangible benefits to consumers and ratepayers. Large scale and deployable solutions like offshore wind are critical to meet future supply needs while advancing clean energy goals. A key takeaway: building public understanding of how energy is generated and used is critical to gaining support for new infrastructure across the state.

The team also attended the NJ Board of Public Utilities’ Resource Adequacy Technical Conference at The College of New Jersey. With capacity prices hitting record highs in PJM’s latest auction, the timing couldn’t have been better. Speakers tackled rising costs and reliability head-on, offering transparent, solutions-driven insights for New Jersey’s energy future. A few important takeaways on the energy market in NJ:

Load growth is real—and accelerating. PJM’s 2025 long-term load forecast projects a peak load growth of 32 GW from 2024 to 2030, with 30 GW of that increase attributed to data centers. This surge in demand is driving significant concerns about resource adequacy and electricity costs.
The increased demand and associated shortfall in available power supply is already causing upward pressure on electricity prices. PJM’s latest capacity auction saw a 22% increase in wholesale electric capacity prices.
While an increase in energy supply in general is needed to meet the projected load growth, programs that promote zero-fuel cost resources such as offshore wind are especially valuable to deliver price stability long-term. In fact, offshore wind is already commercially proven and can be deployed relatively quickly to help meet growing energy demand.
According to an analysis by MAREC Action, if 5.2 GW of offshore wind had been online during PJM’s 2025 auction, the additional capacity would have moved the price from the cap, where it cleared, to the floor.

Read comments submitted to the BPU on Resource Adequacy by MAREC ACTION.

Call to Action: Say Yes to Wind. Say Yes to a Cleaner, Stronger Future

Offshore wind is a powerful opportunity for East Coast communities—and it’s already delivering. It’s creating good local jobs, revitalizing our ports, improving public health, and generating reliable energy we can count on. As electricity demand grows and energy prices fluctuate, offshore wind offers a stable, homegrown solution built right here to serve our communities. It’s helping families breathe easier, supporting small businesses, and strengthening local economies.

But to keep the momentum going, we need more projects responsibly built and connected to the grid.

That’s why we’re coming together to say Yes to Wind. This is a grassroots campaign powered by everyday people—neighbors, workers, community leaders, advocates—who believe in practical progress and energy that works for all of us.
Sign the Petition!

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October 3 at the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program’s “Made in NJ Manufacturing Day”
October 9 at the Partnership for a Delaware Estuary Experience the Estuary Celebration