New Jersey energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in New Jersey

New Jersey plants pay 15.63 cents per kWh for industrial power as of Jul 2026, which puts the state 60% over the national average and 42 of 51 in the country, counting from the cheapest.

Current prices in New Jersey

  • Industrial electricity: 15.63 cents per kWh (Jul 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in New Jersey typically pays: 19.17 cents per kWh.
  • New Jersey does not report an industrial natural gas price for the latest month; plants there should use their utility contract rate.
  • Just below New Jersey on the price ladder: Illinois at 11.87, Vermont at 13.07, Maine at 13.94 cents. Just above: Maryland at 16.21, Connecticut at 17.29, New Hampshire at 18.17 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 6,252 in electricity at New Jersey rates versus 3,908 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 31,260 versus 19,540, and at 200 kW it is 125,040 versus 78,160.
  • At this rate, efficiency projects clear their hurdle faster in New Jersey than almost anywhere: every avoided kWh is worth more, so compressed air leak repairs, VFD retrofits, and scheduling around demand charges deserve a fresh look.

What factory labor pays in New Jersey

  • Industrial production managers: $70.80/hr median in New Jersey versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $49.93/hr median in New Jersey versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $38.99/hr median in New Jersey versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $35.94/hr median in New Jersey versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $35.80/hr median in New Jersey versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $30.38/hr median in New Jersey versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • New Jersey employs about 251,000 manufacturing workers as of Aug 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in New Jersey

  • New Jersey has 7,018 manufacturing establishments employing about 225,095 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: food manufacturing (1,127), fabricated metal products (1,023), printing and related support (701), chemical manufacturing (586), machinery manufacturing (469).

Sources and update cadence

  • Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and refresh automatically when the agency publishes; this page also archives each month's New Jersey observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-09-30.