Gina Hinojosa Wants To Freeze Electricity Rates in Texas. New Jersey Shows Why That Won’t Work.

Gina Hinojosa has pledged to freeze residential electricity rates in Texas if she becomes governor, but the article argues she may lack the authority to do so and that a freeze would not tackle the main causes of rising bills. Texas prices are set by retail providers, while transmission and distribution charges are a major driver of increases nationwide.

New Jersey’s experience is offered as a warning: Governor Mikie Sherrill froze utility rate hikes, yet bills remained high, and a state-commissioned report found distribution accounted for roughly a quarter of charges, with no single reform able to fix the problem. The article also cites Georgia, where residential electricity prices rose 2.3 per cent in the year after a three-year base-rate freeze was approved, and notes that New York Governor Kathy Hochul rejected a proposed statewide freeze.