Who's on Gov. Sherrill's New Jersey Nuclear Task Force

Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation on April 8 to lift a decades-old permitting barrier that had effectively banned new nuclear power plants in New Jersey, and she didn’t stop there.

Sherrill also stood up a Nuclear Task Force, a group of utility executives, economic development officials, and state agency heads who will now spend the coming months figuring out whether atomic energy has a real future in Jersey. The task force membership reads like a deliberate mix of policy experience and institutional muscle, pulling together people who’ve spent careers on clean energy, finance, and environmental regulation.

Co-chairing the group is Elizabeth Noll, a senior strategist for energy in the Office of the Governor. Noll came to Trenton after serving as a deputy assistant secretary for House Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy under the Biden administration, and before that she handled federal clean energy policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. She’s one of Sherrill’s early front-office hires, and her placement at the top of this task force signals the governor treats nuclear as a genuine policy priority, not a press release.

Joining Noll as co-chair is Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. Gov. Phil Murphy nominated her as a commissioner in 2023, and she was named president that September. Her background is heavy on the details: she previously served as chief of staff to BPU President Joe Fiordaliso and worked on solar, offshore wind, and lead service line replacement before that.

The task force also includes Acting Commissioner Ed Potosnak from the Department of Environmental Protection. That’s a notable appointment. Potosnak spent 14 years running the New Jersey LCV, the state’s leading environmental advocacy group, before stepping into the DEP role. Having someone with that background at the table matters, because any path to new nuclear in New Jersey runs directly through permitting and environmental review.

On the economic side, Evan Weiss brings his experience as CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. He previously managed more than $10 billion in state finance deals covering renewable energy, transit, affordable housing, and major infrastructure, including the Gateway Project.

Brigadier General Yvonne Mays rounds out the group as the adjutant general of New Jersey and commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. She’s the first Black woman to lead the state’s National Guard, commanding more than 8,400 soldiers and airmen. Her seat on a nuclear task force might seem unexpected. It isn’t. Military installations hold significant land and infrastructure, and the Department of Defense has pushed hard on small modular reactors for energy resilience.

Also on the task force: Aaron Binder, the state treasurer, overseeing 3,000 employees and 13 divisions. Any serious nuclear conversation eventually becomes a financing conversation, and Binder’s presence makes clear the administration is already thinking about the money.

The legislation Sherrill signed removes a permitting restriction that dates back decades, one that had made new nuclear construction in New Jersey a legal non-starter. That legal hurdle is gone now.

“New Jersey has an opportunity to lead on nuclear energy,” Sherrill said, “and this task force will help us get there.”

What they produce, and how fast, will determine whether the state’s nuclear conversation stays at the press conference stage or turns into something you can actually plug into the grid.