At today’s New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) hearing, the BPU board agreed to a staff recommendation for the four public electric utility companies (JCP&L, Rockland, PSE&G, and Atlantic City Electric) to petition the board by May 5 with ‘distribution side proposals to mitigate bill impacts to customers’ that would defer energy bill increases until after the election.
Senators Anthony M. Bucco (R-25) and Michael Testa (R-01), members of the Senate Select Committee on Energy Costs, released the following statements calling out the BPU and Trenton Democrats on their latest dog-and-pony show that will not help ratepayers with skyrocketing energy bills.
“It’s a five-alarm fire in the Democrat Party to contain the danger of their costly, failing energy policies before the election this fall,” said Sen. Bucco. “Instead of moving quickly to fast track reliable, affordable power to increase supplies, the BPU and Trenton Democrats are instead scrambling to deflect this emergency with bureaucratic gimmicks that delay price hikes. The pricing chaos will only get worse without fundamental change away from their predictably bad policies. Asking utility companies to 'propose solutions' that are the equivalent of ratepayer credit card debt is a blatant attempt to hide the fallout of their failing energy agenda. This isn’t relief, it’s a smokescreen. New Jerseyans need accountability, transparency and real reform, not more political theater. Unfortunately, as BPU Commissioner Zenon Christodoulou said, ‘Outside opinions, including mine and others, are dismissed and marginalized,’ and that has been the case every time Republicans have suggested alternative plans to keep energy supply high and energy costs low.”
For years, Sen. Bucco has been a leading voice for a balanced energy policy that prioritizes a diverse energy mix while keeping costs affordable. He has repeatedly sounded the alarm on Trenton Democrats' costly and unsustainable agenda.
“The latest move by the BPU, or the Bureau of Propaganda and Untruths as I call it, is a hollow gesture meant to placate frustrated ratepayers without fixing a single thing,” said Sen. Testa. “Telling utility companies to kick the can down the road on rate hikes until after the election doesn’t change the fact that Trenton Democrats and the BPU pushed an unreliable, unaffordable Energy Disaster Plan that broke our system. The citizens of New Jersey are paying more for less, and now the BPU is playing election-year games instead of offering solutions. It’s dishonest, it’s irresponsible, and it’s more proof that the BPU is functioning as an extension of the Democratic party that cares more about optics for political gamesmanship than outcomes for the already overburdened ratepayers.”
Sen. Testa has been a relentless fighter for ratepayer justice, recently introducing legislation, S-4285, to abolish the NJBPU, arguing that the agency has abandoned its duty to protect New Jersey consumers.
To improve energy costs and safeguard consumers from future NJBPU-approved rate hikes, Senate Republicans introduced the “Energy Security and Affordability Act” (S-2839). This bill would mandate that the NJBPU prioritize in-state energy sources over expensive out-of-state subsidies and would require economic and ratepayer impact analyses for all proposed energy projects.
No comments:
Post a Comment