PSEG Says Energy Companies Have a Key Role in Addressing Climate Change in New Jersey

 

NEWARK, N.J., April 17, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall

 

Two executives of Public Service Enterprise Group told the New Jersey Senate Environment Committee today that the state's utilities and energy companies must redefine the way they do business and play a key role in addressing growing concerns about climate change.

Richard Thigpen, vice-president -- state government affairs, and Donald McCloskey, Jr., director -- environmental strategy and policy, testified before the Climate Change Hearing and pledged that their company intends to continue in a heightened leadership role in New Jersey.

Thigpen and McCloskey also cautioned the state against taking actions that could drive energy generation out of New Jersey -- resulting in loss of jobs and the need to import energy from states with less stringent environmental controls.

"The New Jersey Energy Master Plan (EMP) requires a fundamental shift in the way we think about energy, how we invest in our infrastructure and will require that we redefine the role of the state's utilities and energy companies," commented Thigpen. He noted that New Jersey's energy efficiency and renewable energy goals are nearly equal the total amount of electric energy consumption in the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined and that meeting those goals will be no easy task.

Thigpen outlines action that the electric and gas utilities can take to address climate change. He urged positive consideration of the more than twenty ideas electric and gas utilities submitted as part of the EMP process. Among the ideas floated were:

* Installing an advanced metering infrastructure so customers see prices in real-time, reduce demand based on price and better control their energy usage and costs;

* Providing incentives for the use of energy efficient devices;

* Providing incentives for the use of renewable resources;

* Providing incentives for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles (especially since the transportation sector is responsible for more than half of CO2 emissions); and

* Providing incentives for new nuclear electric generation, the only currently available large-scale electric generation technology that emits no greenhouse gases.

 

McCloskey added, "Energy and the environment are inextricably linked. In our view, the state's utilities are uniquely positioned to invest in technologies that would enable and empower consumers to achieve efficiency gains on a large scale. As part of the EMP process, PSEG has made several specific proposals. In total, our concepts represent nearly half of the EMP electricity goal and two-thirds of the heating goal."

McCloskey noted that PSEG has long advocated the adoption of regional and national programs to address power plant air emissions. PSEG continues to support national legislation to address NOx, SO2, and mercury emissions from power plants, including near-term significant reductions in power plant CO2 emissions to address global climate change.

Ralph Izzo, PSEG's chairman and chief executive officer recently testified before Congress calling on the federal government to take immediate and aggressive action to address the threat of climate change, including enactment of a mandatory program to regulate electric sector global warming emissions.

New Jersey is a full participant in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). McCloskey noted that PSEG has been supportive of RGGI in concept as originally intended: to encourage federal action. "RGGI as now envisioned has a significant flaw called "leakage" -- generation simply shifts to other states not part of the RGGI process, negating positive intent of actions," said McCloskey.

"We urge New Jersey legislators to adopt policies that will prevent the loss of jobs and power generation from leaving the state. We recommend that the issue of "leakage" be solved as a condition for implementing RGGI and that RGGI be incorporated into a national plan for dealing with climate change."

Today's testimony by Thigpen and McCloskey can be found at http://www.pseg.com.

Company information:

PSEG (NYSE: PEG) is a diversified energy company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey with more than $28 billion in assets and more than $12 billion in annual revenues. PSEG's primary subsidiaries are PSEG Power, an independent power producer with more than 13,600 megawatts of electric generating capacity; PSE&G, recently named as America's most reliable utility, and PSEG Energy Holdings, a holding company for other energy-related businesses.

SOURCE Public Service Enterprise Group

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