President

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU)

Jeanne M. Fox is President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) and serves as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Ms. Fox was appointed to the NJBPU on January 15, 2002. The NJBPU has regulatory jurisdiction over telephone, electric, gas, water, wastewater and cable television companies and works to ensure that consumers have access to safe, reliable services at reasonable rates.

Since Ms. Fox tenure as BPU President, New Jersey’s role in national and regional energy policy has significantly increased. Over the past six years, the BPU has facilitated the exponential growth of New Jersey’s solar photovoltaic market, growing from 6 installation in 2001 to over 2700 installations currently (second in the nation only to California in the number of installations), through the simultaneous implementation of the solar rebate program, model net metering and interconnection standards, and the nation’s first Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) trading program. Under Ms. Fox’s leadership, the Board transitioned New Jersey’s solar program from a rebate-driven model to a fiscally responsible market-based system that will foster the continued growth of solar energy use in the state without significant government subsidies.

Ms. Fox has also been an integral member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Board of Directors since its inception four years ago. This ten-state northeastern coalition negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for reducing carbon emissions from stationary power sources using trading certificates, the first plan of its kind in the United States that will help reduce carbon emissions. As a member of the planning group, President Fox helped the MOU become a more salient agreement by ensuring that consumers benefit from the proceeds and low-income consumers are protected.

Ms. Fox is the chair of the state Energy Master Plan Committee, the interagency committee tasked by the Governor to work on the Energy Master Plan. The draft Energy Master Plan is currently undergoing public comment. The plan is designed to be a roadmap to reach the Governor’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2020 and placing the state on the path to reducing emissions 80% by 2050.

Ms. Fox is active with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) as a member of the Board of Directors, the Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment, the Committee on Critical Infrastructure, and the Utility Market Access Partnership. Ms. Fox serves as President of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioner. She is Chair of the National Council on Electricity Policy (NCEP), a consortium of the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, NARUC, National Association of State Energy Officials, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ms. Fox serves as a member of the National Academy of Science Panel on Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making; National Leadership Group on Energy Efficiency; Harvard Electricity Policy Group; Consumer Energy Council of America’s Public Policy Initiative Fuels and Technologies Forum; and the Advisory Council to the Board of Directors of the Electric Power Research Institute.

Secretary Bodman of US Department of Energy (DOE), has appointed Ms. Fox to be a member of its newly-established Electricity Advisory Committee to provide senior-level counsel to the DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. The Committee will advise the Office on the deployment of smart grid technologies, research and development on energy storage technologies, renewable energy resource system integration, and new transmission infrastructure to ensure efficient delivery of electricity.

Under President Fox’s leadership, NJBPU has led the nation both in energy efficiency and clean energy policy. Some of the accolades President Fox and NJBPU have received are the Golden Meter Award for Best Statewide Net Metering Program in the U.S., Network for New Energy Choices, the Sierra Club’s Outstanding Achievement Award, the Solar Energy Industries Association’s Solar Champion 2005, the NJ Clean Communities Appreciation Award, AARP’s Leadership on Utility Consumer Issues Award, the National Solar Industry Association’s Award for Outstanding Leadership in Policy Development for Clean Energy, and New Jersey Environmental Lobby’s Environmentalist of the Year 2001.

Ms. Fox previously served as Regional Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency where she had jurisdiction over New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. She also has serves as Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy.

Ms. Fox received a Bachelor’s Degree from Douglass College, Rutgers and a Juris Doctor from the Rutgers University School of Law.

Ms. Fox, 55, resides in New Brunswick.