Good morning ladies and gentlemen, friends.

Let me begin by thanking Larry Downes for inviting me to join you this morning. I also want you to know how much my staff and i appreciate your taking time to attend. We hope our meeting today will be worthwhile and will help you reduce your energy consumption and lower your utility bills, without sacrificing your standards of living.

First, let me tell you a little about the division of the ratepayer advocate and what we do. The division, which i direct, is an independent state agency that represents the interests of all state utility customers in new jersey, including residential, small business, commercial and industrial customers whenever rates and services for electricity, natural gas, water/wastewater, telecommunications and cable tv are being decided by state and federal authorities.

A very special priority of my office is to protect the legal interests of new jersey’s most vulnerable utility customers: the elderly, the disabled, and other residents of the state living on low and fixed incomes. The ratepayer advocate may be their only voice in utility proceedings.

My staff and i are also committed to ensuring that ratepayers receive the most reliable and economical services possible. For this reason the ratepayer advocate staff and i appear before the board of public utilities, state and federal courts, the federal communications commission and the federal energy regulatory commission whenever necessary to represent the interests of ratepayers. The ratepayer advocate also participates on behalf of consumers in the development of long-range energy, telecommunications and water policies that affect the quality of life for all new Jerseyans, now and in the future.

The primary mission of the ratepayer advocate, to ensure that affordable, safe, accessible, and universal utility services are available to all customers has become even more urgent since the restructuring of the industry.

It is the ratepayer advocate’s position that a successful transition to deregulated electric and natural gas markets must ensure that services are available to all customers at prices they can afford and that availability is not limited to any particular customer type, patterns of consumption or geographic location.

You may have heard the expression “energy deregulation” to describe what is currently happening in the electric and natural gas markets. Our view is that “energy restructuring” is a more accurate term. The public must be able to rely on a reliable safety net for these services. The ratepayer advocate supports state consumer protection regulations and new forms of safeguards to ensure that energy suppliers provide reasonable and consistent standards of service and take responsibility for the customers they serve. Appropriate rules and standards must be in place so consumers in the restructured energy market can continue to rely on high levels of protection.

W e are pleased to have the support of new jersey natural gas company for many of our positions. We participate together with others in the board of public utilities’ report card initiative at which we are working to develop a report card for each utility to inform customers about their utilities performance in customer service, reliability and service quality measures. New jersey natural gas and my office are also working together to develop meaningful, enforceable performance standards.
Even though we do not agree on every issue, the ratepayer advocate welcomes new jersey natural gas’s willingness to work together with the ratepayer advocate to promote the interests of consumers. Consumer forums like this are an excellent example of that cooperation.

The ratepayer advocate is also a strong proponent of creating new and better low-income assistance programs as a condition of energy competition. We advocate universal service as an integral part of new jersey’s move to retail electric and gas competition.

Last year, a permanent universal service fund was established to assist our most vulnerable consumers with the payment of their electric and natural gas heating bills. The ratepayer advocate has and will continue to work along with the board of public utilities, the state’s utilities, and other consumer groups and local service agencies to address the needs of those who are in most need of help.

Financial assistance and low-income programs provide help for many but do not address one of the most difficult problems currently facing small business and residential customers.

Residential and small business consumers acting individually lack market power. This fact limits their bargaining power so they cannot effectively negotiate for better pricing. While most energy suppliers target large industrial and commercial customers, few are interested in individual residential customers; fewer still in low-income residential customers.
One effective means of enabling residential and small business customers at all income levels to participate effectively in the competitive electric market is for them to pool their energy purchases through their local governments. This process is known as government or municipal aggregation. It offers customers greater buying power and opportunities for negotiating lower costs. Suppliers also benefit from government aggregation because, it reduces their costs of advertising to attract small consumers to motivate them to switch. It also provides energy suppliers a stable, reliable demand, making serving small
customers more appealing to them.

The ratepayer advocate worked closely with the board of public utilities to draft changes to the previous aggregation rules to make the process for governmental energy aggregation easier for local governments. Governor mcgreevey signed these revisions into law. With these amendments, aggregation can increase the efficiency and competitiveness of new jersey’s overall energy marketplace.

Government aggregation can successfully transform individual residential, small business, and municipal customers into potent buying groups. By pooling the demand of various individual customers with local businesses and the municipal load, New Jersey consumers can command better deals, demand better service and save money.

As we continue our representation at energy proceedings to ensure that the restructured energy marketplace delivers benefits to consumers, my office advocates regulatory oversight to ensure that energy services are reliable, affordable and at safe service levels.

The ratepayer advocate is conducting consumer education presentation programs like this to inform the public about these changes. At their invitation we visit consumers throughout the state and encourage them to take action against rising utility costs -- or as we often say “get energized.”

At the request of mayors, freeholders and other community groups around the state we make presentations about energy news, conservation efforts for residential customers and how to read your utility bills.

Last night we made a presentation in Metuchen at the request of the local officials. We provided consumers with the information they need to be smart about their utility usage and reduce costs- especially for heating, cooling and water.
We are pleased to be able to provide each of you with copies of our consumer conservation handbook and consumer assistance handbook. We hope you find them useful and easy to use. Many money-saving conservation tips are included that are inexpensive to implement. Indeed many cost nothing at all.

Currently, conservation is the only realistic and immediate alternative to rising energy costs for residential ratepayers and small business customers. But conservation does not mean sacrificing your lifestyle. You don’t have to sit in the dark and shiver this winter or swelter this summer to reduce your utility bills.

It does mean you have to make choices about your energy usage – and take steps to make your home more energy efficient. Check your house, room to room with our conservation handbook, and implement the conservation tips. The more of these suggestions you can adopt, the more you can save.

As the price of energy continues to increase, rising energy bills are affecting middle-income families as well as people on more limited incomes because a greater portion of household income is needed to pay for energy costs. The impact on household income is becoming larger and larger for a greater number of New Jersey residents.

As we learned during the blackout over last year’s fourth of july weekend down at the jersey shore and again on a much larger scale on august 14th during the blackout in the eastern united states, electricity is not only essential for a minimally safe and comfortable standard of living but it is also crucial to our hopes for economic prosperity for all.

While government agencies, regulators, and the utilities grapple with these vital issues, ratepayers cannot wait for solutions from above. They should start taking immediate steps as individuals. My staff and i look forward to working with you to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable services and answer any questions you may have on conservation or other utility related matters. Please watch our website at www.rpa.state.nj.us for emerging news that can affect your utility services. Thank you for your kind attention. It was a great pleasure for me to be here today.

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