Ratepayer Advocate Seema M. Singh Launches
Statewide Energy Conservation and Municipal Aggregation Effort at 11/14/03
Conference To Help Ratepayers Conserve Energy and Cut Utility Bills

 At the Ratepayer Advocate’s conference, “Get Energized: News You Can Use," on November 14, 2003, was attended by nearly 300 representatives of state and local government, citizen organizations, businesses as well as individual ratepayers, Ratepayer Advocate Seema M. Singh launched a comprehensive, statewide energy conservation and aggregation effort to help ratepayers lower their electric and natural gas utility bills in the face of rising energy costs.

“Right now, conservation and aggregation are the only realistic alternatives to rising energy costs for residential ratepayers and small business customers,” said Ms. Singh as she opened the conference.
“The benefits of energy deregulation have not flowed to New Jersey’s residential and small commercial ratepayers,” Ms. Singh said. “That is why I am launching today a comprehensive, statewide energy conservation and aggregation effort and am releasing two new publications. I will go to each county and every legislative district where invited to meet ratepayers to advocate energy conservation and aggregation programs to help them deal with rising energy costs.”

Consumer Conservation Handbook is an easy-to-use, room-by-room guide of conservation tips to winterize and summerize the home available on the Ratepayer Advocate website and The Manual for New Jersey Government Energy Aggregators, which describes the procedures under the Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act (EDECA) and the significant changes signed into law by Governor James E. McGreevey earlier this year that enable local governments to form power buying pools to leverage their numbers to purchase lower-cost energy. This publication is available for a modest cost from the Ratepayer Advocate. See order form which follows.

The conference also included presentations on Understanding Your Gas and Electric Bills and a panel discussion on financial assistance programs available on the state and federal levels to help state residents pay their utility bills and speakers included Andrew Dembia, Esq., “Conservation is an Excellent Way to Reduce Energy Costs”, Felicia Thomas-Friel, Esq., Managing Attorney “Understanding Your Gas and Electric Utility Bills”, Robert Adams, Director Weatherization Services, National Association for State Community Service Programs, Washington, DC, Marilyn Askin, Esq., President, AARP, New Jersey, Clarice Sabree-Sylla, Supervising Program Development Specialist, Department of Community Affairs, New Jersey Mel Hall Crawford, Special Projects Manager, Consumer Federation of America, Washington, DC Fred Lynk, Manager, Demand Side Management, Public Service Electric & Gas and Aggregation,Ami Morita, Esq., Managing Attorney, "Energy Aggregation", John Burzichelli, Assemblyman, District 3, New Jersey, Revised Aggregation Provisions of EDECA, Laurence M. Downes, Chairman, CEO, New Jersey Resources, Joel Shain, Esq, Special Energy Issues Counsel, NJ State League of Municipalities. Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox addressed the conference on the BPU’s renewable energy programs.

In her remarks Ms. Singh said that the steps ratepayers can take that are within their control to meet the challenge of rising energy prices are energy conservation and aggregation and concluded by saying that the conference was a direct result of the Governor’s leadership in promoting conservation. “In the two years that Governor James E. McGreevey has been in office, he has fulfilled one of his most important campaign promises – to change the way we do business in New Jersey by making government more efficient,” said Ms. Singh. She cited as examples the Governor’s leadership in the development of renewable energy, clean energy, and energy efficiencies, signing legislation to make it easier to aggregate, and ensuring that there are sufficient energy assistance programs available to those in need.