Ratepayer Advocate Seema M. Singh Sponsors Conference
On Energy Conservation and Municipal Aggregation
To Help Residential Ratepayers Conserve Energy and Cut Utility Bills

 Get Energized: News Consumers Can Use to Reduce Energy Bills

 Ratepayer Advocate Seema M. Singh announced that the Division of the Ratepayer Advocate is sponsoring a statewide conference on energy conservation and municipal aggregation to help residential consumers save energy and reduce their utility bills.

 Get Energized: News Consumers Can Use to Reduce Energy Bills will be held Friday, November 14^th, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Monroe Township off Exit 8A of the New Jersey Turnpike.

 “Energy conservation and municipal aggregation are strategies that can bring greater comfort to your home and greater saving to your wallet,” said Governor James E. McGreevey.

“Whether it is lowering your thermostat, installing Energy Star appliances or simply rearranging you furniture, room by room, you can make a big difference,” the Governor said of energy conservation. “Most things can be done with little, if any, cost to you.  Over time you will find that every little bit helps and that you are saving money by saving energy.” 

“The most effective strategy for residential ratepayers to cut their energy bills is conservation,” said Ms. Singh.  “Our conference on Nov. 14^th will help consumers by showing them how to read their gas and electric utility bills and then how to reduce those bills through easy conservation measures.”

The Ratepayer Advocate will unveil the newly produced energy conservation guide, Consumer Conservation Handbook, that provides room-by-room guidance and conservation tips to winterize and summerize the home.

“You don’t have to sacrifice comfort or lifestyle to reduce your utility bills,” said Ms. Singh.  “You don’t have to sit in the dark and shiver in the cold in order to conserve energy.  Our Conservation Handbook contains many inexpensive, easy-to-accomplish conservation tips.”

Ms. Singh will serve as the keynote speaker to set the stage for the conference with a brief discussion, “Deregulation: Where We’ve Been and Where We Should be Going.”   Ms. Singh will be followed by Jeanne Fox, president of the Board of Public Utilities, with a brief update on the BPU’s activities.

Felicia Thomas-Friel, Managing Attorney for Natural Gas at the Ratepayer Advocate, will then lead the audience through a presentation on “Understanding Your Gas and Electric Bill.”

The conference will feature a panel discussion on Energy Assistance for Consumers, with panelists Marilyn Askin, President of AARP; Clarice Sabree-Sylla of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs; and Robert Adams, Director of Weatherization Services for the National Association for State Community Service Programs.  The panel will discuss the range of energy assistance programs, such as Universal Service Fund, NJ Shares, LIHEAP, and Lifeline, which are available to New Jersey residents. 

“Ever increasing energy costs are imposing serious financial burdens on all consumers and particularly retired persons, low income families and others facing economic difficulties,” said Ms. Singh.  “The choice we hear too often during winter is ‘heat or eat’.  The state’s consumers need help to keep energy costs as low as possible.  That is the information we will be providing at the conference.”

Following the energy assistance program discussion, the conference will feature a panel discussion on energy conservation as the immediate way to reduce energy costs with Andrew Dembia, Ratepayer Advocate Deputy Director; Mel Hall Crawford, manager of the Consumer Federation of America’s Alliance to Save Energy; and Alfred C. Koeppe, Past President/COO, Public Service Electric & Gas.

One of the main features of the Nov. 14^th conference will be a panel discussion led by Deputy Director Dembia on the changes signed into law by Governor James E. McGreevey to make it easier for municipal aggregation, a process in which communities form energy-buying pools to reduce the costs of electricity and natural gas for their residents. 

Ami Morita, Managing Attorney for Electric at the Ratepayer Advocate, will address what consumers need to know about aggregation.  She will be joined on the panel by Laurence M. Downes, Chairman, CEO, of New Jersey Resources, and Assemblyman John Burzichelli, the prime sponsor of the amendments to legislation to improve the aggregation of power buying.  Joel Shain of the League of Municipalities will provide the League’s perspective on municipal aggregation.

As part of the focus on municipal aggregation, the Ratepayer Advocate will unveil a second handbook, Manual for New Jersey Government Energy Aggregators.  The handbook will be available for purchase at the conference.

“Energy aggregation allows individuals within a municipality to purchase energy as a group,” Governor McGreevey said.  “By purchasing energy in bulk there is greater negotiating power and, as a result, greater potential cost savings.”  

“Unfortunately, since energy pools were authorized under the 1999 Energy Deregulation and Competition Act, not a single New Jersey municipality has successfully entered into the State’s energy aggregation program,” the Governor continued.  “On February 27^th of this year, I was proud to sign legislation that corrects a number of defects in the 1999 energy deregulation legislation, making it easier for municipalities to enter into energy aggregation pools.”

“We made the process simpler by eliminating the opt-in process that forced municipalities to obtain written consent from each and every individual in that municipality prior to entering into an energy pool,” McGreevey said.  “In addition, we made the process fairer by ending the ‘one-contract’ limitations that prevented a municipality from obtaining energy services from more than supplier.”

  “The Ratepayer Advocate’s aggregation manual can assist officials to aggregate citizens into power buying pools to reduce their energy bills,” McGreevey said.

  The Ratepayer Advocate’s Consumer Assistance Handbook, which details the activities of the Ratepayer Advocate and describes the rights of consumers of electric, natural gas, telephone, cable, and water/wastewater utilities, will also be released at the time of the conference.

  “Electricity and natural gas are lifeline services for all New Jersey residents,” said Ms. Singh.  “We are in an age of rising energy prices that affect all consumers, so it is imperative that we be constantly pro-active in reducing our consumption. Using less energy is good public policy and good economic policy for society as a whole and on an individual basis.  It makes good dollars and sense to conserve.  We are holding this conference to help ratepayers conserve their energy and their money.”  

 *

The Division of the Ratepayer Advocate is an independent state agency that represents the interests of utility consumers and serves as an active participant in every case where New Jersey utilities seek changes in their rates or services.  The Ratepayer Advocate also gives consumers a voice in setting long-range energy, water, and telecommunications policy that will affect the delivery of utility services well into the future.

 Additional information on this and other matters can be found at the Division of Ratepayer Advocate’s website at http://www.rpa.state.nj.us