I/M/O the Provision of Basic Generation Service Pursuant to the Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act

December 6, 2001

VIA HAND DELIVERY
Henry M. Ogden, Acting Secretary
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
Two Gateway Center
Newark, New Jersey 07102

RE: I/M/O the Provision of Basic Generation Service Pursuant to the Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act
BPU Docket No. EX01050303

Dear Acting Secretary Ogden:

Enclosed please find an original and ten copies of the Certification of Paul L. Chernick, being filed on behalf of the Division of the Ratepayer Advocate in the above-captioned matter. Copies are being sent by hand delivery or overnight delivery service. We are enclosing one additional copy of the materials to be stamped and dated as filed. Mr. Chernick was out of his office and unable to provide a signed copy of his Certification for filing today. A signed copy will be submitted to the Board with copies to all parties shortly. Thank you for your consideration and assistance.

Recent events have greatly impacted the current utility proposal before the Board. The Ratepayer Advocate urges the Board to defer decision on the proposed statewide BGS auction so that it can consider the impact of (1) the collapse of Enron, formerly the Nation’s largest energy marketer and a key player in the entire range of energy-related financial markets, and (2) the FERC’s issuance of new guidelines for determining whether generation market power exists. As explained in the enclosed Certification, these two developments highlight the serious risks to ratepayers that will result if the Board adopts the utilities’ proposal to procure the State’s entire BGS load in a single one-day auction. In previously filed comments, the Ratepayer Advocate has proposed a more diversified approach which will both reduce risks and help to promote the development of a retail energy marketplace in New Jersey.

The Ratepayer Advocate urges the Board to carefully consider the impact of these events before taking action on the proposed statewide auction. In the alternative, the Ratepayer Advocate urges the Board to adopt the more diversified approach proposed by the Ratepayer Advocate.

Respectfully submitted,

BLOSSOM A. PERETZ, ESQ.
RATEPAYER ADVOCATE

By: __________________________________

Sarah H. Steindel, Esq.
Deputy Ratepayer Advocate

SHS/lg
Encl.

c: President Connie O. Hughes, BPU
Commissioner Frederick F. Butler, BPU
Commissioner Carol J. Murphy, BPU
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