Stop sign The Board of Public Utilities is deliberating a request from phone giants Verizon and Embark to deregulate basic local phone services in New Jersey. If approved, deregulation will certainly lead to higher rates for NJ consumers.

Take Action! Click here to Send an Email to Governor Corzine and BPU President Fox.

Or Call Now!

NJ BPU President Fox at 973-648-2013
Governor Corzine at 609-292-6000

Tell them:

Reject Verizon and Embarq's request to deregulate local phone service.
Lack of competition will lead to unaffordable prices.
Put the interest of NJ's ratepayers and most vulnerable populations above the interest of Verizon and Embarq's shareholders.

Background:

Read NJCA's newly-released report: No Dial Tone: Will the NJ Board of Public Utilities Cut the Last Line of Affordable Basic Local Telephone Service in New Jersey? Click here for the report.

This report shows that there is no competition in New Jersey's basic local phone service market and calls on the BPU to reject Verizon and Embarq's petition to deregulate the industry.

In what could amount to over a half billion dollar a year increase for ratepayers, Verizon-NJ and Embarq have petitioned the NJ Board of Public Utilities to deregulate all local telephone services in New Jersey.

If deregulated, lack of competition in the local wire-line telephone market will cause the estimated 1.3 million NJ residents who still rely on basic local service to see steep increases in their telephone bills; making these services unaffordable to many low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities.

The NJ Board of Public Utilities must stop this ratepayer rip-off by rejecting Verizon-NJ and Embarq's petition to deregulate phone services in its entirety!

For more information contact Atif Malik at atif@njcitizenaction.org or 973-643-8800.

More resources:

Download the campaign fact sheet.
Read the Statement of Evelyn Liebman, Director of Organizing and Advocacy – In the Matter of the Board Investigation Regarding the Reclassification of Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) Services as Competitive.
Download the campaign flyer to distribute.
Sign-on Form: To sign your organization on to our campaign to stop Verizon-NJ's deregulation attempt, fill out the campaign sign-on form and return it to Atif Malik by fax at 973-643-8100.

Statement of Principles and a
Call for Action

Reliable and Affordable Electricity Service in New Jersey

Our vast economic achievements over the past century could not have happened without the effective development and regulation of electric energy. Electricity is a unique good in modern society, not a simple commodity. Access to safe, reliable and affordable electric service is indispensable to the health, safety and well-being of every person and business, and should be regarded as a right.

New Jersey's 8-year attempt to restructure the electric service industry has been a failure. For the vast majority of ratepayers, this experiment has not produced affordable electric rates or consumer choice. The price for electricity is higher than ever and it only promises to go higher in the near future, regulatory oversight has been severely weakened and reliability has been compromised, threatening the economic well-being of our State.

The provision of electric service is a complex social, economic and technical process involving billions of dollars of capital investment and complex system coordination.

As demonstrated by the Northeastern Blackout in 2003, as well as the Enron and other energy trading scandals, the manufacturing of this product and the unique nature of the industry create unparalled opportunities for discrimination, market manipulation and disruptions of electricity service.

Accordingly, the electric industry must be comprehensively regulated by state and federal agencies. Therefore,

We call on the New Jersey Legislature to:

Immediately direct the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, (BPU) to determine that the market for electricity in New Jersey is not competitive and to reclassify electricity as a regulated commodity. The legislature must also direct the BPU to set all electric rates based on the reasonable cost of providing electricity, (cost-of-service). Finally, the legislature must also immediately bar the BPU from setting rates on the basis of anything other than cost-of-service and therefore is prohibited from setting or increasing rates for any ratepayer solely for the purpose of stimulating the development of competition.
Create a public power agency with the mandate to meet New Jersey's increasing energy demand in a reliable, affordable, efficient and environmentally sound manner. This agency will be authorized to build, own and operate, as well as purchase, power plants and transmission and distribution assets. The agency will be authorized to auction the right to build power plants to, or contract with, private generators that will sell energy on a cost-of -service basis to the utility distribution companies.
Direct the BPU to insure reliability and deter market manipulation by establishing and enforcing maintenance, operation and reliability standards and penalties for both utility and merchant generators.
The BPU should enforce the current laws and regulations requiring all New Jersey residents have access to affordable electric rates by expanding the eligibility of the Universal Service Fund (USF) program immediately, so that moderate income households who are now struggling to keep up with rising rates can begin to afford their electricity. The BPU should also eliminate the arbitrary maximum benefit of the USF program so that those households who need the program the most can have affordable electricity rates, as well.
Establish a statewide Citizen Utility Board to protect the interest of consumers.

Victory!

Ratepayers Victorious! — Exelon's PSEG Buy-Out Bid Collapses

Power Citizen Action scored a huge victory on the early evening of September 14, 2006 when, just after the final bell closed Wall Street for the day, the Chicago-based Exelon Corporation's friendly takeover bid of PSEG collapsed. That evening both companies announced that they were formally withdrawing their acquisition proposal from the NJ Board of Public Utilities which if approved, would have created the biggest utility in America.

The buy-out bid collapsed after a two year battle to prevent the merger which would have created a giant super monopoly that could have manipulated energy supplies and prices, costing ratepayers up to $2.3 billion a year in additional rate increases. This merger, which had already received approval of the Bush administration in D.C., is the only utility merger ever to fail to be approved by the NJ BPU and only one of a very few around the country to collapse in the current wave of utility mergers around the country.

NJCA began its campaign to stop the buy-out bid back in late 2004, building a large and unique grassroots coalition that included both residential and industrial ratepayers, including Public Citizen, the NJ Public Interest Research Group, the NJ Chemistry Council, NJ Large Energy Users Coalition, SEIU, the Sierra Club and the NJ Tenants Organization. Dozens more organizations signed our support statement urging the state to protect ratepayers. Our field canvass walked door-to-door for many months educating residents about the costs of the merger and encouraged voters to send in over 11,500 letters, emails and phone calls to Governor Corzine and BPU President Jeanne Fox.

In addition, NJCA intervened in the proceeding as a formal participant, submitted testimony, held numerous news conferences, met with editorial boards and organized ratepayers to attend 5 public hearings around the state. NJCA also successfully urged the board to adopt a higher standard by which any utility merger could be approved, a standard that requires that utility mergers only be approved if they can demonstrate positive benefits to consumers. The State's new Public Advocate, Ron Chen, also played a key role in opposing the merger as proposed, agreeing with Citizen Action that the buy-out bid would create an energy giant so big that it could harm ratepayers.

"This is a clear victory for ratepayers," said NJCA Executive Director Phyllis Salowe-Kaye. "It shows that citizens can win when we're organized and make our voices heard."

ARCHIVE OF RESOURCES: If you are interested in the history of our involvement in this campaign, here are links to selected NJCA materials — NJCA Media Release on the PJM Report, our report Political Power Lines: Running at Full Capacity (detailing Exelon and PSEG's massive political donations) plus appendix, a summary media release, newspaper notice, and press coverage.

NJCA Supports Affordable Energy

For over a decade, NJCA has advocated for fair, affordable and safe electric service for all New Jersey residents. This included the fight against deregulation and protecting residential ratepayers from greedy corporations and an unscrupulous industry. Despite our efforts, in 1999 the Whitman Administration and Republican-led Legislature passed the Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act (EDECA) on the promise of competition and lower rates.

The deregulation process lasted four years, but in the end only produced higher rates and no competition. Regulatory oversight has been severely weakened and reliability has been compromised, threatening the economic well-being of our State. The recent blackouts and the scandals surrounding Enron and other energy trading companies clearly demonstrate the need for public oversight.

So far, the only bright spot in all of deregulation has been the establishment of the Universal Service Fund (USF). NJCA fought for this low-income assistance program throughout deregulation until it was officially granted in April of 2003.

The USF establishes that energy rates are too high and burdensome for the most impoverished of the State. Those living at or below 175% of the federal poverty level now only have to pay as much as 6% of their annual income towards their gas and/or electric instead of the usual 12% or higher. Though NJCA supports this promising program, we are discouraged that not everyone who is eligible is able to access this desperately needed program.

Victories!

15–20 percent rate reductions for all customers, through August 1, 2003
opt-out municipal aggregation for community purchasing
consumer protections provisions against slamming and fraud
assistance for ratepayers in all-electric homes
creation of a Universal Service Fund.

Fair Utility Rates and Energy Education Campaign

Stop Verizon and Embarq From Gouging NJ Ratepayers

Statement of Principles and a Call for Action