All of New Jersey’s electric utilities said Friday they’d be willing to get back into the energy generation business, a move that would prompt a major shift in the state’s power sector and undo a 25-year-old law that forced utilities to get out of the energy market.
During a four-hour joint legislative hearing, Sen. Paul Sarlo, the chair of a special committee looking at energy prices, asked representatives of the state’s four electric utilities if they could and would get back into the generation business if told to by lawmakers.
“Yes and yes,” said Rick Thigpen, a senior vice president from PSEG, the owner of the state’s largest utility.
Executives from the other utilities — Atlantic City Electric, Jersey Central Power & Light and Rockland — also said “yes,” though JCP&L hesitated. The companies’ customers will be seeing rising rates because of energy costs, but those cost increases are beyond the utilities’ control because of a 1999 law that forced them to exit the energy market.