Rick Thigpen, senior vice president for corporate citizenship at PSEG, applauded the BPU’s vote and noted that the $300 million annual award was still less than the “costs plus the risks” of running the nuclear facilities, which Thigpen said were important to preserve in the Garden State.
“They are a very valuable asset to the people of New Jersey, as well as for our environment, as well as for our state’s clean energy goals,” Thigpen said. “So actually while people are making these comments, [PSEG] feels that it is also compromising in order to support the interests of the people in the state of New Jersey and help protect and help protect its environment by accepting what the state was allowed to offer.”
Thigpen suggested it could actually cost ratepayers more money if the three nuclear plants — which provide about 40% of the electricity in New Jersey — closed. New energy sources could be more expensive and fossil fuel-based, he said.
But Stefanie Brand, director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, a ratepayer advocacy office, said it was wrong to force ratepayers to subsidize PSEG, a publicly-traded energy company.
“We’re at the mercy of a corporation whose main obligation is to its shareholders, and the shareholders are doing just great. They’re going to be very happy with this decision,” Brand said.
She added that it was particularly unfortunate to continue asking ratepayers to foot the bill for the nuclear subsidy amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which spurred record unemployment.
How much an electricity customer pays toward the program depends on how much energy they use. During the first round of subsidies, Brand estimated that residential users were on the hook for an additional $45 per year, though she noted that usage has increased since then. She estimated that some large users, including many businesses, would have had to pay up to $500,000.
“That money is coming out of the pockets of the people who live in this state, many of whom are having difficulty paying their bills in the middle of a pandemic.”
While Murphy has extended a moratorium on utility shutoffs for residential ratepayers and there are resources available for struggling customers, officials have encouraged residents and businesses to continue paying their bills if they can.