NJ Coalition for Fair Energy Launches Ad Campaign Against New Jersey Nuke Subsidies

Group’s Commercial Highlights Tax Hike Desired by PSEG, Impact on Ratepayers

Trenton, NJ – The NJ Coalition for Fair Energy today released its first ad in opposition to proposals to subsidize PSEG’s Hope Creek and Salem nuclear stations. The ad is the latest action in a comprehensive campaign that will be undertaken by the group which will include television, radio and digital ads.

“We want to make sure New Jersey residents are aware that PSEG is trying to push through a massive corporate payout while no one is looking, and that it’ll cost ratepayers dearly,” said coalition spokesperson Matt Fossen. “PSEG is a highly profitable company, and will be for years. There is no reason to push through a proposal of this magnitude now.”

While details on the PSEG plan remain scarce because it has not publicly disclosed the exact nature of its proposal, the available data on similar endeavors in New York and Illinois indicates that a PSEG energy tax would cost residents in the range of $475 million a year or more, equaling in excess of $4 billion total. This, despite the fact that on an April 29th investor call PSEG officials confirmed that its plants will have positive cash flow through at least 2019.

The New Jersey Coalition for Fair Energy is comprised of Calpine Corporation, Dynegy, NRG Energy, and the Electric Power Supply Association.
To see the ad, click here.

For a transcript of the ad, see below:

Narrator: Imagine a business.

Actor: Okay.

Narrator: Bigger.

Narrator: Bigger.

Narrator: There you go. They make billions, but they have an idea.

CEO Actor: Make regular working people give us a corporate payout — hundreds of millions more each year!

Narrator: That’d be wrong, wouldn’t it?

Actor: Definitely wrong.

Narrator: But that’s what PSE&G wants. To cut a backroom deal giving them a huge payout, that you pay for with higher electricity bills.

Narrator: Ask your legislator to stop the PSE&G Energy Tax.