Piscataway Mayor Cautions Other NJ Towns

Food & Water Watch Oddly Continues to Highlight Its

Energy Aggregation Program in Piscataway Even Though

Nearly Two-Thirds of Residents Opted Out

May 14, 2021 – Piscataway Mayor Brian C. Wahler is cautioning the leaders and residents of Cherry Hill, Long Branch, North Brunswick, Teaneck and Woodbridge over petition drives currently underway by international progressive organization Food & Water Watch that is seeking to create energy aggregation programs that would require those municipalities to purchase increasing percentages of renewable energy at bulk rates.  For the Piscataway Community Energy Aggregation Program created by a similar Food & Water Watch petition drive in 2019, 64.6 percent of Piscataway residents have opted out of it.

“Neither I nor the Township Council put its stamp of approval on this program,” Mayor Brian C. Wahler said.  “With nearly two-thirds of Piscataway households opting out, our residents clearly also came to the same negative conclusion.”

In 2019, advocates of the program cited expected savings of nearly $100 per year per households.  This did not turn out to be correct.  In reality with monthly utility reconciliation charges, the PCEA rate has sometimes been slightly higher than that of PSE&G’s published rate.

During the debate over the 2019 referendum, one local PCEA supporter chided Township officials for being concerned about costs by saying “…because that’s all I ever hear here is how much and how much and how much,” at a September 2019 meeting.  At that same meeting the supporter said, “We can expect somewhere between 12 and 15 percent of folks to opt out.  Might be a little more, might be a little less, but it’s not going to be 70 percent based on all the experience, all the energy aggregation in the country and in New Jersey in the last 16 years.”  With nearly two-thirds of Piscataway households opting out, this obviously did not turn out to be true either.

Under the Food & Water Watch-created program in Piscataway, residents are either automatically enrolled at minimum renewable energy percentages that increase over time, have to proactively opt out or can opt up to use 50 percent or 100 percent renewable energy right away.  Only 15 households in Piscataway have opted up to a higher percentage.

Meanwhile this past March, the Piscataway Township Council took a big green step when it voted to increase Township government’s use of green energy from 25 percent to 100 percent all while also saving taxpayers more than tens of thousands of dollars.  The two-year contract with clean energy provider EMEX is for all facilities for which the Township government pays the electric bill such as our public works complex, police headquarters, Town Hall, libraries, community center and Little League fields.  It will result in all government use of energy to come from green sources at an estimated cost of more than $67,000 less than PSE&G tariff pricing.  The only exception is street lighting which is under a separate contract and uses 50 percent renewable sources.

“This is how a responsible government works to marshal renewable energy sources in a financially responsible way,” Mayor Wahler said.  “Our natural resources will be conserved, our tax monies will be saved and our Township will further thrive as a greener community.”