For Immediate Release
April 26, 2013 Contact: Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
PSEG Taking Over LIPA Bad for NJ
PSEG is currently in negotiations to take over and operating the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club issued the following statement in response:
"If the deal goes through we will be sending our clean power from New Jersey out to Long Island since they do not have any generation and we will be getting the dirty coal power brought in by the Susquehanna-Roseland Line.PSEG already has Hudson line and the Nautlis line to Long Island so they can ship New Jersey's power out.PSEG is already taking power from the Ridgefield Generating Station and sending it to New York.Ratepayers paid more than a billion dollars to build the natural gas plant and now the power is going out of state."
"This is LIPA-suction, sucking clean power we paid for and sending it to Long Island and replacing it with dirty coal power."
"PSEG wants $3.9 billion or an 8.4% increase to upgrade our system following Sandy.How much of this will actually be used to lay the groundwork to ship power to Long Island?Long Island was devastated by Sandy. LIPA is even worse than JCP&L.How much time and expense will PSEG spend fixing the problems there instead of fixing the problems here in New Jersey?Our rates are being raised and the money could be going to help Long Island."
"The Susquehanna-Roseland project will import coal-fired power from Pennsylvania will be used to meet New Jersey's needed when more of our clean energy is shipped to Long Island. Latest estimates for the project are $1.2 to 1.3 billion. The project will also cuase irreparable harm to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and hundreds of acres of Highlands forest.They are also investing millions in a new transmission line from Roseland to Woodbridge."
"Instead of fixing the problems in New Jersey's grid PSE&G is making things worse by acquiring LIPA.We are spending all this money and getting all this pollution so PSEG can ship power out of state.While people in New Jersey will be sitting in the dark with the lines going through the forest and past their homes, people in Long Island and New York City will have plenty of power."
-- Kate Millsaps Conservation Program Coordinator NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club 609-656-7612