Veto urged for N.J. power plant bill
A coalition of electrical power interests is encouraging New Jersey Gov. Christopher J. Christie to veto a controversial bill that would subsidize development of a Gloucester County power plant that they say would unsettle the region's energy markets.
The bill's sponsors said the legislation approved Tuesday by the New Jersey Legislature will lower energy rates. But opponents, including power generators such as Exelon Corp. and large industrial consumers, call it an anticompetitive sweetheart deal that will cost consumers in the long run.
"We cannot afford an energy surcharge to guarantee billions of dollars of revenue to a few select developers," said George M. Waidelich, vice president of energy operations for Safeway Inc., which says it now spends about $2 million a year on electricity for its five Genuardi's stores in South Jersey.
The measure would provide a guaranteed long-term income for developers of several large power plants. The legislation was known as the "LS Power Bill" because its initial aim was to provide guarantees for LS Power Development L.L.C. to build a giant natural gas power plant in West Deptford, the hometown of state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester).
The bill's sponsors said the legislation approved Tuesday by the New Jersey Legislature will lower energy rates. But opponents, including power generators such as Exelon Corp. and large industrial consumers, call it an anticompetitive sweetheart deal that will cost consumers in the long run.
"We cannot afford an energy surcharge to guarantee billions of dollars of revenue to a few select developers," said George M. Waidelich, vice president of energy operations for Safeway Inc., which says it now spends about $2 million a year on electricity for its five Genuardi's stores in South Jersey.
The measure would provide a guaranteed long-term income for developers of several large power plants. The legislation was known as the "LS Power Bill" because its initial aim was to provide guarantees for LS Power Development L.L.C. to build a giant natural gas power plant in West Deptford, the hometown of state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester).
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