Electricity Supplier Offers Borough Potential Savings

WEST LONG BRANCH - The electric company would like to get out of the electricity generating business and become just a service and delivery company, a electricity bulk provider told the council at the Dec. 15 caucus meeting.

Since electricity power deregulation by the government electric energy suppliers has popped up all over, utilities have been able to shed the costly, profitless portion of their charges to customers, the electricity itself. They always had to generate their own power and now can fall back to providing distribution and services.

From a capital management viewpoint, the utilities do not have to carry the electricity power costs, which they recover over time from individual accounts. Customers paid them over many months time, but the utility company had to pay up front for the energy. That meant carrying that overhead without profit margins, since they could not take profit from the source product by law.

For the Borough of West Long Branch it could mean savings of 10 percent or more right away by directing a customer asking local JCP&L to get WLB Borough electricity from another supplier, a non-regulated third party. Distribution and total billing would still be done by JCP&L, so only one bill would be what customers would see.

One such provider is Viridian Responsible Energy, which made the pitch to the council last week. 

Just last month, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities released $25 million in grants money to help those struggling with paying their bills. The issue is a hot one right now, especially with the economic stall

Council President Barbara Ruane, sitting in for Mayor Janet Tucci, tossed the ball to Councilman Tom DeBruin to check things out further. He has the borough Green Team under his mantle and will look closer into the best supplier deal available, although Viridian had some appealing offers to start the look-see.

DeBruin was equally attentive to the plan to shift to green reneable energy sources, also a part of the Viridian pitch. Their electricity comes from a 20 percent lower renewable green energy source.

The borough also asked Attorney Greg Baxter to look into the legal aspects of having to bid across several suppliers, since early opinions in other areas in the state have heard their attorneys say, "it is not a bid situation." Baxter will be reviewing it, and was a bit reluctant to give an opinion right away. He said more than one company will be looked at.

The company also can save money for individual residents and businesses if those accounts want to move over from the present company. The electricity doesn't have to follow the borough direction DeBruin said, and some other interested parties might want to seek information on their own for their own group or cause.

Another part of the proposal was the possibility of mass sales to Viridian customers that might allow fundraising for causes residents might want to support through their individual participation. They would receive individual account savings and the "bulking" of their accounts into volume sales to the supplier could amount to added funds being made available for other citizen group support.

A list of about 110 such private fundraising customers around New Jersey towns now served by Viridian was available for the public and council.

For more individual info, anyone can visit online to www.viridian.com/terence, or Terence Haigney at 732-322-0268. (Email thaigney@msn.com.)