PSEG CEO Ralph LaRossa spoke at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s (NJBIA) recent Energy & Environment Forum, addressing concerns about rising utility costs and the state’s energy generation challenges. He highlighted that 80% of PSEG’s current business involves energy delivery infrastructure such as “wires and pipes.” LaRossa noted that New Jersey has not built a new power plant in over ten years, leading to a reliance on importing electricity from neighboring states.
“We have put a lot of extension cords into Pennsylvania,” LaRossa said. “Any of the extra load we are now servicing is coming from Pennsylvania. It’s a simple supply and demand equation. And there’s not a market signal that’s telling generators to come in and build.”
LaRossa emphasized the need for an integrated resource plan to ensure utilities can reliably meet future demand, pointing out that New Jersey has not had such a plan since 2000.
“The Energy Master Plan is not a complete integrated resource plan,” LaRossa said. “And no offense to any administration, we can’t look back and complain about that. What we need to do is look forward and what we’re advocating for very strongly is that we need to get together and work on that plan.”
The forum where LaRossa spoke drew more than 400 attendees last month at the DoubleTree by Hilton Somerset Hotel and Conference Center. The full discussion between LaRossa and NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka can be viewed online.
