(October 28, 2009 – Washington, DC) – Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Ralph Izzo, chairman, president and CEO of PSEG, today urged Congress to pass cap and trade legislation that would, “open the floodgates for investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage, nuclear power, electric vehicles, and other low-carbon solutions.” 

“There are many provisions in the bill that PSEG supports, and some we do not,” Izzo asserted.   “But we cannot let perfection be the enemy of the good.  We must continue the drive toward final passage of climate legislation with a sense of urgency that matches the seriousness of the challenge in front of us.”

“Uncertainty about national carbon legislation slows our  transition to a green economy, complicating investment decisions about whether to retrofit coal plants to reduce emissions, pursue development of new nuclear or invest in offshore wind,”  Izzo warned.   “Without a price on carbon, our industry is paralyzed.” 

Izzo supported the legislation’s recognition that climate change is a global threat that must be addressed at the national level rather than through separate regional efforts.  He reinforced the importance of providing customer rate relief through allocations of credits to regulated utilities and applauded the progress towards a “price collar” design which “minimizes price volatility while maintaining the integrity of the emissions cap.”

“Allocating allowances to customers through their utilities is the best way to prevent intolerable price increases in the early years of the program before new technologies are widely available and deployed,” said Izzo.
 
Izzo concluded: “I can tell you as a CEO that I have never seen our industry face a more urgent problem.  We need a path forward to a low-carbon future.”

Click here for Izzo’s complete written testimony, or visit the “News” section at www.pseg.com. 

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) is a publicly traded diversified energy company with annual revenues of more than $13 billion, and three principal subsidiaries: PSEG Power, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) and PSEG Energy Holdings.