PSE&G

Did you hear about the latest PSE&G rate increase approved by the BPU on Monday?  Probably not.  That's because only the Ledger reported the story, inside its business section. 

Here's the topline:

Sometimes a little tone deaf to process issues, Governor Jon Corzine is not exactly the poster child for full disclosure. That’s something that began with his refusal to release his federal income tax returns during his 2000 U.S. Senate bid, and his initial failure to release a list of contributions his charitable foundation made as he launched his political career in 1999. An Op-Ed written last year by a member of his own administration alleged that “Jon Corzine has engaged in unprecedented secretive decision-making, without consulting community leaders, elected officials, legislators, government affairs professionals, or government agencies.”

Among the donors to Save Our State NJ, the issue-advocacy group essentially formed by Governor Jon Corzine to advocate his plan to raise tolls, is Public Service Electric & Gas. PSE&G has contributed $100,000 to the effort, according to sources familiar with the SOS group. That might explain Corzine’s reluctance to quickly release the list of SOS donors.

Editor's Note: The Inside Edge strongly stands behind our original report that PSE&G pledged $100,000 to Gov. Corzine's Save Our State NJ toll hike advocacy group, despite communications that seek to demonstrate otherwise and a release of their donors at the end of the day.

“It is easy enough to look back at 2007 and pass judgment”, Tom Moran penned in a recent column.  Given his recent hire at PSE&G, it’s seems fair to look back and at least ask some questions.

Tom MoranStar-Ledger political columnist Tom Moran has resigned his position at the newspaper and will take a job at PSE&G, one of the state's largest utility companies.

Residential and commercial electric customers join forces to pull the plug on a billion buck boondoggle by NJ's largest utility company. And why isn't this front page news?

That’s the real point of Wednesday’s Star Ledger story about a Public Advocate-led ratepayer complaint against PSE&G for surcharges on electric customers to pay - again - for the utility giant's decades old power plants. Only problem is the story was buried inside the Business section, below the fold, and a mere three column inches.