Keyspan seeking to set up shop in the city
Power company looking to enter local market
as service provider
LONG BRANCH — There is a new suitor for your energy business. And it has come calling with flowers.
Keyspan Energy, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., is aiming to get in on the city’s revitalization. As an introduction to the city, the company, through its Cinderella program, footed the bill of $5,000 for 200 flower pots that were placed in the city’s business districts in June.
The pots and their flowers were installed by Steven’s Landscaping, West Long Branch.
The Cinderella program was started in 1966 as a way to for the company to strengthen ties to the communities it serves.
"The state has shown a lot of interest and support in the city’s redevelopment, and we would like to be part of those revitalization efforts," said Jim McCabe, community development director for Keyspan.
In addition to beautification projects like the one it put together here, the company has participated in other communities by investing in education, housing, infrastructure and job development.
"There will be more contributions to Long Branch," said McCabe.
Still in the planning stages, Keyspan would like to become involved in the various community events held in the city, McCabe noted.
Keyspan, according to its Web site, provides long-range financial planning and public relations support to more than 2,000 organizations involved in the arts, culture, health, education and community development.
While it is one of the energy providers in the Northeast, Keyspan is looking to fill a different role here.
According to McCabe, selling gas and electricity in New Jersey is currently not a profitable business.
New Jersey’s energy deregulation plan, passed in 1998, caps prices for retailers — but not wholesalers — of power until 2003. Because the price retailers can charge for electricity is currently below what they must pay for it, there is no incentive for companies to enter the business. In Monmouth County, GPU Energy, the company which owns the electricity transmission lines, is the provider of last resort; that is, they must provide electricity to customers in the county.
However, the deregulation bill calls for tracking the losses GPU is suffering, and under the terms of deregulation, when caps are removed completely in 2003, the state Board of Public Utilities must allow the company to pass the additional expense it has incurred on to consumers. In May that debt was roughly $200 million.
While the selling of power in the area is not currently on the table for Keyspan, it is seeking to enter the market in the realm of unregulated services such as installations of furnaces, air conditioning systems, water heaters and boilers. In addition general repairs, service plans and emergency service work also will be offered.
"We are equipped to service residential properties as well as commercial projects as large as shopping malls," said McCabe.
According to Jacob Jones, the director of community and economic development for Long Branch, Keyspan is looking to be part of the city’s vendors’ list to offer services on city projects.
Keyspan, formerly known as the Brooklyn Union Gas Co., has been in business for 100 years. In 2000 the company reported $5.1 billion in revenues. The company has expanded to Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey.
Currently an office has been established in Aberdeen to service the Monmouth County region.