Ralph Izzo, president and CEO of PSEG, said in an interview with E&E News PM's OnPoint that his company would back a tiered approach to cutting GHG emissions with the electricity industry first in line for emissions reductions, adding that the Clean Air Act would not be the ideal vehicle for controlling emissions. Izzo was quoted as saying: "We've known for years that we're going to be an integral part of combating climate change, so to have us featured in it, to me, is not a big surprise and it's something that the industry needs to step up to."
But, he said, the electricity industry alone would not be able to make all the needed cuts: "The problem is so big that an economy-wide approach is important and the legislation should phase in when the other parts of the economy will have to participate as well."
Izzo said he hoped the higher energy prices that would come with GHG emissions reduction could be offset: "I would hope that we'd have the policy foresight to figure out ways to use those revenues to either offset those energy costs or to offset our tax burden or to offset our deficit." Some clarity about the price of carbon was essential, he said: "The most important thing is that we get a price for carbon that's visible to investors and to users, whether that's cap and trade or some other approach is secondary. The price signal is what's essential."
