JCPL Withdraws MAIT Request Thursday

In a surprise move, Jersey Central Power & Light abruptly withdrew their extremely controversial application before the state to transfer their transmission assets to the Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission (MAIT).

As Patch reported, JCP&L, via their parent company First Energy, petitioned the state Board of Public Utilities to transfer their power lines and transmission assets to the newly formed spin-off. But now JCP&L withdrew their request via a formal letter sent Thursday to the BPU.

JCP&L's MAIT request was heavily criticized by many, including the New Jersey Sierra Club, Congressman Frank Pallone (D-Middlesex/Monmouth) and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth).

"I learned about this a couple hours ago and I'm very pleased," state Assemblywoman Handlin told Patch Thursday afternoon. "They failed in what was a very sneaky attempt to win the game by changing the rules ... They (JCP&L) was trying to do an end-run around our local governments."

A JCP&L spokesman previously told Patch the Monmouth County Reliability Project has nothing to do with the MAIT request.

But Handlin said that's not the case, because, had the BPU approved the transfer, MAIT would have had the power of eminent domain. That means Handlin said she was concerned it would give the electric company even more power to build transmission lines wherever they please in New Jersey. And that especially includes the deeply hated Monmouth County Reliability Project: 10 miles of power lines along the North Jersey Coast rail tracks — and through backyards — from Aberdeen to Red Bank.

Handlin said she credits the pushback JCP&L encountered from Monmouth County residents as a reason for their backing down.

"They would have had to continue to fight every step of the way, and they determined that in the end it was likely to be a losing battle," Handlin said. "The community fighting back was certainly a part of (stopping this). It's clearly a step in the right direction."

Read First Energy's letter to the BPU:

FirstEnergy hoped to have the MAIT transfer done by January. But, in a letter attorney Gregory Eisenstark sent to BPU president Richard Mroz Thursday, he acknowledged that time frame was not likely to occur. Eisenstark is an attorney with the law firm Windels Marx, retained by First Energy on the matter.

A copy of the letter has been provided to Patch, and you can read the letter in its entirety here:

JCP&L and First Energy insist the MAIT transfer could have actually resulted in lower costs to customers, as it would have improved their credit rating.

"FirstEnergy is disappointed that New Jersey regulators determined that a transmission-only company cannot be considered a public utility in the state. As we have said throughout, a separate transmission-only company typically carries a more favorable credit rating and can borrow money for less, resulting in lower costs to customers," said JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano.

Because Pennsylvania regulators and the federal government approved MAIT in PA, the new transmission-only subsidiary will operate there, he said.

Before they withdrew their request, just last week Morano continued to stress that the MAIT request would have no impact on whether or not the Monmouth County Reliability Project moves forward:

"The MAIT filing before the BPU is simply a request for corporate reorganization in order to have all the JCP&L transmission assets and the Met-Ed and Penelec transmission assets (other FirstEnergy operating companies in Pennsylvania) housed under one single entity," Morano told Patch Friday. "The MAIT filing before the BPU has nothing to do with whether the Monmouth County Reliability Project will move forward."

Rep. Pallone said he was "encouraged" by Thursday's news.

“There were numerous unresolved questions about the consequences of this transfer, including how ratepayers would be affected, and whether BPU would have authority over MAIT," he said. "Given that FirstEnergy has filed an application to construct the Monmouth County Reliability Project, approving this transfer could have had unforeseen impacts on my constituents in Monmouth County."