It would put residential and business customers on equal footing in bargaining for lower rates.
Utilities oppose the idea.
As the deadline nears to open the state's electricity market to competition, battle lines were drawn yesterday over a proposal to allow municipalities to pool customers to generate greater savings. The electricity-deregulation bill now being considered would allow businesses to join forces immediately for savings, while residential users would have to wait three years. The legislation, pending before both houses, was crafted by the state Board of Public Utilities and proposes rate reductions of 5 percent to 10 percent. The Senate bill would allow municipalities, Camden, for example, to pool customers with a neighboring municipality, such as Cherry Hill, and enter into a contract with licensed electric power and gas suppliers to achieve higher savings. But such municipal pooling would be allowed only after three years of deregulation.