A delegation of small business groups testified before a New Jersey legislative committee that unfair competition from utilities is threatening to force them out of business.
The Small Business for Fair Competition (SBFC) — which includes members of the PHCC, the New Jersey State League of Master Plumbers, the South Jersey Mechan-ical Contractors Association, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Fuel Merchant Association of America and the National Federation of Independent Businesses — testified before the Assembly Policy and Regulatory Oversight Committee that the legislation designed to stimulate competition among companies generating and transmitting electric power to New Jersey consumers permits large utility companies to funnel ratepayer funds into newly created service affiliates in order to drive out competition from independent contractors.