Richard Mroz, former president of the NJBPU

Tom Johnson reports
for NJ Spotlight:


Richard Mroz, a commissioner and former president of the state Board of Public Utilities, is leaving the agency that oversees energy, water, telecommunications, and other regulated utilities next month.


His departure opens up a spot in the agency, which could be facing a significant shift in policies, especially governing the future of the state’s energy policies and a pronounced focus on clean-energy choices like solar and wind power, the latter mostly ignored in the Christie administration.


In a letter to the governor, Mroz said he would resign effective April 14. His letter said he would return to the private sector, but remain in the energy, utility, and infrastructure industries. In a phone interview, he declined to elaborate. Without Mroz, the agency’s board is split between two Republicans and two Democrats.


As president, Mroz was a strong advocate for the Christie administration’s policies, including unyielding support for expansion of natural gas pipelines in the state, as well as backing investments by gas and electric utilities to make their power grids more resilient to extreme storms, such as Hurricane Sandy.


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