August 29, 2014

Dear NJGCA Member:

Thank you for reading this week's NJGCA Road Warrior!

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS! 

RENEWED CALLS TO CONSIDER RAISING THE GAS TAX
CALIFORNIA TO TEST "PLAY AT THE PUMP" PROGRAM
IMPORTANT NJGCA EVENTS/SEMINARS IN SEPTEMBER

I want to start off this week by discussing the possibility that proposals to increase the gas tax will start resurfacing again as the Legislature gets back to work for the fall.  In the past three days, Senate President Sweeney has visited three bridges in NJ that are in serious disrepair and pose a danger to those that traverse them each day.  One bridge, in Trenton, was closed in July 2013 by the Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure because of what they claim was an "unenforced 3-ton weight limit."  The bridge -- built in 1922, and rehabbed in 1947 -- has a sufficiency rating of 2, which is one point shy of the worst rating possible. Another bridge, in Roselle, was built in 1911. It has never been reconstructed. It has a sufficiency rating of 22.5 out of 100, making it structurally deficient, unsafe for public use and long overdue for a full replacement. Senator Sweeney also visited a bridge in Edison, which is one of over 30 bridges in Middlesex County that are considered structurally deficient.
 
Senator Sweeney's purpose is to bring statewide attention to NJ's near- bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund, and NJ’s ever-increasing infrastructure problems. Sometime in the next year there will be several hundreds of millions of dollars of road improvement projects that will simply stop unless a solution is found.  It is getting more difficult to argue against raising the gas tax, especially because it has been so long since the tax has been increased. On a percentage basis, the value of the current tax is greatly diminished, due to inflation. Furthermore, combined with an overall decrease in gasoline consumption, the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund is facing a very bleak financial future. Although I have some compromises that I'm willing to offer to legislators and government officials in Trenton, I am not willing to discuss them publicly yet.
 
Moving on, I recently read that the California State Lottery is considering becoming the 3rd state to implement "Play at the Pump" -- a setup in which consumers who are filling up their vehicles at gas stations may also buy lottery tickets from the pump. Two states already have implemented such programs -- Minnesota and Missouri.  California officials stated that the pilot will kick off this fall at about 100-150 existing lottery retail fuel locations in Los Angeles and Sacramento. The sales would be in $5, $10, and $20 increments, with a maximum of $50 a week. Purchasers would have to use a credit card or an ATM card that was verified with an ID, and would have to buy gasoline from the pump in order to buy a lottery ticket from it.  The pilot is expected to last for five months.  Proposals of this sort continue to interest me more and more, especially as New Jersey moves to consider self-serve gas. 
 
Finally, I want to inform you about a few events coming up in the near future:
 
1. NJGCA is continuing to host our FREE breakfast meetings at locations throughout the State. We'll be in Andover on Sept. 10th and East Hanover on Sept. 16th.  These meetings will be convenient for members in Sussex, Warren, Morris and Essex counties.  You can expect to be receiving more information about these meetings in the next few days.  To view a list of the meetings in other parts of the state through the end of October, please click HERE.
 
2. NJGCA will be at the Asian American Retailers Association Trade Show on September 9, 2014.  We will have a booth and will be providing lots of important information to the attendees.  Stop by and see us!  The trade show is from 2PM - 8PM on Tuesday, September 9 at the Garden State Expo Center in Somerset, NJ.  To view the AARA website, please click HERE.
 
3. NJGCA is planning a FREE seminar in conjunction with Fox Rothschild, a law firm that is one of our Member Benefit Partners, on labor-related issues such as Wages, Hiring, Firing and Employee Handbooks. The meetings will be on Sept. 30 in Roseland, for members in North Jersey, and Oct. 1 in Lawrenceville, for members in Central Jersey.  Both meetings will be held in the evening and will include food, dessert, soft drinks and coffee/ tea. You can expect to receive more information about these seminars throughout the next few weeks!

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading.  See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS 

Do you have a business for sale?  Are you looking for a new location or opportunity?

• NJGCA regularly assists members looking to sell their business by getting the word out.  Since everyone reading this message is involved in the small business gasoline retail, convenience store, and automotive repair trades, it is an ideal medium to connect with interested buyers and prospects!

NJGCA also helps members sell equipment by placing ads in the Road Warrior!

• If you'd like to list equipment for sale, or have an open position you'd like to make other industry professionals aware of, please contact NJGCA at 973-376-0066 and let us help you get the word out! 

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

8/27/2014:
Labor Day weekend will see cheapest N.J. gas prices in 4 years
NJ drivers set to hit the road for that last gasp of summer fun will encounter the cheapest Labor Day weekend gasoline prices in four years, a result of record-high refinery production, a slight downshift in demand and a global dip in crude oil prices, according to GasBuddy.com. For the holiday weekend, just over 1 million New Jersey residents are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home, according to AAA auto club. The projected total -- the highest amount since 2008 -- includes 880,000 traveling by car, 88,000 by plane and 76,000 by bus, boat or other mode of transportation. The nationwide decline in gas prices began in July and should last through mid-September, said GasBuddy chief oil analyst Tom Kloza. In NJ, the average gallon of gas today stood at $3.23, a steep drop from just a month ago when it was $3.43. At least 15 stations throughout the Garden State were selling gas for $3.03 a gallon or less today, GasBuddy reported. The price was generally higher for credit card purchases.
 
08/27/2014:
Big power out, solar in: UBS urges investors to join renewable energy revolution
Big power stations in Europe could be redundant within 10-20 years as electric cars, cheaper batteries and new solar technologies transform the way electricity is generated, stored and distributed, say analysts at USB, the world’s largest private bank. In a briefing paper sent to clients and investors this week, the Zurich-based UBS bank argues that large-scale, centralized power stations will soon become extinct because they are too big and inflexible, and are “not relevant” for future electricity generation. Instead, the authors expect it to be cheaper and more efficient for households and businesses to generate their own energy to power their cars and to store any surplus energy in their own buildings even without subsidies. In language more closely associated with green NGOs, the bank with assets of more than $1.5tn says it expects a paradigm shift away from large-scale conventional power plants. “Power is no longer something that is exclusively produced by huge, centralized units owned by large utilities. By 2025, everybody will be able to produce and store power. And it will be green and cost competitive, i.e., not more expensive or even cheaper than buying power from utilities,” say the authors, who urge their financial clients to “join the revolution.”
 
08/26/2014:
Trenton council punts sick pay measure to voters, asks NJ legislature to enact statewide policy
Trenton city council will let voters decide if businesses should be required to give workers up to five sick days. On Tuesday night, Trenton officials voted unanimously to postpone a vote on the measure, and gave the OK to put the sick pay proposal on November’s ballot. Council members also approved a resolution to urge the state legislature and Gov. Christie to enact a statewide earned sick day policy. A majority of business groups and owners voiced concerns about the law at the meeting. The ordinance allows private-sector workers to earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees would have to provide up to three sick days. Businesses with 10 or more employees would be required to let workers earn up to five sick days.
 
08/25/2014:
Bottom Lines: Wind energy off coast of A.C. would cost far more
The wind energy demonstration project off Atlantic City seems destined to cost NJ residents double or more the existing rate for the electricity it produces. For a while, it looked as if the state Board of Public Utilities -- an organization that still seems to care about the ordinary people who pay the bills -- might restrain this expensive attempt to demonstrate offshore wind-power technology that is fully deployed already in Europe. But this week, an appellate division of state Superior Court ordered the BPU to base its decision on a lower anticipated price of electricity from the four wind turbines 3 miles off Atlantic City planned for Fishermen’s Energy.  In April, the BPU had denied the project’s application because the energy produced would be too expensive, estimating that it would cost $263 per megawatt hour (mwh is 1 million watts for one hour).  The court, acting on a motion by Cape May-based Fishermen’s Energy, ordered the BPU to reconsider the application based on an expectation that it would produce electricity costing $199 per mwh.  Even at that reduced estimated price, wholesale electricity from the Fishermen’s Energy project would be twice as expensive as what area residents currently pay for electricity supply on their monthly bills. The projected $199 per mwh equals $0.199 per kilowatt hour (kwh is 1,000 watts for one hour). Atlantic City Electric’s current “price to compare” for residential electricity supply is $0.099 per kwh.

TRAINING CLASSES!!
-ALL CLASSES WILL BE HELD AT NJGCA HEADQUARTERS-
66 Morris Avenue - Springfield, NJ 07081 (Union County)

No classes currently scheduled.  Please check back soon!

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND.  CONTACT DEBBIE at 973-376-0066 or DEBBIE@NJGCA.ORG TO LET HER KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING A SPECIFIC CLASS.  THIS WILL ALLOW US TO GAUGE YOUR NEEDS AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE!!

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

TMP Energy Solutions
Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh signing up through our energy saving program. We know it's difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an "accurate" analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available. 

This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum KW demand is acquired. By pooling the member's usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate.

Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group.

Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require12 months of your most recent utility bills.

There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #'s, meter #'s  service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem.

The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate.

If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Greg Cannon at the NJGCA.

Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket.

We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs.  Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund. 

Contact GREG CANNON at 973-376-0066 or email Greg at greg@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.