RSA expands leadership role to include utility deregulation.

No one understands the concept of deregulation and its effects upon the impacted industries better than members of New York City's rent-regulated housing industry.

When New York's Public Service Commission (PSC) approved utility plans for competition in the local natural case markets, property owners hoped to realize a savings when heating their multi-family buildings this winter.

After many months of researching the potential benefits anticipated by natural gas deregulation, the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) has reluctantly concluded that while some industries are enjoying the advantages of this deregulation, the multifamily housing industry is not. This is especially true of the small property owners who provide low-income housing and who utilize gas exclusively to heat their buildings, according to the RSA.

In response, RSA has elicited the support of the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), Small Property Owners of New York (SPONY), the Council of New York Cooperatives (CNYC) and several key real estate professionals, including Michael Kerr of M&R Management, Rubin Pikus of Milbrook Properties, and Andrew Hoffman of Clarendon Management Corp. to create the Apartment Coalition.

"Our goal is to insure that our industry's interests are represented before the PSC and that the opportunities created through utility deregulation are available to everyone," said RSA President Joseph Strasburg. "It is imperative for our economic health that the benefits of deregulation, and the competition it will foster, filter down to those industries whose roots are intractably planted in this marketplace. The fact remains that real estate is the one industry that cannot relocate its business, and that multifamily housing is an integral component of New York's financial infrastructure. We want to help New York's Public Service Commission achieve its goal of providing consumers with more choices through the competitive pricing of gas supplies."

The Apartment Coalition is intervening in a Brooklyn UnionGas (BUG) transportation rate case and has filed extensive comments on behalf of the multi-family housing industry. The Coalition has retained attorney Phyllis Kessler, a partner in the firm of Kudman, Trachten & Kessler who has 20 years' experience representing clients before the PSC and the New Jersey Public Utility Commission in gas, electric, water, steam and telephone rate proceedings and complaint eases.

"We have several suggestions we would like to make to the PSC based upon our analysis of BUG's rates and tariffs, which affect the multi-housing service classifications," Kessler said. "We look forward to working with all concerned parties and are hopeful that the benefits of deregulation can be shared equitably among all service classifications within BUG's territory."

The Apartment Coalition has submitted its comments to the PSC in the BUG rate case. The comments define the size and scope of the Coalition's constituents, the economics associated with operating and heating multifamily buildings, a technical analysis of BUG's rate and tariffs, and recommendations designed to increase competition.

The Apartment Coalition's liaison is Michael Printz, RSA's Director of Marketing & Sales. He can be reached at [phone].