Barbour resigned from the Assembly on September 26, 1976, after being nominated by Governor Brendan Byrne to fill the seat that had been held by Anthony J. Grossi on the three-member New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.Sullivan, Joseph F. "Trenton Topics: Byrne to Name Barbour to P.U.C. Vacancy", The New York Times, September 23, 1976. Accessed November 10, 2016. "Governor Byrne will nominate tomorrow the Assembly majority leader, George H. Barbour, Democrat of Maple Shade, to fill the long‐standing vacancy on the State Board of Public Utility Commissioners. The nomination, which is expected to receive quick Senate confirmation, will bring the rate‐making agency up to its full three‐man strength for the first time since February, when the late Anthony J. Grossi retired." He was sworn into office as the board's third member on October 5 of that year.Waldron, Martin. "Trenton Topics: Utility Commissioner Sees Tax-Rise Need", The New York Times, October 6, 1976. Accessed November 10, 2016. "George H. Barbour of Maple Shade was sworn in as the third member of the Board of Public Utility Commissioners today, and immediately made two perhaps indiscrete remarks." Herman T. Costello was elected in a November 1976 special election to fill Barbour's vacant seat and was sworn into office on November 8, 1976.Staff. Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual; 1979", p. 223. J.A. Fitzgerald, 1979. Accessed November 10, 2016. "Assemblyman Costello was elected to the Assembly in a special election Nov. 2, 1976, to serve the remainder of the term of former Assemblyman George H. Barbour of Maple Shade, who resigned from the Assembly to accept appointment to the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners." Barbour served as the board's president from 1979 to 1983.
