Energy Company Overbilled Hoboken Residents, Will Issue Refunds: Officials

HOBOKEN, NJ — The city of Hoboken told residents that "opting in" to their new, green energy program would help the environment and possibly lower their bills. But that doesn't seem to be what's happening, say officials and residents.

According to two members of the City Council, bills rose in the last month or two, and not due to colder weather.

In fact residents who "opted into" the program still get bills from the original supplier —PSEG — but those bills show the amount charged by the new provider. And PSEG has helpfully included a comparison of what it would have cost, if they'd stayed with PSEG.

"Did you get an exceptionally high PSEG bill this month and are opted into the city’s third-party renewable energy program?" Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher asked in her newsletter Monday. "I’ve heard from several neighbors who did—and I did as well. My bill was double the prior month, and I was away for half the month."

She noted, "As a reminder, Hoboken’s Renewable Energy Program promises locked-in rates with IDT Energy through October 2026, depending on the selected plan."

Fisher said that the administration told her they will reach out to the new provider and provide an update soon.

Council Paul Presinzano said he had heard from constituents too.

"Residents have reached out about super high bills from third party electric suppliers this month," Presinzano said. "Some of my colleagues and I have raised this issue with the administration and have been told they are aware & are investigating."

Presinzano posted a snippet of a bill for $299.85 that showed the same bill from PSEG would be $206.76.

Billing Mistakes Were Made

Fisher noted, "Many residents were charged higher rates—up to 21.5 cents/kWh or more—despite being enrolled in a plan with locked-in rates. IDT Energy attributed this to a 'system error' and so far is issuing refunds by check to those who have reached out. I’ve asked Hoboken's assistant business administrator to look into this, as I believe this is a system-wide issue, not just a series of one-offs."

Patch heard back from the city, who said that there was an error in some residents' bills. The full response from the city is below.

The City's Response

A city spokesperson said, "The Hoboken Renewable Energy program was designed to provide residents with both savings and a cleaner energy supply. The program’s Standard Rate option, which includes an additional 20 percent Green Energy, is set at 12.83 cents/kWh, which is competitive with PSE&G’s 15.39 cents/kWh (the rate at the time of auction.) Residents also have the option to "opt-up" to 100 percent Green Energy at 12.97cents/kWh or choose the Basic Rate at 11.86 cents/kWh.

"However, it’s important to note that PSE&G’s rates change quarterly, so we cannot guarantee that the program rates will always be lower than PSE&G’s rates at any given time but the program provides consistent, transparent rates which have saved residents over $800,000 since its launch along with a greener energy supply.

"The city recently became aware of December overbilling of certain residents during the transition period from Direct Energy to our new clean energy provider IDT Energy Services. Direct Energy, the City's previous energy provider, is conducting an audit, contacting affected residents via letter, and issuing refunds to any residents who were affected by the end of the month. According to Direct Energy, the average overbilling was approximately $23. Residents will not be contacted by phone, email, or in person and will only be contacted via letter.

"If you believe your account was overbilled, please contact Direct Energy 1-866-968-8065 or email aggregationsupport@NRG.com."

More Information

IDT Energy also has a contact form here.

See what the city said about the program last year here.

Read more about Hoboken's program here.