NJ Electric Companies Say They Share Customers' Frustrations With High Bills

They’re frustrated, too. That was the message from an industry trade group this week as soaring energy bills continue to flummox residents across New Jersey.

Rising utility costs are taking center stage in this year’s gubernatorial election, with the Democratic and Republican candidates each floating their own plans to deal with the state’s mounting energy crisis.

On Thursday, the New Jersey Utilities Association – a trade group for investor-owned utilities in the state – issued a statement on behalf of its member electric companies: Atlantic City Electric, Jersey Central Power & Light/ A FirstEnergy Co., Public Service Electric & Gas Company and Rockland Electric Company.

The association’s president and CEO, Rich Henning, said the goal is to find a “meaningful” way to work with lawmakers and bring prices down for customers.

Henning wrote:

“We share New Jersey residents’ frustration with the significant bill increases from higher energy supply costs. It’s important to remember that New Jersey electric companies don’t control or earn any profit from electric supply prices. We have been sounding the alarm on the power supply-demand imbalance and advocating for market reforms for years.

“Electric companies work hard to provide safe and reliable energy while protecting our customers’ interests. Electric supply cost increases and subsequent customer bill increases are driven by higher PJM capacity prices caused by declining power generation and exponentially increasing energy demand. Because electric companies themselves don’t control these costs, we are unable to reduce them. And we report our financial details regularly to the BPU by way of rate cases, where utility expenses are reviewed in a highly detailed and transparent fashion. This is how our regulators ensure that recovered expenses by utilities are ‘just and reasonable.’

“Electric companies don’t control energy supply costs, don’t keep money collected from customers to cover those costs, and don’t benefit from them.

“New Jersey imports more than 40% of its electricity – almost half – from the PJM market. Per a 1999 state law, electric companies in our state are not allowed to build and own power generation, which has precluded all New Jersey electric companies from developing or offering new sources of power supply to meet rising demand and reduce prices.

“It’s clear that the state needs to take control of its energy destiny and develop and construct new power generation to meet currently increasing and anticipated future demand and we are encouraged by the discourse around options to achieve these goals in the short term to address our current crisis. The New Jersey electric companies stand ready to work with lawmakers to be a meaningful part of a solution to maintain long-term reliability and affordability for customers, including continued energy efficiency, additional power generation capabilities, and transmission to lower energy costs.”

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