Utility Companies In New Jersey

Utility Companies in New Jersey

Contents

1 Utility Companies in New Jersey
2 Jersey Central Power & Light Provides more than Just Electricity
3 Landscape Lighting
4 Tree Services
5 Security Lighting
6 Electrical Services
7 PSE&G Provides Customers with a Variety of Protection Plans
8 Manage Your Energy Bills
9 Atlantic City Electric is Taking Steps to Improve Reliability
10 Energy Choice in New Jersey
11 Overview of New Jersey’s Power Sources
12 Electricity Prices in New Jersey are among the Highest
13 Electric Suppliers
14 Utility Companies

New Jersey has four main utility companies that distribute electricity to residential and commercial customers throughout the state. They include Jersey Central Power & Light, Public Service Electric and Gas Company, Atlantic City Electric, and Orange and Rockland. They are overseen by the State of New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is a local distribution company in New Jersey. Thanks to the New Jersey Energy Choice program, customers are now free to choose a competitive supplier to generate their electricity. In the past, JCP&L was responsible for every aspect of electric service, including generation, transmission, and delivery. For customers who do not select a third-party supplier, JCP&L will still act as the supplier of last resort.

Jersey Central Power & Light Provides more than Just Electricity

The job of the utility company is to maintain the lines and wires and provide generation services to customers that choose not to shop for a third-party energy supplier. Jersey Central Power and Light have taken its duties a step further by providing other essential services to its customers. If you live in JCPL’s service area, regardless of your current energy supplier, you can take advantage of these services.

Tree Services

Take advantage of professional services that will maintain your trees to avoid any costly future repairs. Mother nature is unpredictable and can be unforgiving. During winter months, it is not uncommon for branches to fall off during ice storms which can lead to expensive roof repairs or other nuisances. Avoid these hazards before it’s too late. The professional tree services will include tree and stump removal, pruning and trimming, emergency tree services, and tree maintenance.

Public Service Electric and Gas Co., (PSE&G) is a local distribution company headquartered in Newark, NJ. Serving over 2.2 million electric customers and 1.8 million gas customers, PSE&G is the largest provider of electric and natural gas in the state of New Jersey. The company is also a Fortune 500 company with over 13,000 employees.

PSE&G Provides Customers with a Variety of Protection Plans

If you live in the PSE&G service area you may be able to benefit from additional services provided by the utility company. This applies to customers that have PSE&G as their generation supplier and customers that have already switched to a competitive energy supplier. The WorryFree Protection plans cover everything from heating, cooling, kitchen, laundry, along with other services. Protect your wallet today and let the experts fix any issues before they become an overwhelming expense.

Manage Your Energy Bills

PSE&G customers may qualify for the Equal Payment Plan given their account is current. The plan works by dividing last year’s 12 months of energy usage into equal payments. PSE&G will reevaluate the energy usage every six months and adjust the payments up or down. The customer will receive one annual bill, along with the regular payment amount, that will reflect a payment due or credit based upon any increase or decrease in energy usage. This period is called the balancing month.

If customers are facing financial difficulties, they may qualify for a Deferred Payment Agreement. The agreement allows the past balance-due to be spread out for several months. The customer will continue to pay the regular monthly amount, plus a percentage of the past balance-due until the balance is paid off. A down payment is required for this plan.

Atlantic City Electric is a local distribution company and a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation. Incorporated in 1924, Atlantic City Electric currently serves over 556,000 customers and covers over 2,800 square miles in southern New Jersey. Atlantic City Electric is responsible for maintaining the lines and wires to safely deliver the electricity to your place of residence.

Atlantic City Electric is Taking Steps to Improve Reliability

The landscape for improvement is always revolving. Atlantic City Electric (ACE) is the supplier of last resort for customers and is in charge to maintain the distribution system to keep it reliable for residential and commercial customers that depend on its energy. Atlantic City Electric has recently undertaken a series of steps to improve reliability in this area.

Smart Grid: Advanced technology enables ACE to detect power outages more quickly and re-route the energy to speed up the recovery process
Trimming Trees: Harsh weather conditions are notorious for destroying trees and damaging power lines. The company has more than doubled the number of professional tree trimmers to prevent this from happening.
Moving Power Lines Underground: Power lines tend to be more secured underground. Although expensive, moving power lines underground will prevent damage from mother nature and ensure long-term reliability.
Replacing Aged Infrastructure: There is an appropriate time to replace aging infrastructure. Atlantic City Electric is taking steps to replace old equipment and modernize the power system to keep up with the changing needs of the community.

Located in the northwestern suburbs of New York City, Orange and Rockland provides electric and gas service to over 745,000 customers and covers more than 1,300 square miles in New York and northern New Jersey. Orange and Rockland act as the supplier of last resort for customers who do not select a third-party supplier to generate their electricity.

Energy Choice in New Jersey

In 1999, New Jersey deregulated its power generation. This gave residential and business consumers the power to shop around for a competitive energy supplier for the generation portion of their bill. The State of New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is responsible for overseeing and regulating the distribution of energy to residential homes and businesses. The board also takes on other initiatives such as the Clean Energy Program along with managing energy costs related to the utility companies operating in the region.

Energy choice has given more options to New Jersey’s customers on choosing how their power is generated, the rate product they can sign up for, along with the length of the product term. Before energy deregulation, the utility companies had a monopoly over the generation costs as well as the delivery costs. Now residential and business customers can choose which retail energy supplier will generate their power. The competition between energy suppliers to earn more business tends to push down prices.

Overview of New Jersey’s Power Sources

Just like in many states, natural gas and nuclear power account for the majority of New Jersey’s net power generation. However, with the demand to require retail energy suppliers to generate a greater percentage of power from renewable energy sources things will begin to change. New Jersey’s renewable portfolio standard is requiring 21% of electricity sold in the state to be generated from renewable energy resources by 2021, 35% by 2025, and 50% by 2030.

Coal is not a significant source of power generation in the state. In 2018, less than 2% of power is generated from coal, down from 10% in 2010. Renewable energy still accounts for a small percentage of the over-all generation but is expected to grow in the coming years.

Electricity Prices in New Jersey are among the Highest

New Jersey consumes more electricity than it generates. It relies on outside power sources to fill the deficit. The state is taking steps to close the deficit with only 5% of its power being generated from outside the state, down from 20% in 2013. Although many may consider renewable energy as environmentally friendly, there is a high premium associated with requiring energy suppliers to generate a percentage of their overall power from renewables. As this requirement grows, unless there are advancements with bringing down the costs associated with renewable generation, it’s very likely electricity prices in the state will continue to increase.

Electricity	New Jersey	U.S. Average	Time Period
Residential	15.73 cents per kWh	12.85 cents per kWh	February 2020
Commercial	11.88 cents per kWh	10.36 cents per kWh	February 2020
Industrial	9.82 cents per kWh	6.42 cents per kWh	February 2020