NJ electricity rates to skyrocket by 20% — Van Drew blasts BPU

💸 Electricity rates going up again for 4 million New Jersey residents

💸 Hikes are unprecedented: between 17% and 20%

💸 Congressman calls for entire BPU board to resign

New Jersey residents and businesses will have to figure out how to afford skyrocketing electric bills after the state announced rates will increase by at least 17% for each of the major utilities.

The new rate hikes will take effect on June 1, according to the state Board of Public Utilities.

Ratepayers can expect shocking increases whether they have Jersey Central Power & Light, PSE&G, Atlantic City Electric, or Rockland Electric Company.

The rate hikes range from 17.23% to 20.20%. That's more than double any of last year's increases, which were already painful.

Expected rate hikes

The expected rate hikes are based on a single-month period in which a customer uses 650 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

The average customer will pay at least another $20 each month for their electricity, according to Brian Lipman, director of the New Jersey Rate Counsel.

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The NJBPU "has failed"

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J. 2nd District, called on all New Jersey Board of Public Utilities board members to resign

"The NJBPU has failed the people of New Jersey," Van Drew said.

He said the massive hikes were the result of years of failed state and federal policy.

"While the state's energy crisis worsened, they were more focused on advocating for wind turbines, even flaunting their political pro-wind pins on their suits during hearings when they should have been neutral and focused on creating an energy policy that actually helps New Jersey residents," Van Drew said.

The NJBPU has limited authority

They were decided as part of an annual auction held by the BPU and electric grid company PJM Interconnection. PJM handles how electricity is distributed to 13 states and says it does not operate with a profit motive.

Late last month, PJM agreed to a price cap that would save customers across the region around $21 billion over two years.

READ MORE: High-voltage power deal caps electricity rate in 13 states

But Brian Lipman, director of the New Jersey Rate Counsel, said PJM was still to blame for the massive rate hikes. PJM failed to increase the supply of electricity and fix its market rules, which are developed with input from stakeholders, Lipman said.

"This was not simply an issue of supply and demand as PJM’s continued failure to fix its market rules and interconnection queue will lead to even higher prices in the future and slow our ability to build out our electrical infrastructure," Lipman said.

Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the NJBPU, also piled on PJM. She said Gov. Phil Murphy's administration had been pushing the company to fix its issues for months.

"The Murphy Administration will continue to aggressively push and hold PJM accountable to address rising costs by expediting interconnection and implementing additional market reforms, all of which will help drive down costs for ratepayers which is a priority for the BPU," Guhl Sadovy said.

Utilities don't make money on supply rate hikes

Just as PJM said it won't make a profit on the rate hikes, utility companies also said they won't see a dime from the increases.

In a notice to its customers, PSE&G said the utility does not profit off the electric supply; the cost is passed through directly to the consumer.

"We know that any increase to your electric bill is not welcome news, especially in the current economic environment. All of us at PSE&G will continue to work hard to provide you with safe, reliable energy and to keep customer bills as low as possible," the utility said.

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