Why your electric bill is going up in New Jersey

⚫ A three-hour hearing focused solely on rising electric rates

⚫ Much of the blame is being placed on increased usage

⚫ Climate change is another contributing factor

You're the main reason your electric bill shocked you this summer.

A hot few months led to a significant uptick in usage, stakeholders say. That, combined with increased energy costs on the front end, and the never-ending need to improve reliability, led to wildly more expensive monthly bills for countless Garden State residents.

The issue of rising electric rates and their impact on New Jerseyans was the primary focus of an Assembly hearing in Trenton on Wednesday.

"I've received countless calls from my constituents because they are seeing what I have been seeing — skyrocketing electric bills," Assemblywoman Andrea Katz, D-Burlington, told the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee.

According to Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the main driver of bill increases over the summer was a spike in energy usage.

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"The usage increase across New Jersey among the four investor-owned utilities was anywhere from 12 to 16%," Guhl-Sadovy said.

Residents' bills appeared even more inflated, she added, because usage in 2023 was lower than usual.

Summer 2024 was the third hottest on record in the Garden State.

Rising costs for utilities

Along with an increase in demand, utilities are managing a tightening of supply.

"The cost of energy has gone up and that had an impact on bills starting in the beginning of the summer," Guhl-Sadovy said.

Utilities do not profit from these increased costs, but they are passed on to consumers.

Rising bills can also be attributed to rate increases by utilities, which have to be approved by the BPU. Utilities make these proposals when providing reliable service becomes too costly, and for infrastructure improvements.

"Those infrastructure improvements are even more necessary as we see the extreme impacts of climate change," Guhl-Sadovy said.

Advocates and officials are calling on increased renewable energy in New Jersey in order to lower electric bills.

Republicans in the Assembly said Gov. Phil Murphy's "aggressive" clean energy mandates — 35% by 2025 and 100% by 2035 — are driving up bills for customers.

Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New League of Conservation Voters, said the best way to protect energy costs in the long run is to invest in clean, renewable energy "and make sure these projects can connect to our grid supply."

"Renewables don’t just create union jobs here in New Jersey — they also provide long-term stability for consumers that are currently being buffeted by fluctuations in the oil and gas market," Potosnak said.

In New Jersey, a $175 one-time bill credit was issued to eligible residential customers for the September billing cycle. The REAP initiative, which was based on household income, benefited approximately 278,000 gas/electric customers.

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