Atlantic Electric Wants A Raise

Atlantic Electric wants to raise customers' electric bills by 6.3 percent to help pay for infrastructure improvements that the utility said will keep its electric network resilient and reliable.

The Mays Landing-based business serves Southern Ocean County customers says it needs the increase to raise $78.9 million in revenue.

"In order to improve our electric system and continue to provide quality service, it's important that we invest in new infrastructure and upgrade our electrical systems," said Vince Maione, Atlantic Electric's regional president.

If the state Board of Public Utilities approves the request, residential customers who use between 500 to 1,000 kilowatt hours per month would see monthly increases of $6.81and $11.73, respectfully.

Atlantic Electric's last request for a 5.6 percent rate increase came in 2014. The BPU approved a 1.65 percent increase

The increase would come through the utility's base rate, which covers transmission and distribution expenses and pays for operational and capital costs.

Stefanie Brand, the director of the state Division of Rate Counsel, said the hike request is the company's fifth rate increase request since 2010, according to app.com.

"We really want to take a good look at it to see what's in there and see why they are in need of so many increases and whether or not they really are in need for this increase," she said. "There is something wrong when they need to come in every year."

AtlanticElectric has invested about $716 million into its electric system over the past five years. Company officials say there has been less outages, with power restored more quickly.

"We do want them to spend on their system to improve reliability, but we also want to make sure they are not asking for too much," Brand said.