How Much Would PSE&G Rate Hike Cost New Jersey Customers?

If New Jersey state authorities allow PSE&G to increase its gas and electric delivery rate, it will cost the average customer about $20. That’s what the utility provider claimed after it filed its first regulatory rate review in more than eight years with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) last week.

On Jan. 12, PSE&G filed for a regulatory rate review that would increase the company’s overall revenues by about 1 percent. PSE&G is required to file the review as a condition of the approval by the BPU of the company’s “Energy Strong” program in 2014.

“The increase is necessary to recover investments PSE&G made to strengthen its electric and gas distribution systems, making them more reliable and resilient,” the company stated in a news release.

If approved as filed, the typical combined residential electric and natural gas customer will see around a 1 percent increase - or about $19.70 – to their annual bill, PSE&G stated.

PSE&G downplayed the proposed rate hike, stating that even with the proposed increase, bills for the typical residential customer are expected to be more than 15 percent lower than they were in 2010.

“As a result of strong cost control, our residential customer bills are lower today than they were eight years ago,” said David Daly, PSE&G president and COO. “Together with passing along savings from recent tax law changes, we’ve been able to minimize the impact on our customers.”

“Since our last regulatory rate review in 2010, PSE&G has made significant capital investments to upgrade, modernize, and strengthen our electric and gas systems to make them more reliable and resilient,” Daly said. “Our current electric and gas delivery rates do not reflect all the investments we have made to maintain the safe, highly reliable service our customers have come to expect. This rate review also addresses previously incurred storm costs that had been deferred until this time.”

PSE&G said that the new base rates would take effect October 1, 2018.

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File Photo: PSE&G