New Jersey electricity customers who receive service from Jersey Central Power & Light (JCPL), and who are on the utility’s default generation plan, will experience a sharp rate increase beginning on the first of October 2018. The default rate, known as the basic generation service charge, changes twice annually and is derived by a series of auctions that take place as long as three years before the rate actually takes effect. The auctions are spaced out over a three year period as a way to spread out the price volatility that often occurs in wholesale energy markets; in this way default paying customers are not stuck paying high prices due to an auction occurring during a time when wholesale prices were high. However, if current energy prices are lower during the time the default rate is in effect, customers are then presented an opportunity to save money by switching to a lower competitive New Jersey electricity supplier.
Residential JCPL customers on the basic generation service rate will see at most a 13.93% rate increase take effect on October 1, 2018 compared to what they had been paying since the beginning of June. The new higher rate will have the biggest impact on lower usage customers. Since June 1, 2018 JCPL customers on the default rate have paid $0.083846 per KWh for the first 600 KWh they consume in a given monthly service period. This rate then increased to $0.093071 for all kilowatt hours above 600. On October 1 these residential customers will pay a flat rate of $0.095527 for all KWh consumed. The JCPL rate increase can be stopped by simply shopping the New Jersey competitive electricity market for a lower fixed price.
As of July 2018, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities released electric switch data showing that 16.8% of JCPL’s 999,604 residential customers were purchasing power from a competitive supplier. This data indicates that there are roughly 831,348 residential customers who are on the basic generation service rate, and who can avoid the October 1 price increase and lower their JCPL electric bill by shopping for a lower rate. Below are fixed JCPL electric rates offered by suppliers who have been licensed by the New Jersey BPU.
Residential PSEG electricity customers who are on the basic generation service rate are getting hit with a summer rate increase. The basic generation service rate is the price for electricity power supply that customers pay who have not chosen to buy their power from a competitive supplier. As an energy choice state New Jersey residents have the ability to shop the market for competitive electricity rates the same way they can shop for phone service or television content providers. Customers who do not participate in the market by shopping and buying their power from a competitive supplier pay the basic generation service rate offered by PSEG.
PSEG updates their basic generation service rates twice a year on June 1 and October 1. The PSEG basic generation service rate, which serves as a default electricity price, is determined through three auctions that take place in the previous three years of the current basic generation service rate. Competitive suppliers are often able to offer more favorable pricing than the default price, offering customer an opportunity to pay less money on their PSEG electric bill. The new PSEG basic generation service price will have residential customers paying a maximum of $0.131959 per KWH for customers who consumer above 600 KWh in a month. Meanwhile, competitive New Jersey electricity suppliers are offering fixed rates in the 10 and 11 cent range.
As of April 2017 PSEG has reported that only 12% of their residential customers have switched off of the default basic generation service price and onto a competitive plan. The new summer rate increase for 2017 could provide an incentive for the more than 1.6 million residential customers, currently on the default plan, to shop for the first time. Statewide New Jersey energy choice has resulted in 505,111 residential shoppers and 151,805 commercial and industrial customers. Despite the low residential switch percentage competitive New Jersey suppliers remain optimistic at their chances of acquiring new customers. PSEG customers have more than a dozen electricity companies to purchase their power supply from, many of which are offering fixed rates below the default price. Below are rates offered by suppliers who are licensed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
The JCPL price to compare, or basic generation service rate, was adjusted on June 1, 2016 and will reach customers when they receive their electric bills in July. Basic generation service charges include the generation and transmission portion of the JCPL electric bill, which encompasses the portion of the bill that is open to customer choice meaning that consumers have the ability to shop and purchase a lower price from a licensed New Jersey electricity supplier. Customers who choose not to shop for competitive rates remain on the basic generation service rate. Customers who are active in the New Jersey electricity choice market often refer to this rate as the price to compare, since it can be used as a benchmark to compare competitive offers against.
Every year the price to compare rate is adjusted twice a year on June 1, representing the summer rate period, and October 1 which represents the winter rate period. The prices are determined by a series of auctions that occur over a three year period. For example, the price to compare prices for 2016 were determined through auctions that occurred in 2014, 2015, and earlier in 2016. The most significant aspect of the rates this summer is the big jump in price for customers who used more than 600 KWh a month, which is the case for most properties bigger than a one bedroom apartment. During the months of June through September customers on the JCPL price to compare will pay a rate of $0.094604 for the first 600 KWh. The rate will then jump 9.8% to $0.103862 for every KWh consumed above the 600 mark.
Currently njelectricity.org, a New Jersey energy comparison site, is showing 10 competitive plan offers below the $0.09406 price and 17 total plans below the $0.103862 price. Customers on the JCPL price to compare price can save over 20% on their electric bills this summer by choosing a competitive supplier. Surprisingly as of March 2016 only 20.7% of JCPL customers had switched off of the price to compare rate according to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The recent jump in savings potential caused by lower competitive prices may spark more shopping activity in JCPL this summer.
Below is a list of competitive JCPL offers by electricity suppliers who have been licensed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
PSE&G electricity customers in New Jersey paying basic generation service rates, the PSE&G default rate, are paying among the highest electric rates in the country. The basic generation service rates are supply electricity rates that PSE&G charges customers who have not selected and alternative electric generation supplier. These default rates are based on a series of auctions that PSEG holds for their customers. Electricity suppliers compete to provide rates for a percentage of the PSEG default customers.
PSE&G passes the supply rates from the electricity companies who win at the auction directly on to customers. So even when a customer pays the basic generation service default rate, they are still paying money for their supply service to another electric supplier other than PSE&G.
Lower electric rates can be selected by customers who take the time to shop and find their own electricity supplier. When the auction for default rates takes place electricity suppliers have to take into account that a certain percentage of customers will leave the basic generation service during the year. For example, if an electric company wins the right to provide default service for 100,000 customers starting in June, they have to put a premium on the price taking into account that there is a probability that 15% of these customers might sign a contract with an alternative electricity supplier who is offering a lower electric rate.
When electricity suppliers market their service and rates to individual customers, they do not have to include a premium since they are pricing for one entity. This results in lower rates and savings on the PSE&G electric bill.
Here are some current offers and savings for electricity customers in PSE&G:
