JCP&L commercial customers shopping for competitive electric rates in New Jersey can expect to save 15-25% off of their electric bills. According to New Jersey electric switching Stats, over 70% of the commercial load has already been switched over to a competitive supplier. Natural gas prices are near a 10-year low, which is currently putting downward pressure on electricity wholesale rates. By locking in a long term rate a business will be protected against any spikes in the energy market for over the next few years. With energy prices near record lows the number of JCP&L commercial customers participating in energy choice will continue to increase.

Participating in energy choice will have no negative impact on the quality of power a business receives from the local distribution company (JCP&L). JCP&L will still be in charge of maintaining the lines and wires that deliver the electricity from the delivery point to your place of business. They will continue to charge the distribution cost, which is a regulated charge. Whether you decide to keep JCP&L for your basic generation service or switch to a competitive supplier, the distribution charges will remain the same.

Shopping for competitive electric rates has never been easier. JCP&L provides the official price to compare rate on the electric bill. This is the rate a business will use while comparing prices with a competitive supplier. The price to compare rate will include all components of the supply charge including New Jersey’s usage and sales tax (SUT). When comparing rates it is important to review the contract carefully to make sure your business is comparing apples-to-apples to JCP&L’S price to compare rate. A number of services are becoming available that can help find the lowest price, based on term and rate classification. ElectricRate.com offers a platform that provides a side-by-side comparison to JCP&L’s basic generation rate and a supplier’s competitive offering. If you want a hassle free experience and unbiased advice they are worth checking out.

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.

With the recent announcement by PSEG that they will be raising their basic generation service rates for their residential and small business customers, many consumers are starting to search for the best alternative to PSEG. Through New Jersey energy choice laws, all PSEG customers have the option to shop the competitive electricity market for an alternative electricity supplier. While these companies are alternatives to PSEG, the quality of the power is the exact same as the power continues to be delivered though the same power lines and wires.

New Jersey has set up a fairly simply electricity choice market where utilities such as PSEG continue to deliver power to their customer base no matter who the customer chooses to supply the power. The alternative electricity companies offer rates to customers that represent the electricity generation and transmission portion of the electric bill. PSEG and the other three major New Jersey utilities receive revenues through the distribution charge on the electric bill which remains regulated by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

The best alternative companies to PSEG are those that offer a fixed electric rate that is lower than the basic generation service charge. If a customer does not choose an alternative supplier they pay the basic generation service charge for power supply which is the PSEG default rate. Finding an electricity supplier that offers a rate lower than the default rate will result in a lower PSEG electric bill. However, it is also important that the rate is fixed for at least several months, otherwise the electricity supplier will likely increase the rate after the initial month.