Jersey Central Power & Light files with state regulators for rate increase
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) filed an electric rate plan with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) that calls for an 8.5 percent rate increase.
The rate increase will support service reliability enhancements made by the JCP&L in recent years and recover costs to restore power following severe storms. Over the last four years, JCP&L has invested $1 billion to strengthen its electric system and meet reliability standards set by the BPU. Among the projects, the utility completed substation flood mitigation, deployed equipment that automatically transfers customers to adjacent circuits if an issue is detected, and accelerated vegetation management work designed to reduce power outages.
Further, JCP&L incurred more than $300 million in costs to restore power following a series of winter storms over the past two winters.
“Since 2016, we have made investments in our infrastructure that benefit customers by enhancing the resiliency of our system, and that grid hardening work will continue to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of our customers,” Jim Fakult, president of JCP&L, said. “The same concept applies to ensuring recovery of recent storm-related costs. With more frequent severe weather events expected in the years ahead, we need to be prepared to deploy the resources necessary to restore service to customers as safely and quickly as possible.”
The average rate increase for residential customers is expected to be 8.5 percent for a customer using 766 kilowatt hours per month. That comes out to a monthly increase of about $8.73. The company points out that JCP&L customers would continue to pay the lowest residential electric rates in the state.
JCP&L, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp, serves 1.1 million customers in New Jersey.
