By Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul

The State Assembly passed several of our bills last week with the goal of making utility costs more affordable, and information about how rates are determined more accessible, for residential customers.

Most residents are aware that their utility rates are going up. The Board of Public Utilities has approved the results from a yearly auction for New Jersey’s power supply from PJM Interconnection, which sells electricity to our electric companies. The results of that auction are a minimum 17 percent increase in monthly electric costs for customers of the state’s top-four electric companies — Atlantic City Electric, PSE&G, Jersey Central Power & Light and Rockland Energy. In November 2024, the BPU also approved a nearly 16 percent rate increase for New Jersey Natural Gas customers.

PJM's stubborn reliance on aging and obsolete energy generators has compromised the reliability and capacity of the electrical grid. The grid operator has been slow to approve new interconnections. That has left New Jersey with a massive backlog of affordable energy products, all of which would mitigate these utility rate spikes.

Last week, the Assembly considered a package of bills to address rising utility costs and affordability. It is gratifying to report that the full Assembly passed three of our sponsored and cosponsored bills that were up for consideration.

Our legislation would require the Division of Housing and Community Resources, and other applicable state agencies and nonprofit organizations, to establish a consolidated application for residential utility assistance programs. New Jersey and its utility companies offer programs that help low- and middle-income residents pay for heat and air conditioning. Currently residents must apply for each separately. 

This legislation would require each state agency and statewide nonprofit that administers a financial assistance program for residential customers to provide a consolidated, user-friendly Internet-based application. In addition to posting on the Department of Community Affairs’ website, the legislation calls for state agencies and nonprofits to alert the DCA of temporary assistance programs for residential customers. The DCA could then integrate those temporary programs into the consolidated application. 

An important aspect of electricity usage is the impact of electricity usage by data centers on residential electricity costs in our state. Data centers have become a popular use of warehouse space in New Jersey, largely due to the abundance of corporate headquarters here and the state’s proximity to Wall Street. Their power usage creates a significant drain on our electrical grid to run the extensive heating and cooling systems that keep the stacks of computer servers functioning properly.

Our legislation directs the BPU to carry out a study of the effect of electricity usage by data centers on residential electricity costs. The bill calls for the BPU to include an estimate of the portion of the average residential electricity that will be attributable to the demand by data centers in the next 20 years in the regions where PJM operates.

The legislation also requires the BPU to assess various policies that could be used to mitigate or avoid rate increases, including the use of a special fee to be applied to data centers in New Jersey.

Another bill we have cosponsored would require public electric utilities to submit an annual report on recorded votes at meetings of PJM. The information in the report would include a brief description explaining each vote that was cast. This knowledge would help further the state’s goals of prioritizing the affordability, reliability, and sustainability of electricity production, consumption, and conservation. 

If you are a resident of Legislative District 11 and wish to learn more about how to apply for assistance with your utility bills, please call our office at (732) 704-3808 and a member of our team will help you.

Helping residents stay informed and making sure they have access to information to better understand electric and gas rate increases is an important part of our goal of keeping life in New Jersey fairer and more affordable for everyone.

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