Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. has received approval of a settlement in its base rate case from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) that will help build on service reliability enhancements made by the utility in recent years and allow the company to recover costs incurred to restore power to customers following severe storms.
Even with the $94 million increase in its base rates, JCP&L customers will continue to pay the lowest residential electric rates among New Jersey's four regulated electric distribution companies. Investments will include additional tree trimming as well as service reliability projects that will benefit customers by hardening and modernizing the electric system. It also allows JCP&L to recover the cost of investments made since January 2016 to strengthen the electric system to meet reliability standards set by the BPU.
"This agreement helps us deliver on our commitment to keeping the lights on for our customers, enhancing service reliability and supporting the safe and timely response to power outages caused by severe weather events," said Jim Fakult, president of JCP&L. "To give families and businesses more time to adjust to the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, bills will remain unchanged in the near-term and the new rates will be applied to bills in November 2021."
When the new base rate is applied next November, a typical residential customer using an average of 768 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month will see an overall increase of $4, or approximately four percent, for an average monthly bill of about $104.
For more information, visit the Web site or see the video clip below explaining FirstEnergy's vegetation management techniques.
