Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) has reached a settlement in its base rate review currently pending with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), the company said today.
Parties to the settlement include JCP&L, New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, New Jersey BPU, Commercial Metals Company, New Jersey Large Energy Users Coalition and various federal executive agencies.
The settlement has been filed and is subject to BPU approval.
Jim Fakult, President of JCP&L said, “This agreement allows us to continue to keep our rates the lowest in New Jersey while moving forward with our customer-focused priorities: delivering safe, reliable and affordable electricity to the homes and businesses in our service area. It also puts a spotlight on the assistance available to our customers facing financial hardship.”
The settlement includes several investments focused on strengthening the energy grid, enhancing the customer experience and sustaining affordability. They include:
- Infrastructure upgrades to enhance the performance of 18 high-priority circuits that have a history of service disruptions in JCP&L’s service territory.
- Increasing existing vegetation management investments to enhance tree trimming and other related work around JCP&L wires.
- The launch of an Energy Assistance Outreach Team to enhance the company’s ongoing efforts to increase awareness, education and participation in energy assistance programs available to eligible customers.
To apply or learn more about other utility bill assistance programs, customers are encouraged to visit firstenergycorp.com/billassist or contact customer service at 1-800-662-3115.
I would just like them to come out on a consistent basis to read my meter instead of estimating. When the estimated bill seemed high for Nov and Dec I made sure to take a reading for the start of my Jan period. It was so far off in their favor when my Jan bill came in that I had a $0 bill when I called and gave them the actual reading. Five months of the last year were estimated bills even though they have a small charge on our bills that goes towards the meter being read.
That’s why they’re rolling out smart meters.