Energy choice · New Jersey
Should you shop for an electricity supplier in New Jersey?
In New Jersey, the honest answer for most people is: don't bother. The BGS auction rate is hard to beat, and the door-and-phone offers are where the traps live.
Check your own bill first (2 minutes, free)
Find the supply rate on your bill and compare it to your utility's Basic Generation Service. If a supplier is charging more, you're overpaying for identical electricity — and you can switch back. Our audit runs on your device; we never see your numbers, and we never try to switch you.
Check my rateHow choice works in New Jersey
Your utility always handles delivery — the wires and the outages — and you can't shop that part. What you can shop is the supply: the electricity itself. Do nothing and you stay on the default rate, the Basic Generation Service (BGS). Basic Generation Service is locked in once a year through a statewide auction each February and takes effect around June 1, so your default rate is fixed for the year.
New Jersey's official, commission-run resource is the NJ Board of Public Utilities. There's no slick apples-to-apples comparison site here, so most offers you'll see arrive by phone, mail, or at the door — exactly the channels to be most careful with. Compare any offer against your utility's posted default rate yourself.
- New Jersey is the state where staying put usually wins. BGS is set in a well-run annual auction, and over the years it has been genuinely hard for a residential supplier offer to beat it.
- New Jersey doesn't have a slick comparison site the way PA or Ohio does — it leans on the utility's BGS information — so be extra wary of offers that come to you by phone or at the door.
Step-by-step: we wrote a full guide to using NJ Power Switch — what each column means, the three contract terms to check, and the math to do before switching. Read the NJ Power Switch guide →
New Jersey's utilities — the rate to beat
This is the Basic Generation Service for each New Jersey utility we track — the number a supplier offer has to beat. A "deal" above these is costing you money for the same electricity.
| Utility | BGS | Last reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) | 16.48¢/kWh | |
| Atlantic City Electric | 17.58¢/kWh | |
| PSE&G | 19.31¢/kWh |
Rates change on a schedule — always confirm the current figure on your bill or your utility's site before deciding.
Before you shop, know the traps
The same handful of tactics show up in every choice state: a teaser rate that flips to a variable one, an early-termination fee paired with a variable rate, monthly fees hiding behind a low headline rate, green-energy upsells, and "your utility sent me" pitches at the door. We break down each one — and the rule that cuts through all of them — in the main guide.
Read the full traps breakdown →Common questions
- Is it worth switching electricity suppliers in New Jersey?
- In New Jersey, the honest answer for most people is: don't bother. The BGS auction rate is hard to beat, and the door-and-phone offers are where the traps live. The only offer worth taking is a fixed rate, for the full term, with no monthly fee, that beats your Basic Generation Service — and you compare it on the NJ Board of Public Utilities, not off a phone or door pitch.
- What is the Basic Generation Service in New Jersey?
- It's the per-kWh rate your utility charges for default electricity supply — the BGS — and it's the number any supplier offer has to beat to actually save you money. Your utility buys that power at a wholesale auction and bills it through with no markup. Basic Generation Service is locked in once a year through a statewide auction each February and takes effect around June 1, so your default rate is fixed for the year.
- Will switching suppliers in New Jersey change my service or reliability?
- No. Your utility still owns the wires, reads your meter, and handles outages regardless of who supplies your electricity. Switching only changes the supply line on your bill, and if a supplier goes out of business you're moved back to the default rate automatically.
RateWatchdog takes no supplier commissions and never enrolls or switches anyone. See the full energy-choice guide →