New Jersey electricity rates & utilities
We track 4 New Jersey utilities and the rate cases at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. You can shop your electricity supplier here — so the bill audit applies.
Shopping for a supplier? New Jersey's official comparison tool is NJ Power Switch, run by the NJ BPU — our guide to using it →
New Jersey electricity prices by the numbers
Avg residential price
22.63¢/kWh
2025 · EIA
Change since 2019
+43%
+13% after inflation
Steepest single year
+17%
2024→2025
Basic Generation Service
15.2472–19.0735¢
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) ↔ PSE&G
Prices: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Real change uses U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U).
Current New Jersey electricity rates by utility
The Basic Generation Service for each New Jersey utility we track — supply only, sorted lowest first. This is the number any competitive supplier offer has to beat.
| Utility | Basic Generation Service | Last reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) | 15.2472¢/kWh | |
| Atlantic City Electric | 17.6¢/kWh | |
| PSE&G | 19.0735¢/kWh |
Supply-only rates; delivery charges are additional. Rates reset on each utility's schedule — confirm on your bill before acting.
What's driving New Jersey electricity prices
New Jersey's annual Basic Generation Service (BGS) auction sets the default supply price for most residents — and the February 2025 auction locked in increases that pushed average bills up roughly 17–20% starting June 1, 2025, driven by PJM capacity costs. Offshore wind, the state's main planned relief, hasn't materialized: the BPU's Atlantic Shores (1,509 MW) contract was terminated amid federal permitting reversals, leaving no near-term in-state supply offset. — NJ Board of Public Utilities / NJ Business Magazine.
How electricity rates work in New Jersey
New Jersey utilities deliver your electricity and are regulated by the Board of Public Utilities (BPU). The generation portion is competitive — you can choose a third-party supplier or stay on the default.
The default rate is Basic Generation Service (BGS), which is set each year through a statewide auction and typically changes on June 1. If you've signed up with a supplier, your price is set by that contract instead.
So a 'rate increase' in New Jersey is usually the annual BGS change, a distribution rate case at the BPU, or a supplier contract rolling off a teaser rate.
What you can do: Compare your supplier's rate to your utility's Basic Generation Service. If you're paying more, you can drop the supplier and return to BGS — usually within 1–2 billing cycles.
Who's who on your New Jersey electric bill
Four different players decide what you pay. Here's each one, in plain English:
Your utility — the "distributor"
The company that owns the poles and wires and physically delivers power to your home — the name on your bill (in New Jersey, one of the utilities listed below, like Atlantic City Electric). This part is a regulated monopoly: only it delivers in your area, and the NJ BPU sets what it can charge for delivery. You can't shop the delivery part.
Generation — the "supply"
The electricity itself (also called supply or generation). You can buy it from your utility's default rate — the Basic Generation Service — or from a competing third-party supplier. It's the identical electricity either way; only the price differs.
PJM — the "grid operator"
The independent operator that runs the regional high-voltage grid for New Jersey and 12 other states. It's like air-traffic control for electricity — it keeps enough power flowing across the whole region. Its wholesale costs flow through your utility into your bill. (More below.)
The NJ BPU — the "regulator"
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is the state agency that reviews and approves utility rate increases. When a utility wants to charge more, it files a "rate case" here — which is exactly what we track.
Putting it together: when you turn on a light in New Jersey, the electricity was produced by power plants, routed across the region by PJM, and delivered to your house over Atlantic City Electric's wires (your distributor). Your bill charges you for both the supply (the electricity) and the delivery (the wires). If you signed up with a third-party supplier, they set the supply price; if not, you pay your utility's Basic Generation Service. The NJ BPU approves the delivery rates and oversees the default supply rate.
What is "PJM" and its "capacity market"? (plain English)
PJM is the independent operator that runs the high-voltage power grid for 13 states and Washington, D.C. — including yours. Think of it as air-traffic control for electricity: it doesn't own power plants or your wires, but it makes sure enough electricity is flowing across the whole region every second of the day. The wholesale costs PJM sets get passed through your utility into your bill.
The capacity market is a separate, once-a-year auction PJM runs. Instead of paying for electricity you use, it pays power plants just to promise they'll be ready on the few hottest or coldest days when demand peaks. That promise is called "capacity." It's like paying a backup generator a retainer to stay on standby — you pay even in months you never need it.
Why it matters now: when PJM expects demand to jump, those standby payments spike. Demand is jumping largely because of data centers, and PJM's recent capacity auctions hit record highs three times in a row. Utilities pass that cost straight to customers — which is a big reason bills across all five states we cover are rising. Sources: PJM; PJM Independent Market Monitor (Monitoring Analytics).
New Jersey electricity prices over time
The average New Jersey residential electricity price went from 15.85¢/kWh in 2019 to 22.63¢/kWh in 2025 — up 43%.
New Jersey utilities we cover
- Atlantic City Electric
Basic Generation Service · 17.6¢/kWh
- Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)
Basic Generation Service · 15.2472¢/kWh
- PSE&G
Basic Generation Service · 19.0735¢/kWh
- Rockland Electric
Basic Generation Service
Coverage note: We track New Jersey's four electric distribution companies. We don't cover small municipal electric utilities, which set their own rates.
Where to find your supply rate on a New Jersey bill
Your utility's standard rate is the Basic Generation Service. On your bill, find the supply / generation rate in ¢/kWh and compare it to that — if a supplier charges more, you're overpaying. Here's the exact line to look for:
Where is this on my bill?
On your bill, find the supply rate in ¢/kWh. Your utility's standard rate is the “Basic Generation Service.” If your supplier charges more than that, you're overpaying.
Not sure switching is even worth it in New Jersey? Read our honest, commission-free New Jersey energy-choice guide →
Rate cases & increases
| Utility | Docket | Status | ~Bill impact | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROCKLAND | ER25060374 | suspended | — | |
| PSEG | ER23120924 | effective | — | |
| JCPL | ER23030144 | effective | — | |
| ACE | ER23020091 | effective | — |
New Jersey electricity rates: common questions
- What is the average electricity rate in New Jersey?
- New Jersey's average all-in residential electricity price was 22.63¢/kWh as of 2025, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The default supply portion (Basic Generation Service) currently runs from 15.2472¢ (Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)) to 19.0735¢/kWh (PSE&G) depending on your utility; delivery charges are additional.
- Which New Jersey utility has the cheapest electricity rate?
- Among the New Jersey utilities we track, Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) currently has the lowest default supply rate (15.2472¢/kWh) and PSE&G the highest (19.0735¢/kWh). These are supply-only figures — your utility is determined by where you live, so the practical question isn't which utility to pick but whether a competitive supplier beats YOUR utility's default rate.
- Why are New Jersey electricity rates going up?
- New Jersey is in the PJM grid, where the annual capacity auction — the market that pays generators to be available at peak — has cleared at record levels since 2024: $269.92/MW-day in July 2024, an all-time high of $333.44 in December 2025, and $325 in July 2026 — the third consecutive auction pinned at the FERC cap. Those costs pass through to the supply portion of bills with no utility markup as each utility's default rate resets. Separate delivery-side rate cases at the NJ BPU add on top.