New Jersey · electric utility
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) Basic Generation Service & rate increases
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is a FirstEnergy utility serving central and northern New Jersey (Monmouth, Morris, and surrounding counties) (about 1.1 million customers). JCP&L is FirstEnergy's only New Jersey utility, spanning the northern highlands to the central shore. (source)
Basic Generation Service (current rate)
15.2472¢/kWh
Effective (current) · last reviewed
Estimate for comparison — confirm the current rate and all charges with Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) before acting. Not advice.
Next scheduled reset: · Annual BGS year (Jun 1) + summer/winter step Oct 1. Every utility's reset calendar →
Of the 3 New Jersey utilities we track, Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)'s Basic Generation Service is the lowest — the range runs from 15.2472¢ (Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)) to 19.0735¢ (PSE&G). Compare all New Jersey rates →
What it means: a Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) customer on a 17¢/kWh third-party supplier rate pays about $180 more per year than the Basic Generation Service (15.2472¢), based on ~860 kWh/month. The audit below checks your actual rate.
The worth-it line: for a switch to save at least $10/month at ~750 kWh, a supplier offer must be a fixed rate below 13.91¢/kWh — with no monthly fee and no cancellation fee. Offers between 13.91¢ and 15.2472¢ technically "beat" the Basic Generation Service but save too little to justify contract risk. The full math, all utilities →
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) customer service & quick facts
The official ways to reach Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) for outages, billing, and account help. RateWatchdog is independent and not affiliated with Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) — these are the utility's own channels.
- Start, stop, or move service
- Start / stop service →
Verified · confirm on Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)'s siteHere to check if your rate is too high? Jump to the audit ↓
Is your supplier charging more?
Runs entirely in your browser. We never see your numbers.
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.
Comparing suppliers against Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)'s Basic Generation Service?
New Jersey's official comparison tool is NJ Power Switch, run by the NJ BPU. New Jersey's official comparison tool shows certified supplier offers next to your utility's BGS rate — our guide explains the BGS auction and how to spot a genuine saving.
How to use NJ Power Switch — the full guide →Is Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) a monopoly? Can you switch?
For delivery, yes — it's a monopoly. Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is the only company that runs the poles and wires to homes in its territory, so you can't pick a different company to deliver your power. That part is a regulated monopoly: Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), owned by FirstEnergy, can only charge what the NJ BPU approves in a rate case.
The electricity itself, though, is open to competition. You can buy your supply from a third-party supplier, or do nothing and stay on Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)'s default rate — the Basic Generation Service the NJ BPU oversees. Switching suppliers doesn't change who delivers your power or who you call during an outage; it only changes the supply line on your bill. And if a supplier is charging more than the Basic Generation Service, you can drop it and return to that regulated rate, usually within one or two billing cycles — no fee to the utility.
How often does Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)'s power go out?
Federal reliability data, reported by the utility to the U.S. government. SAIDI is the average total time a customer is without power in a year; SAIFI is the average number of outages.
In 2024, including major storms
8 hr 1 min
without power, across about 2.5 outages
What the average customer actually experienced.
On a typical day (storms excluded)
4 hr 15 min
without power, across about 2 outages
Normal operations, with major event days removed.
For Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), major storms drove roughly 47% of 2024's total outage time — the gap between the two numbers above is weather the utility couldn't fully control.
On normal-day reliability, Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is the least reliable of the 4 New Jersey utilities we track — the range runs from 39 min (PSE&G) to 4 hr 15 min (Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)) of typical-day outage time per year.
Source: U.S. EIA Form EIA-861, 2024 reliability data (IEEE 1366 standard), for Jersey Central Power & Lt Co. eia.gov →
How often does Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) disconnect customers for nonpayment?
Utilities report this to the federal government. It counts residential service disconnected for unpaid bills. A high rate isn't proof of wrongdoing — it's shaped by local poverty, climate, and how strong a state's shutoff-protection rules are, as much as by the utility itself.
Disconnections in 2024
13,155
times Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) disconnected residential customers for nonpayment
Per 100 households
1.3
disconnections for every 100 residential customers it serves
That's the lowest disconnection rate of the 3 New Jersey utilities we track — the range runs from 1.3 per 100 (Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)) to 4.8 per 100 (PSE&G).
Counts disconnection events — one household can be shut off more than once. From Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)'s own filings to the U.S. EIA (Form EIA-112, Residential Utility Disconnections Survey), first collected for 2024. eia.gov →
Where your bill money goes: how Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) earns its profit
Because Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is a regulated monopoly, its profit isn't set by competing for customers — it's set by regulators. The NJ BPU authorizes a target return on equity (around 9.5% to 10.5% for U.S. electric utilities) on the money it sinks into poles, wires, substations, and meters. It's a target, not a guarantee — a utility can earn above or below it — but a low-risk regulated monopoly reliably lands close. You pay that return back, plus the investment itself, through the delivery charge on every bill.
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is owned by FirstEnergy. In 2024, FirstEnergy reported about $978 million in net income — its profit across all of the utilities it owns, not Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) alone. Source: FirstEnergy's annual report (SEC Form 10-K, fiscal year 2024). SEC EDGAR →
That authorized return is set by regulators on the utility's investment — independently of how reliable the service is or how many customers are disconnected, the two measures above.
Rate cases & increases
- ER23030144 effective
JCP&L's most recent base rate case; filed seeking ~$185 million, settled for an $85 million annual base distribution increase with a 9.60% authorized ROE. Revised rates effective for service on and after June 1, 2024.
Common questions about Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)
- Why did JCP&L rates go up in 2025?
- JCP&L's Basic Generation Service (BGS) rate jumped about 20.2% on June 1, 2025, adding approximately $22.67/month to the average residential bill. New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities (BPU) attributed the increase to higher PJM capacity market costs — the July 2024 PJM auction cleared at $269.92/MW-day, roughly 9× the prior year. JCP&L passes the BGS auction result through to customers with no markup.
- How do I compare JCP&L to other electricity suppliers in New Jersey?
- Use NJ Power Switch at njpowerswitch.gov, run by the NJ Board of Public Utilities. Select JCP&L as your utility to see every BPU-certified Third-Party Supplier's current rate next to the JCP&L Basic Generation Service (BGS) benchmark. A fixed-rate offer below the BGS with no cancellation fee beats the default on supply cost. After the 2025 BGS spike, check current offers — the spread between BGS and competitive suppliers has changed.
- Are JCP&L rates going up again in 2026?
- JCP&L's BGS supply rate resets each June 1 based on New Jersey's annual BGS auction. The 2026 auction results (conducted in early 2026) determine the June 2026 rate — check njpowerswitch.gov for the current BGS figure after June 1, 2026. Separately, FirstEnergy/JCP&L may have distribution rate cases pending at the NJ BPU that affect the delivery portion of your bill.
How NJ's BGS auction affects JCP&L customers — and why the JCP&L increase was the largest of the NJ utilities
JCP&L uses the same BGS auction process as PSE&G and Atlantic City Electric — New Jersey's BPU runs an annual auction in February, competitive suppliers bid, the blended result sets the BGS rate effective June 1. The supply cost passes through to customers with no markup.
In the 2025 BGS auction, JCP&L customers saw the largest percentage increase of the three NJ utilities — about 20.2%, adding roughly $22.67/month to the average residential bill. The NJ BPU attributed the jump to higher PJM capacity market results from the July 2024 auction ($269.92/MW-day, ~9× the prior year). JCP&L's service territory — primarily suburban and exurban, with higher average usage than urban PSE&G customers — means the per-kWh increase hit monthly bills somewhat differently than in denser areas.
Can JCP&L customers switch to a competitive supplier?
Yes — JCP&L customers can choose a certified Third-Party Supplier (TPS) for generation. New Jersey's official comparison tool is NJ Power Switch at njpowerswitch.gov, which lists all BPU-certified suppliers' current offers alongside JCP&L's current BGS rate. After the 20% BGS increase in 2025, some fixed-rate TPS offers that previously looked expensive are now worth comparing against the BGS benchmark.
Key things to check: whether the rate is fixed or variable (variable rates can spike above BGS mid-contract), the contract term, and whether there's an early termination fee. JCP&L's distribution and delivery service continues unchanged regardless of which supplier you choose.
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) service territory
JCP&L (Jersey Central Power and Light) is FirstEnergy's only New Jersey utility, covering a broad swath of central and northern NJ — from the suburban Morris/Somerset hills to Monmouth County's coast and the Raritan Valley corridor.
- ▸ Core counties: Monmouth, Ocean, Morris, Somerset, and Warren
- ▸ Stretches from the Raritan River basin to the Delaware Water Gap area
- ▸ 1.1 million electric customers in central and northern NJ
- ▸ Customer base is largely suburban residential with high per-household usage vs. PSE&G's denser urban footprint
What does a Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) bill look like?
ESTIMATE — see note below.
| Bill component | At 750 kWh/month |
|---|---|
| Supply / generation (11.5¢/kWh) | $86.25 |
| Delivery, transmission & other riders | see note → |
⚠ ESTIMATE — BGS supply rate is approximately 11.5¢/kWh based on the NJ BPU 2025 BGS auction results (JCP&L saw the largest % jump of the NJ utilities). Delivery charges (~8–10¢/kWh) are additional. New Jersey all-in rates are among the highest in the region. Verify at njpowerswitch.gov.
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) rate alerts
Email alerts for Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) are coming soon — we're setting them up with double opt-in and one-click unsubscribe, and we'll never sell your data. For now, this page and the New Jersey hub track every active rate case.