NEW JERSEY — Jersey Central Power & Light has filed a rate proposal with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities that would delay the impact of new base delivery rates for residential customers until 2028 while supporting additional investments in the electric system.
The proposal includes a $253 million increase in base distribution rates, with offsets intended to prevent residential customers from seeing the impact of those changes in 2027, according to JCP&L.
If approved, the average JCP&L customer would see a total bill increase of about 8.5% once the changes take effect, while residential customers would see an increase of approximately 8.8%. A typical residential customer using 767 kilowatt-hours of electricity and currently paying $162.30 per month would see an increase of $14.23 per month, according to the utility.
Although the new base distribution rates would take effect May 6, 2027, JCP&L said proposed offsets would equal the change in residential base delivery rates during 2027, delaying the bill impact until January 2028.
“Customers shouldn’t have to choose between affordability and reliability. Our balanced approach puts both front-and-center simultaneously by minimizing the impact on bills today and giving customers time to plan, while continuing to invest in the infrastructure needed to deliver safe, reliable service for generations to come,” said Doug Mokoid, FirstEnergy President of New Jersey.
The proposal also seeks to recover $476 million in previously deferred storm costs through a separate charge beginning in January 2028. JCP&L proposes recovering those costs over 10 years rather than a shorter period.
Base rate filings allow utilities to recover costs associated with infrastructure upgrades and storm restoration. JCP&L said increasingly frequent severe storms pushed its deferred storm costs to $476 million before storms that occurred July 3-6.
“We are listening to our customers and leading with affordability. By keeping our own costs down and taking an innovative approach, JCP&L is a responsible steward of our customers’ energy dollars,” said Teresa Reed, JCP&L’s Vice President, Rates & Regulatory.
JCP&L said it has invested $1.5 billion in capital improvements over the past three years. According to the utility, reliability improved 15% in 2025 compared with 2024 and has improved 38% so far this year.
“While we’ve made progress over the past two years, we still have more work to do. When we invest, our customers benefit. This means fewer interruptions for families, more time open for businesses and more investment in our communities and economy,” said Patricia Mullin, JCP&L’s Vice President, Operations.
The proposal supports an additional $2.1 billion in base distribution investments as part of a larger five-year, $6.9 billion capital plan. Planned work includes modernizing the electric grid, expanding remote capabilities through EnergizeNJ, upgrading transmission infrastructure and continuing energy-efficiency programs.
JCP&L is also seeking additional funding for vegetation management and the removal of dead and diseased ash trees. The utility said ash trees, which have been heavily affected by the Emerald Ash Borer, have accounted for 60% of tree-related outages since 2020. JCP&L said it has removed more than 74,000 dead or diseased ash trees since 2017.
The utility also offers energy-efficiency and payment assistance programs and has proposed a no-risk time-of-use rate trial that would reward customers for using electricity during lower-cost, off-peak periods.
