New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Approves settlement allowing company to recover investments made in the local electric system
MAYS LANDING – The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has approved a settlement between Atlantic City Electric and interested parties on changes to electric rates for Atlantic City Electric customers. The change allows Atlantic City Electric to increase its annual revenues by $43 million to recover investments the company has made in its system to provide safe and reliable service for customers.
“Our employees work hard every day, investing in our systems and enhancing our processes all to meet the needs of our customers,” said Vince Maione, Atlantic City Electric region president. “We are investing in smarter, more modern equipment that is providing our customers with better and faster service.”
Based on this settlement, overall energy delivery rates would increase by 4.03 percent beginning on October 1, 2017. Specifically, the total monthly bill for a typical residential electric customer using about 716 kilowatt hours of electricity would increase by $5.52.
The settlement allows Atlantic City Electric to continue to replace equipment and upgrade infrastructure, investments that have already resulted in better, faster, and more reliable service for our customers. In 2016, customers experienced 33 percent fewer outages and the average time customers were without power declined 35 percent compared to 2011. Atlantic City Electric also constructed new distribution substations in Cape May and Gloucester counties and replaced hundreds of utility poles across the region. The company completed nearly 30 separate substation enhancement projects that included new transformers and other equipment, and completed reliability improvements on 41 distribution lines to improve service for local customers.
Atlantic City Electric is committed to helping customers offset the impact of this increase by continuing to provide tips and information about how to save energy and money and connecting customers with helpful state and federal energy efficiency resources.
The company also offers payment options including budget billing to help customer manage their monthly electricity bills. Budget billing makes short-term fluctuation in monthly bills much easier to handle by dividing annual energy costs evenly throughout the year.
Many programs also are available to help low- and limited-income customers who are struggling to pay their energy bills. Customers who wish to learn more or take advantage of these important programs can visit www.atlanticcityelectric.com or call 1-800-642-3780.
