In a filing built to meet the moment’s two demands — affordability and reliability — JCP&L is asking state regulators for a $253 million rate increase to address infrastructure needs, but it is structuring the request in a way that customers will not have to pay the costs until 2028.
Here’s why the rate case is unique: JCP&L is not simply delaying an increase to customers; it has found enough ways to offset or pay for the costs (think credits from programs that weren’t fully utilized) to cover the increase to consumers until Jan. 2028.
In other words, JCP&L is effectively maintaining a freeze of consumer energy bills while starting necessary infrastructure upgrade projects.
The bottom line on the request, filed late Thursday, looks like this: Consumer delivery rate cost will remain unchanged until January of 2028, when they will increase by approximately 8.8%, or roughly $14.23 more a month for a typical household using 767 kilowatt-hours.
It’s unclear when the BPU will rule on the request, but history suggests a decision would likely come around mid-year in 2027.
JCP&L President Doug Mokoid said the company feels the approach meets the moment by balancing affordability with reliability.
“It’s one thing to be a lowest cost provider,” he said. “It’s another to be a lowest cost provider with significantly improved reliability. That’s what we’re striving for.”
The filing was not a surprise to state regulators, who were briefed during pre-filing discussions before the case was submitted.
“We want to make sure that no one is surprised, whether it’s the administration or the BPU,” Mokoid said. “It’s been important to maintain open communication throughout the process and avoid surprises.”
Mokoid said the company considered the state’s priorities when structuring the filing, including bill offsets and other measures designed to support the affordability objectives outlined in Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s Executive Order No. 1.
“Gov. Sherrill and her administration have been clear and transparent in communicating their expectations around utility affordability and reliability, which has helped inform and shape our filings to better align with the state’s priorities and the needs of our customers,” he said.
The request comes just over a month after a brutal weather week — one in which a massive heat wave (real-feel temperatures over 110) was followed by a multi-day storm. Many customers lost power for a number of days over that period.
Mokoid said he understands the frustration of a rate increase so close to such a big storm.
“I understand there’ll be questions, there’ll be concerns,” he said. “People will want to understand what’s in this filing, what benefits they’ll get out of it — those are all fair questions.
“This filing will enable us to continue to make investments for our customers, while also, with the offsets we’ve identified, mitigating bill impacts for these distribution rate increases until 2028. We think we continue to build trust there.”
Part of that trust comes through education.
Mokoid noted that JCP&L covers 42% of New Jersey’s land area, the largest service territory of any utility in the state. Its coverage area ranges from the mountainous northwest to the rapidly growing Jersey Shore. Both regions carry their own reliability challenges, from dense tree cover to storm exposure. Those geography challenges were on display during that storm, when crews had to replace or repair 1,700 poles across the hardest-hit areas.
Then there is the bill issue. Mokoid said the confusion over what utilities actually control is one of the biggest challenges the company faces.
Distribution — the portion of the bill JCP&L actually sets — makes up only about 30% of a typical customer’s total charges, he said; the rest covers generation, transmission and other supply-side costs set elsewhere in the market.
“We’re like a DoorDash driver that’s providing the meal, but we didn’t make the meal,” he said.
Addressing this challenge is a company-wide endeavor.
Teresa Reed, JCP&L’s vice president of rates and regulatory affairs, and Patricia Mullin, the company’s vice president of operations, echoed Mokoid’s framing that the utility is trying to manage both sides of the affordability-reliability equation.
“We are listening to our customers and leading with affordability,” Reed said. “By keeping our own costs down and taking an innovative approach, JCP&L is a responsible steward of our customers’ energy dollars.”
Mullin agreed.
“While we’ve made progress over the past two years, we still have more work to do,” she said. “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.”
JCP&L’s plan supports an additional $2.1 billion in base distribution investments, part of a larger five-year, $6.9 billion capital plan that includes:
- Modernizing the grid through focused investments in highest-priority circuits;
- Increasing remote capability and control through EnergizeNJ;
- Upgrading transmission assets with a focus on long-term reliability and capacity planning;
- Continuing energy efficiency commitments to help meet state goals and customer needs.
Mokoid said JCP&L has invested $1.5 billion in capital improvements over the past three years — investments the company says have driven a 15% improvement in reliability in 2025 compared with 2024, and a 38% improvement so far in 2026 compared with the same period last year.
Those gains come as JCP&L has weathered increasingly severe and frequent storms, including that stretch in early July that, in some of the hardest-hit areas, caused damage the company has compared to what it saw during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Mokoid said these upgrades will enable the company to better serve its community.
“Jersey Central — we are a local company,” he said. “We’re a Jersey-based company with Jersey-based employees that care about our customers. We are laser-focused on continuing to improve service reliability while managing costs. We’re here. We’re not going anywhere.”
