Public hearing being held to address skyrocketing Atlantic City Electric bills
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Sky-high electric bills are getting the attention of New Jersey lawmakers.
A public hearing was held Tuesday to address rising Atlantic City Electric bills. Congressman Jeff Van Drew called for the hearing, saying consumers reported their bills jumped up to 400% percent.
Van Drew announced he's requested a federal audit of ACE bills because he feels the response by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has been insufficient. This will come as good news to consumers who say they can't make sense of their accounts despite repeated calls to the BPU and Atlantic City Electric.
Ryan Moquin is an ACE customer with solar panels. He says his bills went from $20 a month to $200 year to year.
RELATED: New Jersey lawmakers hold hearing to address spike in electric bills
With cameras rolling, Moquin tried getting answers from both Atlantic City Electric and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
"My bill is a lot higher even though my energy usage is pretty similar," said Moquin, of Sicklerville.
After a long back and forth, Moquin said the math still didn't add up.
Both ACE and the BPU told Moquin, as well as the Troubleshooters, that they will address customers' concerns.
But Moquin says he hasn't heard back from either.
READ MORE: Action News Troubleshooters get answers from AC Electric about skyrocketing bills
"I've got other things to do with my time than sit and wait," he said.
Meantime, at a series of hearings, legislators are pushing for answers and improvement. Those at the hearing stated that Exelon's stock has gone up 10% over the last year while families are paying hundreds of dollars more a month for their electric bills.
"The energy credit is $175, that doesn't really apply to a whole lot of people. They're saying it's for low income, but the threshold is so ridiculous," said Gloucester County Commissioner Chris Konawel.
Konawel says there are energy assistance programs but they come with their own challenges.
RELATED: South Jersey consumers complaining of high electric bills from Atlantic City Electric
"It's difficult even for somebody like me," he said. "A lot of times the website's so outdated it's crashing on them. It requires a lot of information people don't have readily available. And you're talking hours and hours when people are working two jobs just to pay for their bills now."
Commissioner Konawel is calling for immediate relief to be applied and for the assistance application process to be simplified.
Meanwhile, ACE says rising energy costs are a state-wide concern impacting all energy utility companies.
ACE also says it made several attempts to have productive conversations with Congressman Van Drew's office but got no response. And for that reason, ACE has respectfully declined the congressman's invitation to participate in Tuesday's public meeting.
The BPU is holding its own meeting in Trenton on Wednesday.
Atlantic City Electric Full Statement
ATU Committee Hearing and Region-Wide Issues
"I hope the below responses help to better understand the many complexities of the issue. I think what is really important to note is that yes, while our customers are more vocal right now, this is a region-wide issue.
The purpose of the October 2 hearing was to discuss recent bill impacts across the State of New Jersey with assembly committee members - and not just Atlantic City Electric customers.
All energy utility companies were in attendance across New Jersey because this is a state-wide concern. PJM, NJ BPU and others were also there to discuss the reasons behind rising energy costs.
During the hearing, PJM spoke about how recent closures of power plants are factors and that the focus needs to turn towards affordability when making those decisions."
Distribution Rate Difference
"To address your distribution rate question, our region president, Phil Vavala, although did say he would have to look at the numbers the Assemblyman was referencing, did also mention a proof point that explains why distribution rates are higher in our region.
Vavala explained that the number of customers and service area size play a factor in the rates equation and how each utility company compares. The cost of infrastructure investments, operating expenses and maintenance is divided by the number of customers served. While Atlantic City Electric serves a large part of South Jersey, given its service area's vast farmland and unique geography, we have fewer customers than others to divide that cost. Our service area is slightly larger than PSE&G's territory, however, PSE&G has 4.2 times more customers. JCP&L's territory is 14 percent larger than ours, however, JCP&L has 4.2 times more customers."
Societal Benefit Charge Difference
"Atlantic City Electric is in communication with the ATU committee regarding the Societal Benefit Charge (SBC), questioning why Atlantic City Electric's SBC is between $0.002 - $0.005 higher than the other utilities in the State.
To better understand how the SBC is calculated, it helps to understand its purpose. Atlantic City Electric's SBC recovers costs to operate the State's Clean Energy Program, low-income programs among others and is a pass-through charge that the company does not benefit from. Also to note, this charge represents approximately 5% of the bill and typically equates to $7 a month on average. Once we provide a detailed response to the ATU, we can forward that information along."
Atlantic City Electric Statement on Congressman Jeff Van Drew's Public Meeting
"Atlantic City Electric made several attempts to have productive conversations with Congressman Jeff Van Drew with no response from his office. It is for this reason that we have respectfully declined the congressman's invitation to participate in today's public meeting.
We hear our customers and are working to meet their needs and provide communication that better assists them on billing issues. We are also committed to helping connect our customers with energy assistance programs, and recently launched a new Assistance Finder tool that makes it easier to see which programs you may qualify for. All of these resources are available in central bill support page at atlanticcityelectric.com/BillSupport.
Our focus right now is engaging in constructive dialogue that has our customers' best interest in mind and brings light to the energy challenges we are currently facing in New Jersey. On October 2, we participated in a hearing with the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities (ATU) Committee and provided testimony that sheds light on our efforts to support our customers.
We are committed to working together with other utilities, elected and regulatory officials, PJM, generators, and customers, to be part of a path forward that supports the area's growing energy needs and manages bill impacts, while continuing to reach our collective clean energy and climate goals for all New Jersey residents. Our participation at the ATU committee hearing is just one of many steps we are taking to help educate the public and empower our customers.
We appreciate any opportunity to speak directly to our customers and stakeholders when a positive outcome is the objective. We understand the impact of bill fluctuations and that's why we continue this broader effort to lower usage and connect customers to bill assistance resources."
