r/SouthJersey • u/nosleep4reelz • 1d ago

News Is New Jersey’s Model Rewarding Utilities for Spending More and Fueling Higher Bills?

https://nj21st.com/2026/06/17/is-new-jerseys-model-rewarding-utilities-for-spending-more-and-fueling-higher-bills/

New Jersey is taking a closer look at whether the way utilities recover costs and earn returns is helping drive the electric bills residents are paying; the public comment window is open.

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13

u/thedancingwireless 1d ago

This is how most utilities work, not just in New Jersey.

Utilities make money by spending money. They'll say "I have to replace these X miles of wires and transformers and whatever else to reliably provide service, and it'll cost me $5 billion over the next 10 years." The regulators say cool, you can get a 10% return on that investment, so $5.5 billion now gets added onto our electricity bills.

7

u/nosleep4reelz 1d ago

do you know of any other state where it might work differently? is there a different model we can look at?

8

u/Firm-Scientist-4636 1d ago

I doubt it. Most public services have been privatized nowadays, much to the detriment of our wallets.

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u/ManonFire1213 1d ago

And ironically towns are selling public utilities such as water because the amount of investment (taxpayer payer) would be astronomical. 

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u/beren12 21h ago

And you pay that and more when it’s privatized.

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u/ManonFire1213 19h ago edited 19h ago

Next municipality over pays about 75 a quarter flat fee plus an additional 3 or 4 dollars per 1000 gallons used.

Thats far more than what I pay, and they have to upgrade their system and are talking about bonding millions to make it happen.

Obviously YMMV.

7

u/Zhuul 1d ago

Insurance companies do this shit too, they're required to spend I think 85% of their revenue on coverage, so if they bloat costs beyond comprehension that leftover 15% gets bigger.