Electricity

 

New Jersey allows customers of PSE&G, Jersey Central Power & Light, Atlantic City Electric and Rockland Electric to choose their electric supply provider. The utilities sold their power plants to open the market to competition and now only own the transmission and distribution wires. Customers who do not choose an alternative energy provider use the utilities’ Basic Generation Service (BGS). The price for Basic Generation Service is determined annually through auctions held by the utilities. For large customers above 1 megawatt (MW), called the Commercial and Industrial Energy Pricing or CIEP class, the BGS price is set as hourly prices in the wholesale PJM market. Customers under 1 MW are known as the BGS Fixed Pricing Class, and receive a flat, annual rate from the auction, although it may be seasonally adjusted.

 

Natural Gas

 

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities allows customers of PSE&G, New Jersey Natural Gas, South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas to choose an alternative gas supply service. Gas supply is still delivered by the local utility. If customers do not use a third-party gas supplier, they receive Basic Gas Supply Service (BGSS) from their utility. For customers using under 5,000 therms annually, BGSS changes about once a year. For customers using more than 5,000 therms annually, the BGSS charge varies monthly. Very large customers who are “interruptible” have monthly rates outside of the BGSS.