New Jersey Bill Explanation of Terms

How Bills are Determined

Electricity is measured and priced in kilowatt-hours (kWh). You are billed according to the number of kilowatt-hours you use as measured by your electric meter.

When you pay for a kWh of electricity, you are buying 1,000 watts of electricity used continuously for one hour. As an example, one kWh is the amount of electricity a 100-watt light bulb will use in ten hours.

Bill Due Dates

Your electric bill is due on or before the due date. To avoid late payment charges, pay your bill on or before the due date shown on your bill.

Late Payment

Unfortunately, at times customers might be late in paying their electric bills. When this happens, we urge our customers to contact us to avoid a disconnection of electric service. We consider disconnecting electric service for nonpayment a last resort and would rather work out payment arrangements.

If you need to speak to a Cutomer Service Representative regarding a late payment, please contact us.

Why Bills are Estimated

Our meter readers have assigned routes and schedules. At times, severe weather conditions or other unforeseen problems might keep them from reading all the meters on their routes. When this happens, we estimate your electricity usage during that billing period based on your previous electric bills. Any difference between your estimated usage and actual usage is automatically adjusted the next time your meter is read.

Your bill may be estimated if a dog on or near your property was blocking the meter reader's path to your electric meter. To help ensure their safety, meter readers will not attempt to read an electric meter if there is a dog in the vicinity of the meter. We ask your cooperation in keeping your dog leashed or confined to prevent our employees from being exposed to unnecessary risk.

You can avoid estimated bills by submitting your meter reading online. Or, if you would rather submit a meter reading card by mail, contact us to request the appropriate form.

Bill Terms

  • Basic Generation Service (BGS). Generation charges for any consumer who has not chosen an electric generation supplier.
  • Billed Load. Recovers the bulk of distribution facility costs and a portion of power plant investment costs.
  • Customer Charge. Monthly charge that offsets costs for billing, meter reading, equipment, and service line maintenance.
  • Delivery Service Charges. Charges for the use of local wires, transformers, substations, metering, billing, other equipment, and other activities used to deliver electricity to consumers from high-voltage power lines.
  • Estimated Reading. On the months we do not read a meter, we calculate the bill based on past electrical usage.
  • Generation Charge. Charge for the production of electricity.
  • KWH (Kilowatt Hour). A unit of measure for electricity usage equal to 1,000 watts used for one hour.
  • Late Payment Charge. A charge added to the bill on balances owed after the Due Date.
  • Multiplier. A number used in the calculation of kilowatt hours. The difference between meter readings is multiplied by this number to determine kilowatt hour usage or KW/KVA.
  • Non-Utility Generation Charge. Charge (previously called the Market Transition Charge) that primarily recovers costs of BPU-approved power supply contracts. This charge includes Transition Bond Charges of $0.001626 per KWH and $0.000973 per KWH, which JCP&L is collecting as servicer on behalf of JCP&L Transition Funding LLC and JCP&L Transition Funding II LLC, respectively, which own the respective Transition Bond Charges.
  • Price to Compare. Price per kilowatt hour to be used when comparing to the price of a generation supplier.
  • Payment Plan (Budget). The Equal Payment Plan distributes costs more evenly over the year by billing an average amount each month.
  • Prorated Bill. If this is on your bill, the current billing period is for less than 26 days or more than 35 days or a rate change occurred during the current billing period.
  • Service Charge. Charge for opening an account.
  • Societal Benefits Charge (SBC). Charge to recover costs of low-income assistance and weatherization, energy conservation programs, nuclear decommissioning, manufactured gas plant remediation, and consumer education on competition.