Politics & Government

JCP&L Rate Hike Hearings Wednesday

Utility company petitioning state board for consumer rate increase

The state Board of Public Utilities is scheduled to hold a pair of hearings in Freehold Township on Wednesday on a proposed rate increase for Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L).

The first meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Township Municipal Building, at Schanck and Stillwell Corner roads. The second meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at the same location.

The utility company, roundly criticized for its response during Hurricane Sandy and the nor’easter that followed, wants a rate increase of 4.5 percent in its effort to raise $603 million the company says it needs to repair infrastructure damaged in hurricane’s Sandy and Irene.

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The company faces opposition.

“We will speak for the hundreds of ratepayers who are tired of paying more for less service,” said Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, R-Monmouth, in a release. “This proposal to take about $85 more per year from hard-working families lacks credibility because JCP&L has yet to answer very serious charges of pocketing corporate profit instead of investing in the improvements that would have made our service more reliable and our rates more tolerable.”

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Handlin, along with Assemblywoman Caroline Cassagrande, plan to speak at the hearings and present the BPU with a petition signed by 1,500 county residents opposed to the rate increase.

“After JCP&L literally left our communities in the dark and sent New Jersey ratepayers’ money to its parent company in Ohio, the utility is back with hands in our pockets,” Casagrande, R-Monmouth, said. “We will make the case for thousands of hard-working families and businesses that JCP&L should not see one penny more from New Jersey ratepayers until it returns every dollar it pocketed for corporate greed.”


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