The one-time payment hits in August. It does not lower the underlying rate.

Every residential customer of New Jersey's four big electric utilities will see a one-time $25 credit on their August bill, nearly seven months after Trenton declared the cost of power an emergency.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities authorized the one-time credit for all residential customers' August bills, according to the BPU.

All residential households with an existing account at PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric or Rockland Electric qualify automatically, and no one needs to apply. Municipal utility and rural electric cooperative customers get nothing under the BPU order. The order required the four utilities to file eligibility certifications by July 16 and to return any unused funds given to them for the credit by November 30. The utilities must submit a final accounting to the Board by October 16.

BPU's order fulfills Sherrill's January EO

Governor Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order No. 1 on her first day in office, January 20, declaring a state of emergency over electricity costs and directing the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to issue Residential Universal Bill Credits by July 1. The Board approved the credit June 30, one day before the deadline.

The program does not tap the utilities for the money. State-controlled funds totaling $170.8 million pay for the credit according to the June 30 order: $75.8 million from an account that power suppliers pay into as an alternative to meeting solar-energy requirements and $95 million from the Clean Energy Program budget. To move the money on the emergency timeline, the Board waived N.J.A.C. 14:8-2.10(g), its own rule governing how solar-compliance funds are allocated to utilities each year.

This is the second round of relief in just over a year. Sherrill's order instructed the Board to rely on the same or similar funding sources as its August 13, 2025 order, the action that produced last fall's $50 credits under then-Governor Phil Murphy. Both programs use Solar Alternative Compliance Payment funds, but the 2026 credit also draws on Clean Energy Program funds while the 2025 credits used Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) proceeds. The 2025 credit paid $100 total per household; the 2026 credit pays $25.

High electricity costs remain an issue

After the June 2025 supply auction raised residential electric bills as much as 20.2 percent, the Board of Public Utilities approved two $30 bill reductions for all electric customers in July and August of that year and two $50 credits for more than 3.6 million customers in September and October.

Average residential electricity prices in New Jersey climbed more than 33 percent from June 2023 to June 2025, according to a February joint statement from the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Effective June 1, 2026, an average residential account using 650 kilowatt-hours a month runs $201.76 at Atlantic City Electric, up 0.11 percent, and $137.47 at JCP&L, up 1.6 percent. At PSE&G the same account runs $180.23, down 1.8 percent; at Rockland Electric it runs $168.93, down 0.7 percent. All figures are before any credits, according to the Board's certification order. PSE&G's Temporary Supply Offset Credit expired May 31, one day before the new rates took effect.

The 2025 auction increased bills 17.24 percent at PSE&G, 20.20 percent at JCP&L, 17.23 percent at Atlantic City Electric and 18.18 percent at Rockland Electric, according to NJBIZ. The 2024 auction had already increased bills 3.6 to 8.6 percent, depending on the territory.

The new 36-month supply contracts cost between 10.938 and 12.057 cents per kilowatt-hour, replacing 2023 contracts that cleared at around 9.2 to 9.6 cents, according to auction records. The Board of Public Utilities said 2025's results showed little movement in part because of a price collar from the grid distributor, PJM Interconnection. PJM's collar capped capacity prices at $325 per megawatt-day while setting a floor of $175.

BPU, DEP and NJEDA pledge RGGI funds

To meet the executive order's 30-day deadline, the DEP, the BPU and the NJEDA said in their joint statement that the Board pledged to steer uncommitted and future Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative proceeds toward bill relief. All three agencies cautioned that spending outside the program's statutory lanes would need legislative authorization. The agencies said they have committed nearly $950 million in RGGI funds to date, including $88 million last year for low- and moderate-income ratepayer relief.

New Jersey collected $117,306,175 from a June 3 carbon auction and has collected approximately $1.34 billion since rejoining the compact in 2020, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The $25 credit drew on other funds, but the February pledge committed the Board to using uncommitted RGGI proceeds for bill relief. New Jersey Policy Perspective noted that one graph in the state 2026-2028 RGGI spending plan appears to show ratepayer relief as the only priority fully funded to its maximum percentage.

Sherrill's executive order carried other assignments beyond the credit. It directed the Board of Public Utilities, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Economic Development Authority to confer within 30 days on the use of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative proceeds. It told the Board to revise the Clean Energy Program budget to match actual figures by May 1.

A separate protection is already in effect. The Board's Summer Termination Program operates June 15 to August 31 for the first time, barring shutoffs for households enrolled in assistance programs or who self-certify financial hardship. That program runs concurrent to, but is separate from, the bill credit.

The $25 credit is a one-time payment. The supply contracts that determine the underlying rate run for another three years.

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Sources

• EnergyChoiceMatters, "New Jersey BGS Auction Results" (Feb. 12, 2026)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Docket No. ER25040190, 2026 BGS Auction Order (Feb. 12, 2026)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Docket No. ER24030191, 2025 BGS Auction Order (Feb. 12, 2025)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Docket No. EX25040210 / ER25050282, PSE&G Rate Mitigation Filing (June 18, 2025)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Docket No. QO26030089, Order, "In the Matter of the Disbursement of the 2026 Residential Universal Bill Credit" (June 30, 2026)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Docket No. QO24020120, Residential Energy Assistance Payment Order (June 18, 2025)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Docket No. QO25070389, 2025 Residential Universal Bill Credit Order (Aug. 13, 2025)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Docket No. QO26030089, 2026 Residential Universal Bill Credit Order (June 30, 2026)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, news release, "BGS Auction Results" (Feb. 9, 2024)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, news release, "BGS Auction Results" (Feb. 12, 2026)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, news release, "Summer Termination Program" (June 24, 2026)

• New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, LIHEAP and USF program information (2026)

• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, RGGI auction proceeds data (2026)

• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection / New Jersey Board of Public Utilities / New Jersey Economic Development Authority, joint statement on RGGI proceeds (Feb. 19, 2026)

• New Jersey Governor, Executive Order No. 1 (Jan. 20, 2026)

• New Jersey Policy Perspective, "New Jersey's Clean Energy Funds" (Feb. 26, 2026)

• NJBIZ, "Electric Bill Increases Due for NJ Customers" (Feb. 13, 2025)