JCP&L Lowers Rates, Says It Has Power to Beat the Heat

Jersey Central Power and Light Company has announced a lower electricity rate for its Ocean County customers for the next 12 months, and says it has plenty of power to supply the area through the current heat wave and the summer ahead.

The average JCP&L customer will see about a 5 percent savings on each monthly bill, said company spokesman Ron Morano. The rate cut took effect June 1, and will stay in place for a year.

Meanwhile, as county residents cranked up the air conditioning in response to rising temperatures, another spokesman told county freeholders late Wednesday that the company doesn't expect the extra draw on its resources will be a problem.

“We’re well prepared for this weather,’’ said Peter Johner, the utility's area manager for customer and community relations.

Coincidentally, Johner was before the freeholders to give his annual report on the power company’s efforts to make sure there is no repeat of the July 4, 2003 power failure that lasted for five days on the Barnegat Peninsula, which stretches from Point Pleasant Beach to Island Beach State Park.

“It caused havoc,’’ Johner recalled, putting the blame on two cables carrying power under Barnegat Bay that failed at the same time.

That cannot happen now, he said, because the utility has four cables serving the same area, and has invested $15 million to upgrade the infrastructure in Ocean County.

Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari asked for, and got, the annual updates after the 2003 outage.

Morano said Thursday that JCP&L's rate reduction is the result of lower energy costs across the board. A portion of customer's bills – basic service generation – is determined by the cost of energy at a yearly auction, he said. At this year's auction in February, the market price of power came in lower than last year, and the company was able to pass the savings on to customers.

A typical customer using an average of 650 kilowatt-hours monthly would see the household electricity bill decrease 4.8 percent, Morano said, which translates to a savings of about $5.39 per month.

During the report to freeholders, Johner ticked off improvements all over the county, adding that JCP&L works with local officials to plan for new growth once the economy starts to improve. The utility is replacing a lot of its equipment in conjunction with upcoming county road projects in Whiting, the Jamaica Boulevard bridge in Holiday City at Berkeley, the widening of New Hampshire Avenue in Lakewood, on Route 526, and as the bridge at Rova Farms in Jackson is replaced.

Complaints about streetlights that are not working are investigated and repaired within three days, unless the entire light fixture needs replacing, which should take three to four weeks, he explained.