New Jersey electric rates: what you pay now and the price to beat

New Jersey homes paid 25.19¢ for each kWh in July 2026, all charges included. The EIA posts a new month every few weeks, and we add each one after we check it.

A kWh, or kilowatt-hour, is the unit on your meter. A 1,000-watt heater running for one hour uses one kWh.

What is in that number? All of it. The EIA adds up what homes were billed for power, delivery and fixed charges. It then divides by the kWh sold. That makes it an all-in price. To see where New Jersey ranks, open our electricity prices by state.

The gap with last year is small in New Jersey. In August 2026, NJ homes paid 24.61¢ and a year earlier they paid 24.70¢. Pennsylvania rose 9% over the same year, from 19.93¢ to 21.77¢. The U.S. rose 3%, from 17.57¢ to 18.16¢. The BPU said bills barely moved at the June 2026 reset. Prices were much higher two years earlier. From 2024 to 2025 the yearly average rose 16%, from 19.34¢ to 22.48¢.

The average New Jersey home paid $150.59 a month in 2025, by our math from EIA data. It used about 670 kWh and paid 22.48¢ for each one. The U.S. home used 874 kWh and paid $150.68.

That is $22 more a month, a rise of about 18% in a year. The price per kWh rose 16%, and use rose a little. The home used 662 kWh in 2024. Your own bill swings with the seasons.

Why sites show different "averages"

Some sites use one month. Some guess your kWh. Some count only supply. Here is what each number means.

A higher bill than $151 does not mean something is wrong. Summer cooling lifts use. If yours looks high, see why a New Jersey bill jumps.

The price to compare is what your utility charges for supply if you pick no supplier. NJ Power Switch defines it as the average cost per kWh for generation and transmission. That includes energy, capacity, transmission, line losses and state sales tax, plus a catch-up for past costs. Delivery is not in it.

The number moves on a set schedule. It usually changes on June 1 and Oct. 1, and sometimes when a federal transmission charge changes. Look at the date in the third column. All four utilities also price summer differently from winter, as the next table shows.

Does an offer beat your price?

Pick your utility and type an offer's price per kWh, with tax. Add any monthly fee. You will see the saving or the extra cost in winter, in summer and over 12 months.

"Costs more" is money the offer would take from you. "Saves" is money you keep. It is an estimate of the supply price only, not a bill, and it leaves out delivery, credits and the contract's fine print.

Winter and summer prices to compare

Winter runs October through May. Summer runs June through September. The summer figure is for the first block of use: up to 600 kWh at PSE&G, JCP&L and RECO, and up to 750 kWh at Atlantic City Electric. Above that block, the summer price is higher.

The first block costs less in summer at all four utilities. Delivery costs more in those months at PSE&G and Atlantic City Electric, and above 600 kWh at JCP&L and RECO. Use goes up too. Read our bill guide for the delivery side.

Why your bill may show it a different way

• PSE&G shows energy and transmission as two numbers. In June to September its energy price has two blocks, up to 600 kWh and above. The table adds energy and transmission, tax included. PSE&G's own table leaves out its reconciliation charge, a catch-up line, which was zero in its Sept. 1, 2026 notice.
• JCP&L shows one total, with energy, transmission and a small catch-up line added in.
• RECO has two prices, one for Bergen County and one for Passaic and Sussex counties. Its sheet runs from June 1, 2026 to May 31, 2027. Above the first 600 kWh in June to September, the price is 21.934¢ in Bergen and 20.125¢ in Passaic and Sussex. The sheet does not say if sales tax is included, but RECO's tariff says its charges include it.
• Atlantic City Electric posts its number only as a picture of a table on its own site, so a person on our side reads it. Each day we also add up the same prices from ACE's own tariff. If the two differ by more than 0.01¢, the number waits for a person to check it. On Oct. 25, 2026 they matched. Check your bill if the table looks different.

Your bill has three big parts. You can shop for only one of them.

The price to compare bundles supply and transmission. Delivery has a flat monthly charge plus a price per kWh. At PSE&G it is $6.00 a month. It also costs more per kWh from June to September: 8.39¢ for the first 600 kWh, against 4.87¢ from October to May. ACE, JCP&L and RECO change delivery with the season too. Those are the rates in their tariffs, with sales tax.

So the same kWh can cost more in July than in January, even if the price to compare stays put. Small add-on charges sit on top of delivery. At PSE&G, the Societal Benefits Charge is 1.0443¢ per kWh. Our bill guide shows how to find each line.

New Jersey has four large electric utilities. A county can have more than one. Your bill names yours.

PSE&G serves more than half of the state's home accounts: 2,054,308 of 3,685,952 in the BPU's September 2026 report. Nine towns run their own electric utility, and part of Sussex County has a co-op. This page's numbers do not apply there. Our New Jersey page names them.

Mostly because the wholesale cost of power rose, and New Jersey buys it with a lag. The state's Executive Order No. 1 says the average home price rose by more than 33% from June 2023 to June 2025.

New Jersey buys supply for three years, about one-third each February. So when wholesale prices jump, the cost reaches bills in steps. The biggest step came from "capacity." Capacity is what PJM, the regional grid manager, pays power plants to be ready at peak times. The BPU named the July 2024 capacity auction as the main cause of the June 2025 rise.

The jump from $28.92 to $269.92 is where the June 2025 rise began. The two newest auctions stayed near $330, at the top of a limit. PJM said the grid was short of its target in both. The BPU said the collar helped keep the June 2026 reset flat.

If your bill jumped more than the state trend, something else may be at work. See the causes of a high NJ bill.

Sometimes. You can shop only the supply half of your bill. Your utility still delivers the power and charges for delivery. A cheaper supplier saves you the gap in supply price, times your kWh.

The state's list shows who may sell to homes. It does not show prices. So you have to check each supplier's own price page, or use a plan finder that does. The plan finder on this page shows plans for your ZIP. Compare each plan's price, with tax, to your utility's price to compare. Looking at a green plan? Every supplier must already buy some renewable energy for a state rule, so check what the plan adds.

Fewer than 1 in 10 homes buys from a supplier. Another 64,044 are in a town program that picked a supplier for them. If you got a letter from your town about energy, read it. You can opt out within 30 days.

Before you sign, know the state rules for supplier contracts. The deal must be in writing. It must show how long it lasts, the price or the formula, every fee (a cancel fee too) and the supplier's license number. Read the term, the fees and your contract in full. After you agree, you get 7 calendar days to back out by telling your utility. At the end of the term, a deal with no signed renewal rolls into month to month, and the supplier has to send notice at least 30 days before the end.

Two things move your bill. The supply price changes once a year, and your utility's number can also move on Oct. 1. Delivery changes only when the BPU approves a rate case or a rider.

1. November 2026The BPU is expected to decide on the plan for the next auction.
2. Feb. 5, 2027The auction for large business customers starts.
3. Feb. 8, 2027The auction that sets the price for homes starts.
4. Within 2 business days of the closeThe BPU decides whether to certify the results.
5. June 1, 2027New supply prices start. If you buy from your utility, your price changes even if you do nothing. A fixed supplier price does not change.

What will June 2027 bring? Nobody knows until the auction ends. In June 2026, a typical home bill moved from -1.8% to +1.6%, depending on the utility. In June 2025, it rose 17% to 20%. The BPU lists the dates on its auction calendar. We will update this page when results are certified.