Recent JCP&L Increased Charges?
I just got my electricity bill and it is 3x the normal cost...of any month over the past year. I checked the number on the meter to confirm that it was recorded correctly, it was. This cycle was the first Actual reading and not an Estimated reading is quite some time, but that seems like a very suspicious jump considering that I have natural gas for heating so it is not due to the temperatures.
Has anyone else experienced this recently?
JasonM My bill last month was estimated and is somewhat on the high side.
Two months before that, they changed their billing period, which resulted in a bill that was 50% higher than normal for me. But when I looked at the bill closely, I found that the billing period was 45 days instead of the normal 30, so everything was ok.
iPhone-imal Yes, pay attention to the number or days billed in addition to the fact that it is actual or estimated. When they estimate my bill for many months in a row, usually I end up with a bill that is either super high or super low.
Calico696 Sounds like all those estimated readings were obviously low... and now you're just catching up to what you actually owe them. Think of it as an interest free loan.
I also checked the rates for delivery and generation; they seem to be about the same in 2014 as in 2013. Check and make sure that you paid last month before the deadline. Sometimes you miss by a day and both months show up on the current bill.
I really can't comprehend why a massive business like JCPL doesn't have actual readings each month. HMUA has actuals that are transmitted. Certainly JCPL has the capital to put in a better system.
emaxxman I agree emaxx. I have called them and complained many times. I get an actual bill only 4-5 times a year. They always say, "Well ma'am you can read the meter for us now if you like." Uh.....almost every month? Why should I do their job? I'm not sure why in this day and age there isn't some kind of computer reading of the meter remotely. After I call and complain, I usually get a few actual bills in a row and then it goes back to the same old. My Nov., Dec., and Jan. bills were all estimates. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, or no, with the Feb. bill.
OK folks, one more time and I apologize for yet another rant but JCP&L are idiots.
JCP&L runs estimates in the stupidest fashion possible. Basically they just look at the past month and flat line that forward. So if the last ACTUAL month is June and it's been cool (no AC), the days are long so the lights are off, and you went on vacation, then their estimate for August when the light is failing, the AC ran 24/7, and you had another family stay with you for a month ---- the estimate will look like June's low bill versus reality and you will be running a tab. If September is a Indian summer and that AC is still blasting and they estimate again, then the actual in October could conceivably be a 3x or higher whopper of a bill.
They don't even try compensate any potential anomalies in the estimated month or even account for usage differences due to the obvious like AC usage. My oil company for example looks at my past usage compared against average heat units required (uh, that's the outside temperature by day) and pretty much nails their estimate every month.
For people who have all the data from all the residences for a HUGE part of the US plus, that's PLUS, a complete listing of many of our entire household inventories of electrical devices, they don't even try to fine tune the estimate. They have all the data, they just need to model it. Instead, it's chainsaw forecasting by bonehead statisticians and a song and dance when you call to complain.
mistergoogle I actually love JCP&L. I don't have "air", but have electric stove, dryer, I iron a lot, even t-shirts and have electric heat upstairs that I keep off except for when family visits around Christmas. My Dec bill is always the highest of all, and is only around $65.00. I am so happy my normal bill is in the 40's. I agree with iphone-iman, just think of it at an interest free loan.
Ms Fishy Did you know you can enter your actual meter reading on-line on or just before the end of each service period? That's what I do so that my bill reflects actual usage. My technique is to go out and take a photo of the meter with my phone then go in and enter the data on the web site. Works like a charm!
RAD They use excuses like there was snow in the driveway or the reader didnt know if the dog was outside. They do the estimate and then eventually get around to doing an actual and adjust accordingly.
botheredbyuu
Walking Girl We no longer let them do estimates, they have messed up so many bills on us, last year we had a $1200 refund due to their lack of competency. We now call in our meter each month and even then, they have given us estimate bills, I feel like we are always fighting them, this past month they over charged us by $72. They are refunding it, but this is getting old. I so wish we had another option out here. All I can say is check your meters, call it in, write it down each month and check your bill over fully.
towny I hear what you are all saying about reading it yourselves, I just refuse to do their work for them. ;-)
Towny...how did you get a refund? What info did you have to submit and how did JCPL verify that info? Our bills are ALWAYS high...I'd like to start calling in my reading.
Nov & Jan- unusually LOW bills and then for Dec...yikes...they hit us with a bill that was almost double. All three bills were actual/estimates...hardly ever get an actual/actual reading.
What is the average bill for most families? Our average 150.00 (and that is a low average)
Gardenfish Lately, the months that we have been higher than I expected, I was hoping it was an estimate.. but they have all been actual.
Just this past week with the light snow we had, I saw workboot foot prints coming from the road to my garage (it was the only footprints in the snow at that time)
For a few hours, I was a little nervous wondering if someone had been trying to break into the house, then realized that the prints lead right to the meter and then left again. - sure enough, I just got the bill with the acutal reading in it.
Coralie Does anyone use a 3rd party energy supplier? We switched to stream energy and was able to lock in at a fix rate to avoid these rate hikes
Phil 
Christine My bill this past month was $600. We have an all electric house. I hyperventilate whenever I see that a new bill is in. Truly. It does even out though over the course of the year and also keep in mind that I'm not paying for heating oil. I've been looking around for a good fixed price rate with an ESCO, but so far all the offers I've found are not year long contracts - just a few months at best. I'm looking to lock in for a full year. I think the per kWh is pretty high and I've often wondered if costs from Sandy and still being recouped? All I know is that my electric bill requires vodka at this point.
Antimony Hey Anthony. Shoot me an email and I can give you more details about stream energy. They offer 12 and 24 month fixed rates
I switched to HOP energy, there rates are $0.11404 I had to stay with them for a year, which I did and they just renewed it for a penny more then last year. My electric averaged was $200 a month and my house is all gas, after switching my bills are $90. a month big savings. You still have a to pay little extra for services through JCP&L but in the long run it's cheaper
SAAK 
Nosila Ours are Energy Charges 1,060 KWH x 0.09989623
Delivery Service Charges 1,060 KWH x 0.036830 $39.04
So, Mr. G, how is JCP&L supposed to know when you're on vacation or when your family is in town? Doing some light arc-welding? Smelting aluminum? Actually if you did that they would be on the phone to the authorities reporting a possible indoor weed farm.
MeisterNJ start keeping a journal with the actual readings on meter and kwh used each month and compare that way they love to estimate example: meter reader could not get to meter you didn't shovel etc etc
Charlie e Meister:
All I know is that my oil folks get pretty darn close with their estimates using historical data, daily thermal units, and future projections to know when I am x% in need of oil and I can do better than JCP&hell's flat-lining the previous month out to the next month, or two, or three..... I mean I can usually tell whether the next bill will be high or low based on when they estimate using number of billing days, previous month's usage versus that month of the previous year, and time of season.
They have all the past historical data, all the current stats on devices in my house, electrical usage rocket scientists, all the data from other actuals they have done in the month they are guessing for me and yet seem to use only one data point, your past month, to guess your future usage.
And if I went on vacation or used my electric smelter atypically, then I could forgive them.
Isn't anyone on the budget? I'm on the budget with jcp&l, pay the Same amount monthly, it's adjusted twice a year to reflect my usage, and usually the budget amount is pretty accurate to what we use.
Njchia I live in Towpath, an all electric unit and its a rip off. I pay $200 a month in the winter, $25 the rest of the year, and maybe $50 when i run the AC.
Many units in Towpath do not have electric heat...they gave me as a "concession", $60 off Oct to April, my first year here, i figured at the time that it was fair....its really not.
JCP&L makes it worse. They estimate at least every other month. Lately, the past three have been estimates. They estimate low. Then I get slammed with a huge bill, which can be half my paycheck. I'm honestly expecting a anywhere from 300 to 600 bill this month from them, for 3-4 months estimated low.
I'd like to strap them to an electric chair, and I'd be willing to pay for that.
alpha1beta electric heat is the most expensive I wouldn't even considerate it any building I would rent or a home.
Mr. G, kinda much ado about nothing, no? If you're that concerned (and we all know Mr. G will analyze, re-analyze, and overthink it, re-analyze, post it on HL, repeat. repeat again....) , enter the readings yourself. Problem solved. Big Blue can concentrate it's computing power on something other than micro-modeling Mr. G's electric grid. All is good.
Holy guacamole. I was just replying to you. I don't have an issue, I have done my due diligence, I have discussed with the company, and can let it go.
Can you?
Nice slap though. Really struck a nerve with that one.
Wow, I thought this was only me. I've been going through tons of crap with their customer support services on the phone for the past 3 months. Basically, I transferred my account over when I moved to Hackettstown Nov. 1st. They billed me $20(actual) dollars for about 10 days worth initially which I thought was crazy high.
Then I received my first actual bill in December which was rated at $75.00(estimate). I was blown away by the bill so I called up and complained. They fed me some story that the bill was go down the next month. So January comes and I get a bill for $85.00(estimate). I call up again furious. They said, well based on history of the apartment, that's accurate if not less than what it was a year ago. I said, well that's not my history, that's whoever lived here history. They said well you probably have devices on or sapping electricity when your not home. I said this is total bs. Look at MY history a year ago and you would see I was only paying $20-25 bucks during winter months.
They told me to get a reading for them. I did and called it in the next day. The man said it was accurate what I read him to the bill I received but they would still send a technician out in 2 weeks to get me an actual reading on his end. I said ok whatever. The man comes and does his reading and submits it. I get a bill in February for $1350. I call up basically like, wtf are these idiots doing over there? They said oh sorry, he must of pressed a wrong button on his machine to take the information and that's why they sent me the wrong bill. I said ok... and they said, get us another reading. I'm thinking, ok, this is the second time I'm doing their job on my own time. Luckily my meter is easy access down stairs(live in apartment).
I call up next day, give reading, the woman says ok yeah, we will adjust your bill but it probably won't change much. I explain my frustration after making probably my 7th phone call in 3 months. She said, ok ok, if I have time to spare I could take a little questionare on power usage. I'm like, let's do it!
After giving her all my usage, she's like, ok my bill is way off and something isn't right. She said they would send a technician to make sure my meter wasn't faulty or something is wrong. I said ok, now we are getting somewhere finally. Low and behold I received a corrected statement which now says they owe me 120 bucks remaining of credit. They adjusted all my bills from November and realize I was only using 17-20 dollars worth and credited back to my account.
Hopefully I shouldn't pay for electricity until Summer at this point. A lot of phone calls, but I finally got their attention that something wasn't right. It sucks that they try to feed you so much crap to make you believe your at fault initially. Good luck with all your power problems with JCP&L, THE POWER CROOKS!
Mike B. Why would you not take advantage of the deregulation of energy in our area? We use Stream Energy who offer low fixed rates, great customer service and have a Free Energy program. And it does not cost anything to switch. We have no complaints!
I included some information below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu2FyeyYc9U
http://www.streamenergy.net/wp/
Mog. Im having the same problem. My bill for the past months are between $45 to $90 then all the sudden i get a bill for $309 and I am furious. It is less people in my house now than a couple months ago. My husband and i work all day so it is basically nobody in the house and I get a larger bill. I called them to complaint and I get a nasty lady stating thats my bill according to my meter and that it is an estimate so im like that can not be right!! She actual was arguing with me instead of trying to figure this out. I asked to speak to a manager and she hang up on me. Ughhhhhhhh then i called again and somebody else is sending somebody to check the meter. Hopefully it is a mistake. So mad right now. I need to change companies. Any suggestions
Bella76 It looks like JCP&L has just proposed to increase rates to help with the recovery of Hurricane Sandy. Another 5%, thats ridiculous.
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2014/02/jcpl_has_tentative_deal_to_recover_736m_in_storm_repair_costs.html
Phil
Another way to minimize the JCP&L rate increases is to go solar. If your home meets the qualifying specs, it may be a good option. We live in Independence, and went solar in 2012 for no out of pocket money --- leasing through Sungevity. If you're thinking/considering this, and want real life feedback, send an email.
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