New Jersey
Freeze rate hikes? What Gov. Sherrill’s order means for N.J. electric bills
The state could pause electric distribution rate hikes — but it’s not clear how long that would last
In addition to supply charges, which utilities pass along to consumers without earning a profit, utilities charge customers for delivering electricity to their homes and building and maintaining grid infrastructure.
Since this is where the profit lies and utilities are afforded a monopoly, the companies have to periodically ask the Board of Public Utilities for permission to increase these delivery rates. Sherrill’s order directs the board to consider pausing these proceedings.
The board is currently considering a request from Rockland Electric Company in North Jersey to raise the typical household’s monthly bill by as much as $29. A spokesperson for the board did not answer questions about whether and for how long it plans to pause cases like this one by press time.
“The [Board of Public Utilities] often has a clock on which they have to act,” Silverman said. “It’s very difficult for them to just sit there and hold these [proceedings] in abeyance, but now they have the … governor telling them to do that.”
Silverman said the board will need to make “tough choices,” as it needs to balance the long-term need for grid maintenance and growth with the need to reduce short-term costs. He said Sherrill’s executive order shows the governor is prioritizing “immediate rate relief” for customers.
Lipman, who advocates for utility customers in rate cases before the board, said his office has not been told that the Rockland Electric rate case is on pause, so it is continuing to hire experts, issue discovery and prepare testimony.
“We’re moving forward as if the case is moving forward,” he said.
Lipman expects utilities to file other petitions with the board this year seeking smaller increases, usually no more than a few dollars on the typical customer’s monthly bill, to recover costs from replacing wires, hardening infrastructure or making energy-efficiency improvements.
“Those are the ones that I think are likely going to be paused or strung out a little bit more than they would have in the past,” Lipman said.
But Lipman worries such a pause could simply delay the bill hikes, essentially putting them “on the credit card.” He said the state would be “hard pressed legally” to deny the companies reimbursement for certain investments.
“So we’ll say to the utilities, ‘We won’t give you an increase in 2026, but we’ll give you either a bigger increase in 2027, or we’ll pay interest,” he said. “That’s what I’m really concerned about.”
Representatives for PSE&G, Atlantic City Electric and JCP&L all did not respond to questions about any bill increases they plan to seek approval for in the coming year. All three provided statements that acknowledged the need for energy affordability and indicated they are willing to work with Sherrill. Rockland Electric’s parent company, Consolidated Edison, did not respond to a request for comment.
“Dangerous heat is expected to continue across much of our region through today, with several record highs likely to be challenged again. High temperatures are forecast to peak into the low to mid 90s across most of the area,” the National Weather Service said Friday.
A Heat Advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. across the state except for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.
PHILADELPHIA – Philip McPherson II, a 37-year-old from Riverside, New Jersey, was sentenced Thursday, June 11, to 78 months in prison for his role in a 2022 plane crash in Lehigh County that killed a student pilot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Sentencing and charges for fatal Lehigh Valley crash
What we know:
United States District Judge John M. Gallagher sentenced McPherson to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, a $4,300 special assessment, and $19,530 in restitution. Judge Gallagher also barred McPherson from working in the aviation industry.
McPherson pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate.
The backstory:
Court filings show that on September 28, 2022, McPherson took off from Queen City Airport in Allentown as the pilot-in-command with student pilot K.K. and crashed shortly after, resulting in K.K.’s death.
Prosecutors said McPherson acted with gross negligence, knowing he was not competent to fly as pilot-in-command. He had two prior crashes, nearly a third, and failed a reexamination for his pilot’s certificate in September 2021.
McPherson voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate in October 2021 and let his Temporary Airman Certificate expire in November 2021, acknowledging his inability to meet FAA standards.
He admitted to flying with passengers without a valid FAA pilot’s certificate between October 12, 2021, and September 20, 2022.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, FAA, and Salisbury Township Police Department worked on the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schopf and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marie Miller.
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances leading up to the crash.
The Source: Information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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On Sunday, June 14, a bell will ring at the Historic Olde Courthouse in Mount Holly, New Jersey, as part of a festival to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
In the summer of 1776, officials rang the same bell at the courthouse in Burlington City, the seat of Burlington County at the time, after the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The bell was moved to Mount Holly in 1796 when that city became the Burlington County seat.
Marisa Bozarth, Burlington County’s museum curator of history, said courthouse bells were rung in the 1700s to signify that something important was taking place.
“They would have rung it when there was a large court case of any significance, when the jury was coming back, so people knew to return to the courthouse to hear the verdict,” she said. “The bell was also rung any time there was any public reading of any sort of important document. It was their way to get the information out to the masses quickly.”
After the wording of the Declaration of Independence was finalized and the document was signed, every state received a copy so it could be shared with the people living there. At the time, some Burlington County residents wanted to remain loyal to Britain, while others supported the movement for independence, Bozarth said.
“I would think it was a bit of a scary time because when the Declaration of Independence was finally signed and then presented, it meant we were really going to war,” she said. “We were declaring our independence, but we weren’t officially an independent nation yet. It meant a scary time was coming because Britain wasn’t going to accept that and just let us walk away.”
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