Story perspectives

NJ Power Chaos: Billing Glitch, Rate Hikes, Storm Outages

5/22/2026

Summary

Story summary

A printing error on Atlantic City Electric mailed statements listed customers owing thousands of dollars, while power was restored to Alvin E. Gershen senior apartments after an outage, prompting evacuation.
New Jersey electric rates rose 17-20% after auctions, with utilities projecting 1-2% changes in 2026, keeping bills high as AC use climbs.
May 21 thunderstorms left 4,000 New Jersey homes and businesses without power, worst outages in Monmouth County and Edison.

History

Historical Context

On July 13 1977 a series of lightning strikes knocked out key 345-kV lines, causing New York City’s blackout and prompting new restoration procedures still used today. A similar cascade originated in Ohio on August 14 2003, spreading across the Northeast and spurring major reliability upgrades. Regulators now cite those events while addressing New Jersey rate hikes and billing errors.

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Story summary

A printing error on Atlantic City Electric mailed statements listed customers owing thousands of dollars, while power was restored to Alvin E. Gershen senior apartments after an outage, prompting evacuation.
New Jersey electric rates rose 17-20% after auctions, with utilities projecting 1-2% changes in 2026, keeping bills high as AC use climbs.
May 21 thunderstorms left 4,000 New Jersey homes and businesses without power, worst outages in Monmouth County and Edison.

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