The supply cost of electricity in your monthly bill from Atlantic City Electric beginning June 1 should show a decrease. It will not be a large decrease, but it is certainly a welcome occurrence after two years that sent monthly electricity costs for the residential customer soaring.
That is the message that went out to ACE’s customers along with a reminder that a decrease in the supply cost will not necessarily mean a decrease in the amount owed given the reality of higher summer usage. Most of us will still see higher bills because of the onset of warmer weather for the summer season. But the rate we will be paying per kilowatt hour for the supply of that electricity will be lower than it was.
In its communication to customers, ACE included a chart showing that a home that uses 1000kWh a month will see a decrease in its bill of roughly $8. Three factors will combine to produce that decrease. First, the supply of electricity, the basic generation price, will decline by $16. Next is a decrease in the surcharges, those confusing taxes and fees listed on the bill, of $8 for the same home. This was ordered by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
So a decrease in supply for the 1000kWh home of $16, coupled with a decrease in the surcharge of $4 should add to an overall decrease of $20. Why does the notice from ACE say this 1000kWh home will see only a decrease of $8? That is due to the impact of the third area of cost on the bill, the distribution cost from ACE itself…
Cape May County has 31 separate schools spread over 16 operating school districts, with only seven of those schools having an enrollment at or over 500 students. Seven more of the 31 don’t have enrollments that equal 200 students, and three do not come up to 100 enrolled students.
According to Marc Pfeiffer at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, a major contributing factor to the state’s high property taxes is the duplication of services and staff across all those municipalities and school districts.