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Commission Accepts Consultant’s Low Income Report
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) issued a press release announcing that it has accepted a report, including all recommendations, on energy affordability and alternative policy and rate options by third party consultant The Brattle Group.
A stakeholder meeting to discuss Staff’s straw proposal scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET on April 1, 2025. Meeting link. The deadline for comments on this matter is 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
Among other things the report: (1) recommends evaluating the effectiveness of inclining block rates (IBRs) “in incentivizing conservation and consider flattening its IBR”; (2) recommends testing time-varying rates (TVRs), which are expected to provide benefits with increasing deployment of advance metering; (3) found that “USF successfully reduces the median energy burden for recipients to below 4% (below 2% for electricity and 2% for natural gas), meeting the program’s target energy burden level”; (4) identifies alternative bill assistance policy options, including: (i) increase USF participation; (ii) introduce income tiers to USF; (iii) increase USF discount cap per household, finding that “a 50% increase in bills would require the cap to increase to $312/month to maintain the coverage of the program at current levels”; (iv) introduce further assistance options for USF-ineligible moderate-income households; and (v) move the USF funding base from gas and electricity rates to state taxes; and (5) identifies alternative rate design policy options.
As background the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) initiated this docket to receive and review a rate design policy regarding affordability for low- and moderate- income (LMI) households in New Jersey’s pursuit of ambitious clean energy goals. Staff has produced a straw proposal for BPU policy actions to implement in the next USF program year, which begins 10/1/25. Staff proposes: (1) increasing Universal Service Fund (USF) energy assistance program minimum and maximum benefits to residential customers; (2) increasing utility engagement with LMI customers; and (3) requiring the Utilities to promote the USF and Comfort Partners programs.
QO24110853 (Opened 03/19/2025)
(In The Matter Of A Rate Design And Policy Study Regarding Driving Equity In The Clean Energy Transition)
