NJ Families Are Right: Utility Monopolies Are Bleeding Us Dry
Mayor Ravi Bhalla said it plainly in ROI-NJ: New Jersey families are being crushed by electric bills, and the blame lies squarely on monopoly utilities. We agree. The game is rigged, and working people are paying the price.
The Monopoly Scam
Utilities like PSE&G, Atlantic City Electric, and JCP&L don’t actually make money selling electricity. They make money by spending yours. The more they pour into substations, poles, and wires, the more they’re guaranteed to collect back from you, with as much as a 10% guaranteed return on top.
It’s a model that rewards overbuilding, not efficiency. In fact, according to Mayor Bhalla, transmission costs have nearly tripled since 2003, and distribution costs are up 160%. Families aren’t struggling because electricity is harder to make; they’re struggling because utilities have turned the grid into their personal ATM.
Gold-Plating and Power Grabs
Utilities call it “investment.” We call it what it is: gold-plating. Fancy projects and padded budgets that guarantee fatter profits for Wall Street while families get slammed with higher bills.
And now, after years of gouging customers on delivery, these monopolies want permission to build and own power plants too. Translation: they want to jack up not just the cost of delivering electricity, but the price of the electricity itself. Only in the upside-down world of utility monopolies could such a scam be pitched with a straight face.
Families Can’t Wait
New Jerseyans are already making impossible choices between groceries and air conditioning, medicine and keeping the lights on. No family should have to live that way while utility CEOs cash out stock options.
It’s time for Trenton to stop letting utilities write the rules and start using some common sense.
That means:
- Investigating utility spending and exposing waste.
- Reining in guaranteed profits that encourage runaway costs.
- Blocking utility power grabs that would expand monopoly control into generation.
A Better Way Forward
We don’t have to accept skyrocketing bills as “just the way it is.” We can build an energy system that balances affordability, reliability, and innovation without giving monopoly utilities a blank check.
Mayor Bhalla is right: the sooner our leaders stand up to the monopoly men, the sooner families will see real relief. Until then, every rate hike is just another reminder that the system is only working perfectly for the utilities.
