Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) has filed a new rate proposal that could raise residential electric bills by an average of approximately 8.8% beginning in January 2028, affecting customers across Ocean, Monmouth and several other New Jersey counties.

The proposal, filed with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, seeks a $253 million increase in base distribution rates while also allowing the utility to recover $476 million in previously deferred storm restoration costs.

According to JCP&L, a typical residential customer using 767 kilowatt-hours per month and currently paying approximately $162.30 would see an increase of about $14.23 per month if the proposal is approved.

While new base distribution rates would technically take effect in May 2027, JCP&L is proposing offsets that would prevent residential customers from seeing the increase until January 2028.

The utility says the additional revenue is needed to strengthen reliability, modernize aging infrastructure and cover mounting storm restoration expenses.

“Customers shouldn’t have to choose between affordability and reliability,” FirstEnergy President of New Jersey Doug Mokoid said. “Our balanced approach puts both front-and-center simultaneously by minimizing the impact on bills today and giving customers time to plan.”

JCP&L says the proposal supports another $2.1 billion in distribution investments as part of a larger five-year, $6.9 billion capital plan. Planned work includes modernizing circuits, expanding remote grid controls, upgrading transmission infrastructure and increasing tree trimming and hazardous tree removal.

Trees remain a major cause of outages throughout JCP&L’s service territory. The utility says dead and diseased ash trees have accounted for 60% of tree-related outages since 2020, with more than 74,000 hazardous ash trees removed since 2017.

JCP&L also says approximately $1.5 billion invested in infrastructure over the past three years has contributed to improved reliability, including a 15% improvement in 2025 compared with 2024 and an additional 38% improvement so far this year.

The proposed increase is not yet final. It must be reviewed and approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities before taking effect.

JCP&L serves approximately 1.2 million customers across 13 New Jersey counties, including Ocean and Monmouth counties.