Across New Jersey, families are feeling the pressure of utility bills that grow month after month, while profits at top utilities continue to skyrocket. Exelon, the corporate giant behind Atlantic City Electric, announced over $5 billion in revenue last quarter and the CEO of PSE&G makes $12 million a year. That is ridiculous, and in my opinion unacceptable, especially when so many folks here in New Jersey are being forced to decide between groceries, medicine or their utility bills.

What we’ve been taught is that higher bills are a result of higher energy costs. But that’s not the whole story. The truth is generation costs have actually gone down in recent years. The real price hikes that we all feel come from transmission and distribution fees, charges controlled by the utilities themselves. And, since they are a monopoly, there aren’t other options. We’re stuck and forced to pay those fees.

Here’s the real problem: Utilities like Atlantic City Electric make a guaranteed profit on every infrastructure dollar spent, even if it is inefficient and unnecessary. That creates a system where ratepayers are forced to pay for oversized budgets, questionable projects, and outrageously high executive bonuses, all while service reliability doesn’t improve.

As State Assemblywoman, I’m pushing for real change, reforms that will help people, not corporate profits. We must go further by passing legislation that provides full transparency into how rates are set, holds utilities accountable for unnecessary spending, and takes back power from Wall Street interests. New Jersey residents deserve a utility system that works for them, not just for corporate profits.

--Assemblywoman Andrea Katz