New Jersey says all 4 utilities omitted key PJM votes on power prices and reliability

State utility regulators in New Jersey said the state's four electric utilities all omitted required details from public filings on how they vote at PJM, the regional grid operator whose decisions can affect customer power bills and reliability.

According to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Atlantic City Electric, JCP&L, PSE&G, and RECO each filed an incomplete first-year disclosure, WRNJ Radio reported.

Here's what to know

Under a 2025 transparency law, the companies had until Feb. 1 to submit those reports. Regulators had already provided guidance and allowed revisions beforehand.

But the NJBPU said the filings included only votes cast from Aug. 15, 2025 forward, even though the disclosures were supposed to span the full 2025 calendar year. That left more than half of each utility's voting activity out of public view.

The board also said the utilities limited their disclosures to PJM's senior committees, omitting subcommittees, task forces, and other working groups where proposals often develop before moving up the chain.

Regulators determined that the reports often failed to state whether the utilities' positions aligned with affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity service.

More background

PJM Interconnection oversees the regional power grid, and hundreds of votes are cast there every year on issues including market pricing, transmission development, and reliability.

Those decisions can ultimately affect what households and businesses pay for electricity across New Jersey and throughout the broader PJM region.

Only two of PJM's senior committees have publicly available individual voting records, according to the NJBPU, which is why the state law was created in the first place. 

The goal was to show how utilities and their affiliates influence less visible proceedings before major decisions move to the top. Customers have little ability to see whether their utility is backing positions that align with New Jersey's stated energy goals.

The gaps in the reports add to concerns about how little public visibility there is into decisions that can carry major financial consequences for customers.

What's being done?

After offering guidance and letting the utilities revise their submissions, the NJBPU laid out the remaining problems in a summary report covering the first year of filings under P.L. 2025, c. 129.

The law, the NJBPU noted, requires electric utilities to disclose every recorded PJM vote they or their affiliates cast in committees, task forces, and similar bodies, and to state whether each vote advances New Jersey's energy goals. 

Those reports must be made public and then compiled into an annual report for the governor and Legislature.

States are trying to gain more influence over PJM itself. At Chicago's Oct. 8 Governors' Summit on the State of PJM, participating governors formally created the PJM Governors' Collaborative, according to the NJBPU, with New Jersey among the states seeking stronger representation in grid decision-making.

NJBPU president Ben Hertz-Shargel didn't mince words about the lack of transparency for New Jersey ratepayers.

"Customers deserve a complete record of the positions their utilities take at PJM, where decisions shape electricity costs and reliability," he began. "After months of guidance and revisions, all four utilities' reports still fell short." 

"Utilities and other industry stakeholders help shape PJM's market pricing and transmission development with limited public transparency. These incomplete vote records underscore why states need a stronger voice to advocate for affordability."

"Because states are accountable to the public, they should have real influence over the decisions PJM makes."

Where can I learn more?

This dispute is part of a broader fight over how PJM decisions, utility planning, and grid performance shape electricity costs and reliability.

• New Jersey is targeting data centers, utility profits, and grid projects to lower bills.

• After 850,000 outages, New Jersey moved to scrutinize utilities following heat wave blackouts.

• New Jersey approved a nearly billion-dollar grid update as reliability and demand pressures grew.

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