U.S. Congressman Jeff Van Drew
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew is demanding a federal audit into what many have called an unexplainable increase in local electric bills.
The South Jersey congressman put together a public hearing Tuesday in Mays Landing with the help of local meteorologist Nick “Nor’easter Nick” Pittman, who started a petition drive after hearing stories about customers’ Atlantic City Electric bills increasing by as much as four to five times what they had been.
The increases “are unlike anywhere else in the country,” Van Drew said during the hearing. “It is nothing short of our own energy crisis.”
One of his constituents, Lisa Thomas, saw a usage increase of 42 percent from July through August of 2023 to this past July through August.
But the increase in cost was not 42 percent, Van Drew noted. Instead, her bill went from $433 to $1,269, a 293 percent increase.
“The numbers don’t add up,” Van Drew said.
Additionally, Van Drew alleged that Atlantic City Electric is now sending out nonunion workers to knock on the doors of “people who have always paid their bills on time” to tell them to pay up or be shut off before Nov. 15. That date is when the company no longer is allowed to shut customers off due to expected frigid temperatures that begin around that time.
Van Drew and other members of Congress attending the hearing listened to testimony from community leaders and energy policy experts to determine the causes of the rising power bills.
The hearing also reviewed local, state and national energy policy with congressional representatives from across the country participating.
In addition to Pittman, witnesses scheduled to speak included Little Egg Harbor Township Mayor Blaise Scibetta, N.J. Farm Bureau President Allen Carter and Garden State Initiative President Audrey Lane.
Representatives from both Exelon – Atlantic City Electric’s parent company – and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities were invited to attend the hearing but declined, Van Drew said.
