New Jersey Board of Public Utilities fines JCP&L $44.1M over outage failures
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has moved to impose a $44.1 million civil penalty on Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), a FirstEnergy subsidiary, for missing baseline reliability benchmarks in 2022, 2023 and 2024. JCP&L, which serves about 1.1 million customers in 13 counties, faced criticism after a July 3 storm with winds up to 80 mph knocked out power to roughly 300,000 customers, leaving some 40,000 customers without service three days later. Federal data cited in the Asbury Park Press showed JCP&L customers in 2024 experienced an average of 2.5 prolonged outages (over three hours) compared with 0.6 for nearby Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G). Regulators had warned the utility, even before Superstorm Sandy, that it was diverting ratepayer funds to its parent rather than investing in grid hardening. The fine is calculated at $25,000 for the first day of each violation and $50,000 for each additional day, with a public‑participation deadline of Aug. 12.
Entities: FirstEnergy · Greg McGuckin · Jersey Central Power & Light · Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) · New Jersey Board of Public Utilities · Public Service Electric & Gas
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is imposing a $44.1 million fine on Jersey Central Power & Light for missing baseline reliability benchmarks in 2022, 2023 and 2024. (de15b390-3b95-4c8d-a56e-062cfdca4741)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Regulators had warned before Superstorm Sandy that JCP&L was directing ratepayer money to its parent company instead of reinvesting in the grid. (de15b390-3b95-4c8d-a56e-062cfdca4741)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Jersey Central Power & Light serves about 1.1 million customers across 13 counties. (de15b390-3b95-4c8d-a56e-062cfdca4741)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] A July 3 storm with winds up to 80 mph knocked out power to about 300,000 JCP&L customers. (de15b390-3b95-4c8d-a56e-062cfdca4741)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The Board set August 12 as the deadline for public participation in the case. (de15b390-3b95-4c8d-a56e-062cfdca4741)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The penalty is calculated at $25,000 for the first day of a violation and $50,000 for each additional day, totaling $44.1 million. (de15b390-3b95-4c8d-a56e-062cfdca4741)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] In 2024 JCP&L customers averaged about 2.5 outages lasting more than three hours, versus 0.6 for Public Service Electric & Gas customers. (de15b390-3b95-4c8d-a56e-062cfdca4741)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Three days after the storm, roughly 40,000 customers remained without electricity. (de15b390-3b95-4c8d-a56e-062cfdca4741)