Help With Your Electric Bill in NJ: 5 Programs That Cut Costs

A family in Trenton opens their PSE&G bill in January and sees a number north of $300. The heat has been running, the kids are home from school, and the checking account is thin. They're not unusual. Across New Jersey, tens of thousands of households fall behind on electricity every winter, and many don't realize that multiple programs exist specifically to close that gap.

This guide walks through every major assistance option available to NJ residents in 2026, explains who each one serves, and then covers one more lever that working and middle-income households often overlook: shopping their utility's Basic Generation Service (BGS) rate against competitive suppliers.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a federally funded benefit administered in New Jersey by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). It provides a one-time annual credit applied directly to your utility account to help cover heating costs, and a separate cooling credit is typically available in summer months for eligible households.

Benefit amounts vary based on household income, size, and heating fuel type. Electric customers with PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, or Rockland Electric can all receive LIHEAP credits. The program generally opens in the fall for the heating season and closes when funds run out, so applying early matters.

Eligibility is based on income relative to federal poverty guidelines. The NJ Department of Community Affairs posts current income limits and the application portal each season. You can also call your county's Board of Social Services to apply in person.

The Universal Service Fund (USF) is a New Jersey-specific program regulated by the NJ Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). Unlike LIHEAP's one-time credit, USF provides an ongoing monthly benefit, capping the percentage of income a qualifying household pays toward electric and natural gas bills.

The core idea is straightforward: if your energy costs exceed a defined share of your household income, USF pays the difference directly to your utility each month. This makes it especially valuable for households with chronically high bills rather than a single crisis payment.

USF is available to customers of all four New Jersey electric utilities. Income eligibility thresholds and benefit calculations are set by the NJBPU and reviewed periodically. For the most current eligibility criteria and benefit levels, visit the NJBPU's customer assistance page or check with your utility directly. PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, and Rockland Electric all have customer service lines that can confirm enrollment steps.

NJ SHARES (New Jersey Statewide Heating Assistance and Referral for Energy Services) is a nonprofit program funded by utility company contributions and private donors. It provides one-time grants to households that don't qualify for government programs or have already exhausted other assistance options.

NJ SHARES is often the bridge program: the family that earns slightly too much for LIHEAP, or the household that received LIHEAP but still has a remaining past-due balance, can turn to NJ SHARES for the gap. Grant amounts are limited and funds are not unlimited, so applying before a shutoff notice arrives is strongly recommended.

Applications are processed through a network of local agencies. The NJ SHARES website maintains a directory of participating agencies by county. Customers of all four NJ electric utilities are eligible to apply.

Some households aren't struggling with the current bill so much as a mountain of past-due debt that has built up over months or years. Fresh Start is a utility-level program designed for exactly that situation. It allows qualifying low-income customers to have a portion of their overdue balance forgiven in exchange for making consistent on-time payments going forward.

The specifics, including how much debt can be cleared and over what payment period, vary by utility. PSE&G, JCP&L, and Atlantic City Electric each administer their own version of arrearage management or debt forgiveness programs under frameworks the NJBPU has approved. Rockland Electric customers should contact the utility directly to ask about available options.

If you have a significant past-due balance and fear disconnection, asking your utility specifically about Fresh Start or arrearage management is one of the most practical calls you can make. Utilities are generally required to inform customers of all available assistance before proceeding with shutoff.

Assistance programs are means-tested, but the ability to shop electricity supply rates in New Jersey is open to almost any residential customer. New Jersey is a deregulated state, meaning your utility still delivers power and handles outages, but you can choose a third-party supplier for the generation portion of your bill.

That generation portion is billed at the Basic Generation Service (BGS) rate by default. As of June 2026, BGS rates and competitive options differ significantly by utility:

PSE&G: BGS is approximately 19.9 cents/kWh. The lowest competitive supplier rate is around 17.6 cents/kWh, a difference of roughly 11% on the supply portion of the bill. For a household using 700 kWh per month, that gap is meaningful.

Atlantic City Electric: BGS sits near 18.2 cents/kWh, with competitive suppliers starting around 16.7 cents/kWh, about an 8% savings on supply.

JCP&L: BGS is approximately 14.6 cents/kWh, and the lowest competitive supplier rate is around 16.0 cents/kWh. Shopping would cost more here. Staying on BGS is the better move for JCP&L customers right now.

Rockland Electric: BGS is near 18.8 cents/kWh, but competitive options are limited and the lowest available is about 18.9 cents/kWh. No practical savings exist at the moment.

The takeaway: savings from shopping depend entirely on which utility serves your address. Check live supplier rates for your NJ utility at ElectricRates.org before switching, and verify any contract terms carefully, particularly around variable-rate clauses and cancellation fees.

One of the most common mistakes NJ households make is treating these programs as either/or options. In practice, many can be used in combination. A PSE&G customer could receive a LIHEAP heating credit, be enrolled in USF for ongoing monthly relief, get a Fresh Start agreement to resolve past debt, and still benefit from switching to a lower-cost competitive supplier for the supply portion of future bills.

The sequence that usually works best is: apply for government programs first (LIHEAP, USF), then address any arrearage through Fresh Start or NJ SHARES, and once the account is stable, evaluate whether shopping BGS supply rates makes sense for your utility. ElectricRates.org's New Jersey page lets you compare current supplier offers side by side.

The fastest starting point is your utility's customer service line. PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, and Rockland Electric all maintain dedicated low-income assistance teams that can screen you for programs and initiate enrollment. They are required by the NJBPU to inform customers of available assistance before any disconnection.

For LIHEAP, apply through the NJ Department of Community Affairs or your county's Board of Social Services. For USF, you can apply through your utility or through a DCA-certified community agency. For NJ SHARES, find your nearest participating agency at the NJ SHARES website.

Have recent utility bills, proof of income for all household members, and identification ready before you call or visit. Processing times vary, but in most cases a representative can tell you immediately whether you're likely to qualify.