PSE&G Electricity Rates 2026: BGS Default vs Supplier Offers

As of September 2026, the default supply rate for PSE&G customers sits near 19.6¢/kWh. The lowest competitive third-party supplier offer runs about 20.8¢/kWh. The gap between those two numbers is the whole story: if the offer is lower, that gap is your supply savings; if it is higher, staying on BGS is the cheaper choice. Check which way it points before you assume a switch pays.

For a household using 1,000 kWh a month, every 1¢ of gap works out to about $10 a month, or roughly $120 a year. Same poles, same wires, same meter reader. The only thing that changes is the company selling you the electrons.

One caveat worth saying up front: this saves money on supply only. Delivery does not move. More on why that matters in a second.

Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) is New Jersey's largest electric utility. Every bill it sends breaks into two parts.

The first part is delivery. That covers the wires, transformers, and crews that bring power to your house. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) sets those charges, and PSE&G always handles delivery no matter who supplies your power. You cannot shop it, switch it, or lower it by changing suppliers.

The second part is supply, also called generation. This is the cost of the electricity itself. By default, PSE&G buys that power for you through Basic Generation Service (BGS) and passes the cost straight through. But New Jersey law lets you buy supply from a licensed third-party supplier instead. That is the half you can shop.

Basic Generation Service is the default supply you get if you never make a choice. As of September 2026, BGS for PSE&G residential customers runs about 19.6¢/kWh.

BGS is not a rate PSE&G invents. It comes out of the statewide NJ BGS auction, where suppliers bid to provide default power to New Jersey utility customers. The result of that auction sets the rate, and it resets every February 1. So the 19.6¢ figure holds through the current cycle, then re-prices at the next auction.

Because BGS is a pass-through, PSE&G earns no markup on it. That sounds consumer-friendly, and it is fair. But fair is not the same as cheap. A competitive supplier willing to lock a lower number can beat the default. Whether the 20.8¢ offer does so this cycle depends on where BGS landed at the last auction.

Here is what the supply line is worth at three usage levels. These are supply charges only. Delivery is the same either way.

PSE&G's BGS sits at about 19.6¢/kWh as of September 2026, and the lowest competitive offer is about 20.8¢/kWh. Supply is billed per kilowatt-hour, so every 1¢ of difference is worth a fixed amount each month:

At 500 kWh/month — 1¢ of difference = $5.00
At 1,000 kWh/month — 1¢ of difference = $10.00
At 1,500 kWh/month — 1¢ of difference = $15.00

A 2¢ gap is $10 a month at 500 kWh and $30 a month at 1,500, in whichever direction it runs. The more power you use, the more the gap adds up.

Take the typical 1,000 kWh household. Switching the supply portion from 19.6¢ to 20.8¢ changes the supply line by the difference between those two rates on every kWh, ten dollars a month for every cent per kWh, in whichever direction the gap runs.

Nothing about your service changes. PSE&G still reads the meter, still answers outage calls, still sends one bill. If the lights flicker in a storm, you call the same number. The supplier name on the supply line is the only difference, and any difference shows up on that line.

That assumes steady 1,000 kWh use. Real bills swing with the seasons, so a home that runs central air all summer would see a bigger difference in the hot months and less in spring. The per-kWh margin holds steady; your usage is what moves.

Start with one number off your own bill: your supply rate, listed under generation charges. If it reads near 19.6¢/kWh, you are on the default BGS rate and have not shopped yet.

From there, compare live offers for your address. Rates move: the offer shown here refreshes with the market, and the next NJ BGS auction in February resets the default baseline. Check current numbers on the PSE&G rates page at ElectricRates.org before you decide.

Switching does not interrupt service and does not require new equipment. PSE&G keeps delivering power and billing you. When you pick a supplier, read the contract length and watch for any monthly fee, since a fee can eat into a thin margin at low usage.

A lower headline rate only helps if the fine print cooperates. Three things to confirm.

Is the rate fixed or variable? A fixed rate holds for the contract term. A variable rate can climb after an intro period, sometimes well past 19.6¢. A fixed offer is worth taking only when it sits below the default; a variable plan that drifts higher does not.

Is there a monthly or cancellation fee? At 500 kWh, every 1¢ of gap is worth about $5 a month, so a $5 monthly fee can erase a 1¢ advantage entirely. Read the terms.

When does it renew? Some contracts roll to a higher rate at term end. Mark the date so you can re-shop, the same way you would re-check after each February BGS reset.

If the supply line on your bill is already below 20.8¢, you are ahead of the market and may not need to move. If it reads 19.6¢, compare it against today's lowest offer before deciding.