New Jersey Time-of-Use Electricity Rates (2026)
A NJBPU-authorized rate structure where the per-kWh price changes by hour. Cheap overnight, expensive on weekday afternoons. Works for households that can shift big loads off peak.
If I switched to TOU in New Jersey, when are peak hours?
Across the 2New Jersey utilities offering time-of-use plans, peak windows fall on weekday afternoons — most schedules concentrate peak pricing between roughly 2pm and 7pm, with off-peak running overnight and on weekends. There are 44 current TOU tariffs on file in the URDB. The exact peak window varies by utility; see each utility's heatmap below.
Time-of-use electricity in New Jersey
New Jersey has had retail electric choice since the Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act of 1999, with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) approving each EDC's rate designs. URDB documents current residential TOU tariffs for PSE&G — including the three-period RS-TOU-3P effective April 2026 — and JCP&L's Residential TOD Service. Atlantic City Electric has no residential TOU tariff on file, and Rockland Electric's TOU data is pending verification against its current tariff. Third-party suppliers can also layer their own TOU contracts on top of EDC delivery — check the peak-hour definition in any supplier contract before signing.
Is time-of-use worth it in New Jersey?
In New Jersey, the biggest TOU wins come from electric vehicle charging scheduled overnight, laundry and dishwashers run after the evening peak, and smart thermostats that pre-cool before the afternoon peak hits. Households home all day with steady air-conditioning load often pay more on TOU than on their EDC's flat default rate. Smart meters are required for TOU enrollment; PSE&G and JCP&L have largely completed their rollouts.
The honest answer for most households is: it depends on how much of your usage you can move. Time-of-use plans are a swap — you accept a higher rate during peak hours in exchange for a lower rate during off-peak hours. If your home runs heaviest during peak hours and you can't shift it, you'll lose money. If you can shift even 30-40% of your usage into off-peak windows, you'll usually come out ahead.
Good candidates for TOU
- EV owners who charge overnight
- Households with battery storage
- Remote workers with flexible schedules
- Pool/spa pumps on timers
- Smart thermostats with pre-cooling
Poor candidates for TOU
- All-day occupied homes (retirees, families with young kids)
- Older A/C systems that run constantly in summer
- Resistive electric heat in winter
- Households without smart appliances or schedule flexibility
Run the math first. Look at your last 12 months of usage hour-by-hour if you have a smart meter, or estimate the percentage of your usage that already falls in off-peak hours. If less than 50% is off-peak, TOU probably costs you money. Our Bill Grade tool evaluates this for free.
New Jersey utilities with time-of-use plans
Each utility's count of currently filed TOU tariffs in URDB. Click through to the utility page for full plan details and live rates.
| Utility | TOU plans | Fixed $/mo | Default ¢/kWh | Tariff source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSE&G (Public Service Electric & Gas) | 9 | $6.00 | 23.4¢ | Tariff PDF |
| Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) | 32 | $4.27 | 23.4¢ | Tariff PDF |
| Atlantic City Electric | — | $6.75 | 23.4¢ | Tariff PDF |
| Rockland Electric (RECO) | 3 | $4.44 | 23.4¢ | Tariff PDF |
When does peak time hit on each New Jersey utility?
Below: each utility's most recently filed TOU schedule, rendered as a 7-day × 24-hour heatmap. Colored cells mark the peak hours you pay the most for. Data sourced directly from each utility's filed tariff via NREL URDB.
Why peak hours exist on New Jersey's grid
New Jersey sits entirely inside PJM Interconnection territory, on the same regional grid as Pennsylvania and Ohio. Summer afternoon peaks dominate, driven by cooling load — amplified along the shore in Atlantic City Electric territory. New Jersey TOU schedules concentrate peak pricing on weekday afternoons and early evenings; off-peak runs overnight and on weekends.
TOU rates exist because wholesale electricity costs vary hour by hour. The retail price most households pay is a blended average across the entire month — cheap and expensive hours mixed together. A TOU rate unblends them: you pay closer to the actual hourly cost. That's good news if your usage skews to cheap hours, bad news if it skews to expensive ones.
Run your own TOU savings estimate
Plug your monthly usage and your typical schedule into our TOU visualizer to see if a time-of-use plan would have saved you money over the past year. The tool pulls real peak-hour schedules from your utility's URDB-filed tariff.
A note on Rockland Electric: its time-of-use tariff data in URDB dates from an older filing cycle and is pending verification, so Rockland's TOU schedule is not shown above. Contact Rockland Electric directly for its current NJBPU-approved TOU options.
Frequently asked questions
What is time-of-use electricity in New Jersey?
Time-of-use (TOU) is a rate structure where the per-kWh price changes depending on the hour of day. Some New Jersey EDCs offer time-of-use options under their NJBPU-approved tariffs. Peak and off-peak hours vary by utility and season — check your EDC's current residential tariff sheet for the exact windows. TOU only changes the delivery and BGS supply prices for customers on EDC default service. If you have a Third-Party Supplier, your contract may include its own TOU structure or a flat rate.
Who should consider a NJ time-of-use rate?
TOU works for customers who can move large loads off peak. The biggest wins come from electric vehicle charging set to start after midnight, dishwashers and laundry run overnight, and pool pumps timed to off-peak hours. Smart thermostats that pre-cool homes before the afternoon peak also help. If your usage pattern is steady through the day — work-from-home households with constant A/C, for example — TOU often costs more than the flat residential rate.
How do I enroll in a NJ TOU tariff?
Contact your EDC directly. PSEG, JCP&L, ACE, and Rockland each maintain TOU options under their NJBPU-approved tariff. Smart meters are required — most NJ residential customers now have them. Some Third-Party Suppliers also offer TOU contracts; check the rate schedule and peak-hour definition before signing. Ask your EDC about switching back to the standard residential rate.