Basic Generation Service auctions and Third Party Supplier enrollment
Retail electric choice here is optional shopping against Basic Generation Service. If you take no action, PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, or Rockland Electric continues to supply generation at the BGS product for your class while it also delivers. A BPU-licensed Third Party Supplier can replace that generation line.
BGS is not a Texas-style POLR assignment and not an Ohio-style SSO label. It is the New Jersey default set through a descending-clock auction overseen by the Board of Public Utilities. Commercial shopping rules sit at https://www.nj.gov/bpu/commercial/shopping.html. The regulator home page is https://www.nj.gov/bpu/.
NJ Power Switch at https://nj.gov/njpowerswitch/ is the official portal. Licensed electric TPS names appear at https://nj.gov/njpowerswitch/suppliers/electric/. Filter by commercial class. A residential BGS snapshot is the wrong benchmark for a coin laundry. Newark city-page examples are PSE&G-local, not a statewide BGS number.
After a TPS enrollment, the EDC still delivers and restores outages. Societal benefit charges and distribution stay on the utility tariff. Switching suppliers changes the generation line, not who owns the feeder. Keep the EDC outage number on the wall and the TPS number on the invoice file.
PSE&G gas, Elizabethtown, NJ Natural Gas, and South Jersey Gas
Gas choice is a second BPU market. PSE&G gas, Elizabethtown Gas, New Jersey Natural Gas, and South Jersey Gas are the participating LDCs. Each has its own marketer bench and default commodity. NJ Power Switch includes gas shopping tools alongside electric TPS lists.
A Newark or Hudson County laundry on PSE&G electric is often on PSE&G gas as well, but that pairing is not statewide. South Jersey stores on Atlantic City Electric commonly sit on South Jersey Gas. Shore and central stores may use NJ Natural Gas. Elizabethtown covers other pockets. Read both bill headers.
Dryer therms stay on the LDC after a gas TPS enrollment. Leak response remains with the LDC. An electric BGS-to-TPS switch never rewrites the gas invoice. Dual-fuel LOAs must name each account number and each commodity or you will enroll the wrong meter.
Do not reuse a PSE&G gas marketer confirmation on South Jersey Gas or NJ Natural Gas. Portal supplier lists are filtered by LDC. A statewide 'New Jersey gas rate' workbook is how Camden and Newark stores get the same fictional benchmark.
PSE&G, JCP&L, ACE, and Rockland Electric footprints in PJM
Four EDCs cover nearly all investor-owned territory. PSE&G covers a dense northern and central footprint that includes Newark. JCP&L covers large western and shore-adjacent counties. Atlantic City Electric covers southern counties including Camden. Rockland Electric covers a smaller northern border footprint. All four sit in PJM.
Municipal electric systems are rare compared with Illinois IMEA islands, but they are not impossible. If the bill logo is not one of the four EDCs, stop and verify. Most publication and brokerage work still starts by naming PSE&G, JCP&L, ACE, or Rockland—not 'North Jersey' as if it were a tariff.
BGS Price to Compare values differ by EDC and class. A Newark PSE&G BGS snapshot cannot price a Camden Atlantic City Electric account. JCP&L shore and western meters need their own class rows. Rockland Electric is not a PSE&G clone even when a driver thinks the region 'looks like New York.'
PJM capacity and congestion talk from a supplier desk is wholesale color. Your shopping benchmark remains the BGS product for the printed commercial class on that EDC. The Newark city page is a PSE&G walkthrough. Statewide, rebuild the default whenever the EDC name changes.
BGS versus delivery and societal benefit charges on the EDC bill
Split every sample invoice into BGS or TPS generation versus EDC delivery before you rank offers. Distribution, transmission, and societal benefit charges are delivery-side or tariff adders that remain after you leave BGS. They are not TPS markup, and you cannot shop them away on NJ Power Switch.
Commercial and industrial class labels on NJ Power Switch must match the bill. A residential BGS comparison will miss demand components that appear on some general-service accounts. If billed peak approaches the 750 kW BGS retail-margin threshold, read BPU commercial shopping rules before you assume you are a typical small-commercial default customer.
Consolidated billing keeps the EDC logo on the envelope. The TPS name appears on the generation line after enrollment. Dual bills mean two envelopes. Either way, JCP&L or ACE still restores outages. Night staff should not call the TPS for a feeder outage.
When you audit a year of bills, track BGS auction-season context and the dated Price to Compare separately from TPS energy. Delivery and societal charges can move while supply is fixed. 'Last year’s total' is not a BGS-versus-TPS test unless those pieces are held constant.
Urban 24/7 rooms, shore humidity, and gas-dryer therms
Essex and Hudson urban rooms often run long hours with stacked HVAC and lighting on PSE&G. Shore-adjacent JCP&L and ACE stores add humidity that lengthens dryer tumble times. None of those patterns is a published statewide kWh figure. Use the store’s own demand and energy history.
Typical laundries sit well below large-C&I BGS thresholds, but you still read billed kW. The 750 kW BGS retail-margin threshold is a BPU commercial rule for default supply, not a marketing slogan. If a facility adds a large water-heating plant or sits in a mixed-use building with a house meter, re-check peak before you treat BGS as a simple small-commercial default.
Gas dryers ride PSE&G gas, Elizabethtown, NJ Natural Gas, or South Jersey Gas. Electric washers and HVAC ride the EDC. Dual-fuel shopping should align TPS electric and gas expirations when both are in play. A BGS-only electric review leaves the dryer commodity unexamined.
Newark city-page density is not Camden ACE load, and neither is a JCP&L western drop-off store. Copying one humidity paragraph across those EDCs is a city-page habit this statewide hub should avoid. Rebuild load notes from each meter’s bills, then shop the matching BGS class.
Newark PSE&G versus South Jersey ACE and the 750 kW BGS threshold
Camden uses Atlantic City Electric and often South Jersey Gas—not PSE&G. Owners who expand from a Newark PSE&G store into Camden and keep the same TPS confirmation will misstate both BGS and delivery. Rebuild the portal filter and the LDC name.
JCP&L and Rockland Electric add two more default-supply islands. A portfolio LOA that says 'all New Jersey stores' is how an ACE account inherits a PSE&G BGS comparison. Name the EDC, the account number, the class, and the commodity on every authorization.
If billed demand approaches the 750 kW BGS retail-margin threshold, stop treating the account like a typical laundry default. BPU commercial shopping materials at https://www.nj.gov/bpu/commercial/shopping.html describe large-load default-supply rules. Confirm kW on the bill; do not invent a cents-per-kWh margin in your workbook.
Municipal exceptions are uncommon but still require a bill-logo check. After any TPS switch, the EDC still delivers. Spot-check the first two invoices so societal benefit and distribution stayed on the utility side and only generation moved to the TPS.
NJ Power Switch checklist for TPS shopping and BGS exits
Identify PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, or Rockland Electric on the electric bill and the matching LDC on the gas bill. Open https://nj.gov/njpowerswitch/ and the commercial BPU page at https://www.nj.gov/bpu/commercial/shopping.html. Capture the BGS Price to Compare date for that EDC and class.
Read billed kW against the 750 kW BGS retail-margin threshold before you assume small-commercial default rules. Filter licensed TPS names at https://nj.gov/njpowerswitch/suppliers/electric/ by commercial class. Split delivery and societal charges from generation on sample invoices.
After enrollment, the EDC still delivers and restores outages. Spot-check the first two bills. Align electric and gas TPS expirations when both commodities are shopped. Post EDC outage and LDC emergency numbers separately from TPS billing.
Keep one workbook tab per EDC and per LDC. Never copy a Newark PSE&G BGS comparison onto Atlantic City Electric or a PSE&G gas enrollment onto South Jersey Gas. Re-check billed kW at acquisition so a mixed-use house meter does not silently cross the 750 kW BGS retail-margin threshold.
- Name PSE&G, JCP&L, ACE, or Rockland Electric before opening NJ Power Switch.
- Capture the BGS Price to Compare date for that EDC and commercial class.
- Read billed kW against the 750 kW BGS retail-margin threshold.
- Filter licensed TPS rows at the official electric supplier list by commercial class.
- Split societal benefit and distribution from BGS or TPS generation.
- Match gas TPS shopping to PSE&G gas, Elizabethtown, NJ Natural Gas, or South Jersey Gas.
- Keep EDC restoration and LDC emergency contacts off the TPS call tree.
