- A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission audit found Atlantic City Electric overbilled customers and made errors involving federal tax law.
- Rep. Jeff Van Drew is demanding refunds for customers who paid more than they should have and calling for rate reductions.
- The findings do not establish that FERC has ordered individual refund checks or specify how much customers could receive.
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — A federal financial audit found Atlantic City Electric overbilled customers and made errors related to federal tax law, prompting U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew to demand refunds for South Jersey ratepayers.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lists Atlantic City Electric’s FA25-4 case among its completed 2026 financial audits. FERC says its financial audit program examines utilities’ compliance with federal requirements involving rates, tariffs, accounting and financial reporting. Van Drew’s office said Wednesday that the completed audit found ACE overbilling and tax-related errors.
“For years, we have been saying something was wrong with what people in South Jersey were paying for electricity,” Van Drew said in a statement. He said his office previously held public hearings, challenged ACE over electric costs and asked FERC to audit the utility after questioning explanations for customers’ bills.
Van Drew is now calling for ACE customers who paid too much to be reimbursed.
“The people who paid more than they should have deserve refunds now,” he said. The congressman also said the audit should result in rate reductions and renewed his call for members of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to resign, accusing the state regulator of approving repeated increases without adequately addressing electricity costs.
The audit findings concern utility financial and accounting practices rather than allegations that individual household meters incorrectly measured electricity consumption. The available information also does not establish that FERC has ordered ACE to send refund checks to residential customers or specify how much individual customers could receive. Any customer relief could depend on how the audit’s corrective measures are implemented through the regulatory process.
The audit comes amid broader statewide concerns over electricity costs in New Jersey, but its findings should not be interpreted as determining that all recent increases in ACE customers’ bills were improper. Wholesale electricity procurement and other components of customers’ bills involve separate regulatory and market processes.
