Net Metering Billing and Smart Meters

Net Metering is available to residential and commercial customers who generate their own electricity via renewable resources (i.e., solar, wind, or hydro) and provides them with the opportunity to receive credit for customer-produced electricity received by the electric utility grid.

Net metering provides for the billing or crediting, as applicable, of energy usage by measuring (via a bi-directional meter) the amount of electricity from Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) delivered to a customer-generator in a given billing month offset by the amount of customer-generated electricity received by the JCP&L distribution system.

Historically, if a customer uses more electrical energy than is generated, the customer pays only for the net kilowatt-hours (KWH) billed, which is equal to the customer’s usage in KWH in excess of the customer-generation in KWH. If the customer generates more electricity in KWH than they consume in KWH from the utility electrical system, then the customer receives a KWH credit for the excess, which is banked for latter application to future bills[1]. In either scenario, the customer is required to pay any customer charges and minimums applicable under their rate schedule.

As part of smart meter deployment in New Jersey, net metered customers with a billing-certified smart meter will notice a change in the format of their bills. Rather than netting the delivered and received quantities into a single line item on the bill, customers will see separate line items for both the delivered and received electric quantities for the month. The delivered quantity will be used to assess charges for delivery and generation services. The received quantity will be used to assess a credit for the customer’s generation exported to the JCP&L distribution system. Additionally, net metering bank information will be displayed in a separate “Net Meter Banked Usage Information” section. For any billing cycle where the received quantity is greater than the delivered quantity, excess KWH generated will be added to the bank. The bank quantity will be applied to the next bill where delivered is greater than received. Lastly, an annual true-up will occur on the anniversary of the account becoming net metered. During the true-up, the bank will be paid out to customers receiving energy directly from JCP&L and the bank reset to zero. Customers utilizing an alternate supplier should speak to their supplier about their true-up processes.

Current net-metered customers will have their bi-directional meter replaced with a bill certified bi-directional smart meter in 2025. Once the smart meter is installed, customers will notice a change in bill format beginning with the first service period in which their new smart meter is certified. Although some legacy meters have already been exchanged for smart meters, the bill format will not be updated until those meters are bill-certified.

[1] At the end of the 12-month period, the customer-generator will be compensated for any remaining banked credits by the customer-generator’s electric supplier or basic generation service provider, as applicable, at the avoided cost of wholesale power. 

 

 

FAQs

  • I see new terms on my bill after the format change. What does each term mean?

    A list of new terms, their prior bill version equivalent (if applicable) and their explanations can be found below:

    New Term

    Prior Term (if appliable)

    Definition

    KWH Delivered Reading (Actual)

    KWH Reading (Actual)

     

    Kilowatt-hour register read for electricity supplied by the company’s system to the customer-generator facility (delivered). Two separate line items are displayed to reflect both the prior month and the current month register reads.

    KWH Received Reading (Actual)

    KWH Reading (Actual)

     

    Kilowatt-hour register read for electricity that the customer-generator facility exports to the Company’s system (Received). Two separate line items are displayed to reflect both the prior month and the current month register reads.

    KWH Used - Delivered

    Kilowatt-Hours Metered

    Kilowatt-hours of electricity supplied by the Company’s system to the customer-generator facility.

    KWH Out - Received

    Kilowatt-Hours Out

    Kilowatt-hours of electricity that the customer-generator facility exports to the Company’s system.

    Current Month KWH Deposit

    N/A

    Kilowatt-hours received that are added to the bank.

    Current Month KWH Withdrawal for Credit

    N/A

    Kilowatt-hours received that are removed from the bank for current month’s billing, capped at current month’s Kilowatt-hours delivered.

     

    Note, customers on rider BGS-CIEP will also see a dollar amount associated with this line item.

    Net Metering Credit

    N/A

    Monetary credit for  current month KWH withdrawal from the bank (as applicable).

    Net Metering True-up KWH

    N/A

    Balance of kilowatt-hours cleared from the bank during the annual true up.

    Net Metering True-Up Credit

    Net Energy Credit

    Monetary credit computed at the end for the annualized period  for the remaining banked KWH based on the “Avoided Cost of Wholesale Power”.

    Energy Credit

    N/A

    Monetary credit for the current month KWH withdrawal from the bank multiplied by the supplier’s rate. Note, this is only applicable to customers whose supplier is rate-ready.

    OnPeak KWH Used - Delivered

    OnPeak KWH Used

    Kilowatt-hours of electricity supplied by the Company’s system to the customer-generator facility during Peak Hours (as part of a Time-of-Use rate).

    OnPeak KWH Out -  Received

    OnPeak KWH Out

    Kilowatt-hours of electricity that the customer-generator facility exports to the Company’s system during Peak Hours (as part of a Time-of-Use rate).

    OffPeak KWH Used - Delivered

    OffPeak KWH Used

    Kilowatt-hours of electricity supplied by the Company’s system to the customer-generator facility outside of Peak Hours (as part of a Time-of-Use rate).

    OffPeak KWH Out - Received

    OffPeak KWH Out

    Kilowatt-hours of electricity that the customer-generator facility exports to the Company’s system outside of Peak Hours (as part of a Time-of-Use rate).

    “Net Meter Banked Usage Information” section

    Starting and ending banked KWH credits have been moved to the new “Net Meter Banked Information” section.

    New section of the bill that includes a line item for the bank at the beginning of the bill period and a line item for the bank at the end of the bill period.  It also includes deposits and withdrawals.

     

  • When will I see changes to my bill format?

    When a New Jersey customer has a billing certified smart meter, the customer bill presentment will be updated.

  • I received two partial bills this month. Why did this happen?

    In certain situations, a smart meter exchange needs to occur in the middle of a billing cycle. When this happens, a bill is generated for the partial billing period when the legacy meter was installed, and a second bill is generated for the partial billing period when the smart meter was installed.

  • What is meant by “billing certified smart meter”?

    FirstEnergy validates that the smart meter is consistently and accurately sending usage information. After the validation process, the meter is flagged as “billing certified”. Billing certified smart meter accounts are billed using the automated reading sent by the smart meter. There could be a lag in time from when your smart meter is installed until your smart meter is bill certified during which your meter will continue to be read by meter readers and the historical bill format will apply.

  • How do customers qualify for net metering?

    Customers must have an interconnection agreement with JCP&L approving the installation of a behind-the-meter qualified renewable generator. Once a customer is approved, JCP&L will install a bi-directional meter which is capable of measuring and recording the flow of electrical energy in both directions. The meter will record the amount of electricity delivered to the customer from the utility and records the electricity that is received by the utility from the customer generation.

  • How to I apply for an interconnection agreement?

    Customers interested in applying for an Interconnection agreement with JCP&L must follow the application submission process using this link.

  • Where can I get more information on New Jersey interconnection?
  • How is net metering calculated?

    Each KWH of energy received from the customer offsets the energy delivered to the customer on a one for one basis, up to the amount of energy delivered to the customer during a billing period. Excess energy received from the customer during a billing period is credited via the bank to be used in the next billing period where delivered energy is greater than received.

  • Is the “bank” ever cleared?

    Once a year during the month where the account became net metered, the bank will be paid out by JCP&L or the customer’s supplier if using an alternate basic generation service provider. During this true-up, the number of KWH in the bank will be multiplied by the “Avoided Cost of Wholesale Power” which is the average locational marginal price of energy in JCP&L or the supplier’s (as appropriate) transmission zone.

    The “Avoided Cost of Wholesale Power” is updated frequently. The current rate can be found by visiting https://www.pjm.com/ and reviewing the “Locational Marginal Pricing” tool. 

  • Can I change when my bank is trued-up?

    Yes. Over the lifetime of your account you can change the month of your true-up only once. Contact FirstEnergy to ask to change the billing month used to start your annualized period. The month selected will become your new true-up month.

  • I am on a Time-of-Use (TOU) rate. The register reads for the on and off-peak KWH for Used and Out no longer display on my bill.

    With the legacy meter, the electricity (Used) and electricity (Out) as well as the Peak value were captured using separate “register” channels. You now have a smart meter. A smart meter captures both the electricity you use (Delivered) and the electricity you generate (Received) as well as capturing usage information in timestamped intervals of either 15 or 60-minutes. The On and Off-Peak values are calculated using the interval data that the meter captures. Since the usage is timestamped, we can identify when the usage occurred and can calculate your On and-Off Peak billed amounts.

  • I use an alternate energy supplier. How does the true-up work if I switch suppliers?

    Whenever changing suppliers, including switching from JCP&L’s Basic Generation Service to an alternate supplier, your old supplier will pay out any credits in the bank after your final month and your bank will reset. The true-up will be calculated using the “Avoided Cost of Wholesale Power” just like an annual true-up.