By Vin Gopal

We are proud to join Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy in bringing local organizations together with LD11 residents at the BPU’s Monmouth County Community Utility Assistance Day on Tuesday, October 28 in Asbury Park.

The Community Utility Assistance Day, to be held in the Boys & Girls Club at 1201 Monroe Ave., Asbury Park, will be an opportunity for residents to get connected to the robust portfolio of utility assistance programs available to them, especially for low-and moderate-income households. Local and state officials will be on hand to help residents apply for programs that may help them keep their energy bills down.

My Legislative District 11 partners, Assemblywomen Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul, know many residents are struggling to manage their bills in the wake of double-digit spikes in electric and natural gas rates. That’s why we have sponsored legislation to require more transparency from the BPU and the utility companies in how rates are set. Our co-sponsored legislation would require electric public utilities to submit annual reports and rate hike voting to BPU by February 1 of each year.

Another of our bills, which was signed into law in August, directed the BPU to open registration by October 1, 2025 and for an additional 3,000 megawatts of community solar projects. The bill requires the board to accept and approve registrations until December 31, 2029 or until the 3,000 megawatts of solar energy projects are completely registered. The new law also removes the 150-megawatt annual goal under the community solar program.

We want to remind residents to look for the BPU’s Residential Universal Bill Credit, which provides $100 in direct energy bill assistance to all 3.9 million New Jersey residential ratepayers receiving electricity from the four public, investor-owned utility companies, including PSE&G and JCP&L. Credits of $50 will be applied to monthly electricity bills for September and October.

We also want to remind residents that the deadline for filing your application for the 2024 ANCHOR property tax relief program is just a week away on October 31. Homeowners and renters may be eligible for an ANCHOR benefit from $450 to $1,750. Most people who received the benefit last year received a confirmation letter from the state Department of Treasury for this year’s benefit. If you did not receive an ANCHOR Benefit Confirmation Letter, you can still file an application online at nj.gov/treasury/taxation/anchor/.

Our LD11 Constituent Services Team is available to help residents in applying for these benefits. The team also takes to the road to help residents in the towns where they live with Mobile Office Hours.

We will hold Mobile Office Hours to assist residents in filling out their PAS-1 applications for ANCHOR and New Jersey’s two other property owner tax relief programs, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ. The LD11 team will conduct PAS-1 Workshops from noon to 2 p.m. on Oct. 24 in the Asbury Park Council Chamber; and on Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Neptune Senior Center. 

We will hold regular Mobile Office Hours to assist residents in dealing with state agencies and applying for various programs on Oct. 30 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Asbury Park Senior Center.

For information on any of these programs, or assistance with other concerns, LD11 residents may call our Legislative District 11 office at (732) 704-3808 and a member of our staff will help you.

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