If you live in Monmouth, Ocean, Morris, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Essex, or any of the other counties served by Jersey Central Power & Light, your electric bill has gone up again this year. JCP&L solar is one of the only fixed costs in the equation. In 2026, the math still works in your favor even without the federal tax credit. Here is what JCP&L customers should know before installing solar this year.
Who JCP&L Serves in New Jersey
JCP&L is the second-largest electric utility in New Jersey and a subsidiary of FirstEnergy. The company serves roughly 1.2 million customers across 13 counties: Burlington, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren.
If your bill comes from PSE&G, Atlantic City Electric, or Orange & Rockland, this guide is not for you. Those utilities have different interconnection rules, rate structures, and outage patterns. JCP&L customers operate under their own service territory rules. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities oversees all of them.
JCP&L Rates in 2026: Why Bills Keep Climbing
The NJBPU certified the 2026 Basic Generation Service auction in February. New supply rates take effect June 1, 2026. JCP&L customers will see roughly a 1.6 percent increase in supply charges as a result.
On top of that, JCP&L’s expanded Energy Efficiency program adds another $4.03 per month. That works out to about a 3 percent bump. The new charge runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Capacity and transmission costs keep climbing separately. The all-in residential rate now hovers near $0.22 to $0.24 per kWh depending on usage and season.
A typical JCP&L household uses 777 kWh per month. That works out to over $2,000 per year in electricity. And that number has climbed every June for the last decade.
How Net Metering Works for JCP&L Solar Customers
New Jersey still offers full 1-to-1 retail-rate net metering. JCP&L must honor it. Every kWh your solar panels produce offsets one kWh you would otherwise buy from the utility at the full retail rate.
Excess credits roll over month to month at the same retail rate. Once a year, on your annual true-up date, JCP&L pays out any unused credit balance at the wholesale (avoided cost) rate. For most homeowners with properly sized systems, this true-up is small or zero. That’s because the system is designed to match annual usage.
Residential systems up to 10 kW qualify for Level 1 interconnection with JCP&L. Level 1 carries no application fee and a simplified review process. Most homes in JCP&L territory fall well within that 10 kW threshold.
SREC-II Earnings Under the SuSI Program
New Jersey’s Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI) program pays homeowners a fixed amount per megawatt-hour of solar production. Payments last 15 years from the date of interconnection. JCP&L customers participate just like everyone else in the state.
As of March 6, 2026, the residential SREC-II rate dropped to $76.50 per MWh for newly registered systems. Homeowners who locked in before that date still earn $85 per MWh for the full 15-year term. Once you have your State Certification Number, your rate is fixed for the life of the program. That holds true even if future blocks decline further.
Consider a 9 kW system producing roughly 10,800 kWh per year. At the new $76.50 rate, that’s about $826 per year, or roughly $11,150 over 15 years. Grandfathered customers at the $85 rate see closer to $12,400 over the same period. Either way, those earnings stack on top of your net metering savings.
Other New Jersey Incentives Still Available in 2026
New Jersey has one of the strongest state-level incentive stacks in the country.
- Sales tax exemption: Solar equipment is fully exempt from New Jersey’s 6.625 percent sales tax. That saves roughly $2,000 to $2,600 on a typical residential install.
- Property tax exemption: Solar adds real value to your home, but that added value does not raise your property tax assessment. The exemption is permanent under N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.113.
- Net metering at retail rate: Covered above. This is one of the most valuable parts of the stack at JCP&L’s current rates.
- HOA solar rights: New Jersey’s solar rights law stops homeowner associations from blocking rooftop solar on private property.
Stack these alongside 15 years of SREC-II payments, and you recover a meaningful share of system cost before counting a single kWh of production.
Battery Storage and Storm Resilience for JCP&L Customers
Major storms have hit JCP&L customers hard for years. Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was the worst, but repeated nor’easters and severe thunderstorms have caused damage since. Coastal counties like Monmouth and Ocean see long outages. So do rural northern counties like Sussex and Warren. The reasons: tree cover, exposed transmission lines, and the sheer size of the service territory.
Solar panels alone do not power your home during an outage. For backup power, you need a battery. A Tesla Powerwall 3 or comparable battery pairs with your solar system to keep essential loads running. During daylight hours, the battery recharges from your panels. That setup can stretch backup power through multi-day outages.
New Jersey’s Garden State Energy Storage Program (GSESP) is rolling out in phases. Phase 1 covered transmission-scale storage in 2025. Phase 2, which covers residential behind-the-meter battery storage, is expected to launch later in 2026. It will offer both upfront and performance-based incentives. NJBPU has not yet published final amounts. Hurricane season starts June 1. If backup power matters to you, get on the schedule before storm activity ramps up.
Is Solar Still Worth It for JCP&L Customers in 2026?
For most JCP&L customers with a reasonably sunny roof, the answer is yes. Full 1-to-1 net metering, 15 years of SREC-II payments, and sales and property tax exemptions stack up. Payback periods on cash purchases still land in the 7 to 9 year range for typical homes.
$0 down financing is widely available. You can offset a rising JCP&L bill with a fixed monthly solar payment starting day one. The variables that matter most: roof condition, shading, system sizing relative to your actual usage, and whether you want battery storage included.
How Infinity Energy Helps JCP&L Customers
Infinity Energy has installed solar across New Jersey since 2008. We have completed more than 10,000 systems. Our headquarters is in Mahwah, NJ. We hold NYSERDA Gold and EnergySage Elite+ status, and we earned the EnergySage Installer of the Year title. Our team handles JCP&L interconnection paperwork, SuSI registration, and permitting. We also do in-house roofing and Tesla Powerwall installation.
Want to see what JCP&L solar looks like on your specific roof and usage? Request a free quote. We’ll run the analysis based on your address and last 12 months of bills.
