The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should recoup allegedly imprudent costs Public Service Electric and Gas Co. incurred when it built a $546 million transmission project in New Jersey, according to a complaint filed Wednesday at the agency.
PSE&G’s “Roseland-to-Pleasant Valley transmission project includes imprudently incurred charges that were the subject of a Commission enforcement action,” Public Citizen said in the complaint.
As a result, PSE&G’s transmission formula rate is unjust and unreasonable, and FERC must set the matter for hearing to ensure that ratepayers do not shoulder PSE&G’s “unlawfully inflated charges,” the consumer watchdog group said.
The complaint seeking refunds over the RPV transmission line replacement project is the latest attempt by Public Citizen to challenge PSE&G’s cost recovery for the project.
After a FERC enforcement office investigation, PSE&G in December 2024 agreed to pay $6.6 million to settle allegations it gave the PJM Interconnection inaccurate information about the RPV project during the grid operator’s regional transmission expansion plan process. The utility neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
Public Citizen contends that evidence from FERC’s investigation shows PSE&G’s spending on the project was imprudent, making project-related cost recovery “unjust and unreasonable.”
PSE&G denies the allegations.
“We stand firmly behind the necessity and prudence of this project and will vigorously defend against any claims to the contrary,” William Smith, a PSE&G spokesman, said in an email. “Modernizing this line delivered significant reliability improvements, strengthened system performance, and greatly increased capacity compared with the original design.”
FERC last year rejected Public Citizen’s challenge to PJM’s plan to allocate the costs from the RPV project, saying it was an improper proceeding to make the challenge.
Following a FERC directive, the consumer watchdog group six months ago made its challenge in PSE&G’s formula rate annual update process, according to the complaint. FERC has neither acknowledged nor acted on that protest, Public Citizen said.
Under FERC’s formula rate process, the agency deems spending on transmission infrastructure to be prudent unless an outside party successfully challenges it.
