Garden State Times

Senator Latham Tiver and Assemblyman Michael Torrissi Jr., both representing New Jersey's 8th district, have called for a comprehensive audit of the Societal Benefit Charge (SBC). This charge constitutes three percent of all electric bills in the state. The lawmakers argue that the fund has been subject to misuse and misallocation.

"Electric prices are spiraling out of control, and New Jersey is charging each ratepayer a three-percent tax that goes into a slush fund, and no one knows what happens to it after that. We need to audit the SBC fund and return any money not being used for its intended purpose of providing energy investments and assistance," Senator Tiver stated.

Tiver highlighted that since 2010, at least $2 billion from this fund has been redirected by various governors for unrelated projects. "Hundreds of millions of dollars from the fund have apparently been spent on keeping NJ Transit solvent, something way outside its intended use. We demand to know how deep this waste and abuse goes," he added.

The proposed audit aims to identify unused or improperly allocated funds, which could potentially lead to savings for residents by reducing their electric bills by three percent.

Assemblyman Torrissi expressed concerns about broader issues related to energy costs: "Cutting three percent from electric bills isn’t going to fix the damage done by the Democrat’s Energy Master Plan mandates, which have caused yearly 20-percent rate increases, but it’s a start."

He further emphasized the importance of maintaining funding for essential programs: "We don’t want to take away from important programs that fund energy assistance to seniors and low-income households, so let’s get a full accounting of where these billions of dollars are going and cut this slush fund down to its intended purpose."