Atlantic City Electric responds: Billing error limited to paper bills, autopay not affected

Update, May 18, 2026: Atlantic City Electric has responded to this story. The company's full statement appears below.

AC Electric sent out $30,000 bills — and no, your rates were not that high!

I saw the posts on social media this weekend and I did a double take.

Friends of mine who are Atlantic City Electric customers started sharing photos of their bills. Not their normal bills — which are already painful enough. These were bills for $2,000. $9,000. $13,000. One of them was over $30,000.

My first thought was — wait. Did something change? Did the rate freeze not happen? Because Governor Sherrill froze the utility rates. I wrote about that. We talked about it on the show. The rates were frozen. I said it out loud. So how is somebody getting a $30,000 electric bill?

Here is what actually happened. And it is almost funny — if you are not one of the about 20,000 customers who opened that envelope and felt their heart stop.

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It was a printing error

The rates are frozen. The bills are real. The numbers on them are not.

Atlantic City Electric confirmed that a printing and billing system error caused roughly 20,000 customers to receive incorrect bills — some dramatically higher than anything they actually owe. The company says the errors are being corrected and customers will receive accurate bills. Nobody owes $30,000. Nobody owes $13,000. The computers and printers of AC Electric had a brain freeze of their own.

I will give them this — the timing is spectacular. We wanted the rates frozen, not the air. And it has been a cold one. An ice-cold winter followed by a spring that never quite warmed up until this week. So yes, your electric bill is higher than last year. Heating a home through a winter like this one costs real money regardless of frozen rates.

But not $30,000. Not $13,000. Not even close

If you received one of these incorrect bills, Atlantic City Electric says you should contact them directly. Customers are entitled to a corrected bill and are not required to pay the erroneous amount. Do not pay the wrong number. Call them first.

This is not the first time Atlantic City Electric has had billing problems and it will not be the last conversation we have about what South Jersey residents are paying to keep the lights on. The rates may be frozen but the bills are still high — just not science-fiction high.

Check your bill. Call if something looks wrong. And maybe keep an eye on what you are actually being charged, because clearly somebody has to.

Atlantic City Electric responds to billing error reports

After this story published Sunday, Atlantic City Electric reached out with an official statement. The company says the problem is limited to paper bills only — a printing error with their billing vendor sent some customers inaccurate charges and balance information. Your online account shows the correct amount. Autopay is not affected.

If you got a scary paper bill and want to verify what you actually owe, log in at atlanticcityelectric.com or call customer service at 800-642-3780, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The company says corrected bills will be mailed to affected customers — no action required unless you have questions.

We are aware that a small subset of Atlantic City Electric customers are receiving paper bills with inaccurate charges and balance information due to a printing error with our billing vendor. This issue is limited to certain mailed bills only and customer online accounts reflect the correct billing and account information.  This issue does not impact the autopay function on customer accounts. We are actively working to correct the issue and will mail revised bills to any impacted customers.

We are taking proactive steps to alert customers of the billing error including direct emails and phone calls, in addition to website updates. 

We understand how important billing accuracy is and are reviewing our processes to help prevent this from happening again. If a customer has an online My Account, they can log in at atlanticcityelectric.com to view their accurate and up-to-date bill amount. No action is required unless customers have questions or concerns. If customers have questions, they can contact Atlantic City Electric Customer Service at 800-642-3780. Customer Care representatives are available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.