Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G): billing error
Dispute the charge with PSE&G and pay the undisputed part; ask for a free meter test or a diversion-of-service investigation if usage looks too high; then go to the BPU.
What does this mean?
Grade A (high: almost everything comes from official pages read directly). 100% of 35 sources are the organization's own pages or government sites.
Collect
- the disputed bill
- previous bills
- meter photos with dates
- call notes with reference numbers
Steps
Call PSE&G and dispute the charge. Pay the amount not in dispute so service stays on during the investigation.
If usage looks wrong, ask for a free meter test (once every 12 months) and, if usage is unexplainably high, a diversion-of-service investigation.
If PSE&G cannot help, contact the BPU Division of Customer Assistance.
More contacts for this issue
Facts you can cite
- Policy
Under the BPU Bill of Rights, a customer may dispute a charge with the utility, and service may not be turned off while the utility investigates as long as the undisputed amount is paid.
Source: nj.pseg.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Fee
A customer may have the meter tested free of charge once every 12 months and may ask for a BPU employee to be present.
Source: nj.pseg.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
If usage on the bill appears unexplainably high or suspicious, the customer may have the utility perform a "diversion of service" investigation.
Source: nj.pseg.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
Residential customers should not be assessed a late payment charge on their utility bill.
Source: nj.pseg.com, verified 2026-10-12
Rules in force
- Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA) negative option requirements15 U.S.C. 8401-8405
A seller that charges consumers online through a negative option feature (for example an automatic renewal or a free trial that converts to paid) must clearly disclose all material terms before taking billing information, get the consumer's express informed consent before charging, and provide simple mechanisms to stop recurring charges. The FTC enforces ROSCA.
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
1 citable point
- Policy
The seller must obtain "a consumer's express informed consent before charging the consumer's credit card, debit card, bank account, or other financial account".
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
If that fails, escalate
Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.
Customer service
Supervisor
Ask the representative for a supervisor. Write down the name and reference number.
Written complaint
State agency
Your state’s utility commission. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON:
states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), Division of Customer Assistance. The BPU Bill of Rights says to call the utility first, then the BPU if the utility cannot help.
State agency
Your state’s attorney general. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON:
states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).New Jersey Attorney General (Division of Consumer Affairs).
Watch out
- Deferred Payment Arrangements are set up in My Account or the mobile app (sign-in required).
- The Critical Care form must be signed by the prescribing licensed medical professional every year.
Let your AI agent handle this
Escalate Anything is a free, open-source MCP server for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI, Codex and other AI apps. Your agent gets this playbook, keeps a case log with reference numbers and follow-up dates, and drafts each message for you to approve.
1. Set it up (needs uv):
uvx escalate-anything setup2. Ask your agent:
Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) charged me [amount] on [date] for something I did not order. Use Escalate Anything to get it corrected.Source code, other install options and the Claude Code plugin