I don't recall what the customer charge is in NJ, but I"ll guess less than $10 for the last billing.
We were without electric power for almost 10 days, and we were not last. That means our power company had all of its repair employees and equipment running a maximum over times (know ans 24/7). The company also had even more crews in from out-of-state, including the home company First Energy of Ohio. It was a First Energy team that go our street service back on. Just that, and after the town and cut a narrow path down the road through fallen trees, mostly evergreen, I now hate White Pine trees..that's another story. So all this work can be paid for or we can think like Big Labor an tell the private companies they have to print money (like our government) to pay for the restoration. Remember Hostess bakers? I think they had been around most of my life time (I'm in my 70s) and they are no more because they were told (by the Union in this case) they have to somehow create wealth (also know as bad guys in Washington DC) and not compensate their employees at a level that allowed them to compete in the marketplace.
Yes, the power companies are heavily regulated but private. They can not create wealth (pay for stuff) beyond what the market/regulators will allow. Yes, I am suspicious of in-bed relationships between regulators (politicians) and the poeple they are supposed to oversee... look at the public employee unions and elected officials who grant wages and benefits that the overtaxed citizens can't afford, even though they are the ones who create wealth. Even there there is a limit to how deep the pockets are.
So, if you want to feel bad about an increase in the customer charge, keep your head down as you look at the cost to you from the continuing roll out of Obama Care and more regulations - Obama is still after coal, and while he didn't succeed in the Ca p and Trade legislation (even his progressive democrats wouldn't pass it) his free and excessive use of the regulatory powers is accomplishing the same thing. Watch the environmental folks push you electric bill up by double, then who you going to blame? I blame us, we who elect corrupt and power hungry officials. Even if we didn't vote for them, the fact that they get elected says we who didn't vote for them didn't do enough to defeat them.
A good example of what is yet to happen to electric power cost take a look at gasoline and heating oil. I'll estimate in the past 15 years my electric cost, energy plus delivery, went from 9 cents to 14 cents per KWH, a little under 50%, heating oil went from $1 to $4 per gallon, up 400%, this is Obama's goal, as he said himself before being elected the first time: "electric rates will necessarily skyrocket" he's still yet to deliver on that promise but he's working on it. That increase will come by increasing generation cost from coal and oil, even natural gas - and we know how he feels about nuclear. So, your doubled customer charge will pales into insignificance as you electric rates make you think about getting used to being cold and in the dark.
I also expect to see my homeowner policy cost go up due to storm damage form Sandy. And in spite of the fact my company denied my claim - a small claim my losses didn't include my home.
. Suppose I should have looked into this sooner 
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