Chiropractor in Butler, NJ

Officials with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities have challenged Butler Electric's 26% base rate increase in 2024, ruling this week that the rate hike must go through a formal review before becoming permanent.

The utilities board's March 19 decision means the rate hike, approved in August 2024 by the state’s Local Finance Board, could be reversed, with refunds issued depending on the outcome of a full review. In the meantime, customers will continue paying the higher rates.

Butler Electric, a municipal utility that serves about 11,900 connections across Butler, Bloomingdale, Kinnelon, Riverdale and West Milford, sought the increase to manage rising costs and a $1.65 million budget deficit, according to state records.

Butler Electric officials said the utility had gone more than a decade without a base rate hike, and without additional revenue, Butler Borough taxpayers would have to bear the financial burden of maintaining the system.

The increase caught the attention of officials with the state's Division of Rate Counsel, who argued that the approval process bypassed regulatory oversight. Under state law, municipal utilities that serve customers beyond their borders are regulated as public utilities for those customers and require BPU approval for rate changes.

About 65% of Butler Electric's customers — more than 7,700 — live outside Butler’s municipal boundaries, BPU records show. Rate Counsel representatives ultimately argued that the process to obtain the rate hike through the Local Finance Board was flawed and removed due process protections and participation rights for ratepayers outside of Butler.

The dispute was further complicated when Butler Electric officials filed an application with the BPU on Dec. 5, 2024, seeking to nearly triple its Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause (LEAC) rate from $0.027756 per kilowatt-hour to $0.077221 per kilowatt-hour. The LEAC rate covers fluctuating energy supply costs and is typically reviewed by the BPU. Officials with the Division of Rate Counsel said the additional increase compounded the financial impact on ratepayers and should be examined as part of a full rate proposal and review, records show.

After reviewing the case, BPU staff recommended that the board assert jurisdiction, require Butler Electric to file a formal petition for the rate change and mandate that any future rate changes be submitted to both the BPU and Division of Rate Counsel before implementation.

BPU officials agreed on March 19, ordering that Butler Electric’s rates, including the LEAC rate, must be subject to BPU oversight.

Butler Electric's base rates as of March 2025 start at $5.01 for residential ratepayers, according to its website. Rates for residences using between 16 and 600 kilowatt-hours is $0.050298 per kilowatt-hour. For usage over 600 kilowatt-hours, the rate is $0.040107 per kilowatt-hour. All rates represent increases of roughly 26% from March 2024's rates, records show.

The rate review at the BPU is expected to come on or before Jan. 1, 2027. The Local Finance Board barred Butler Electric from seeking another hike before that date, state records show.

The Ice Man cameth — to New Jersey.

The Ice Man, aka music legend Jerry Butler, passed away Feb. 20 at his home in Chicago after a bout with Parkinson's Disease. He was 85.

Butler was a singular talent whose hits — including “For Your Precious Love,” “He Will Break Your Heart,” “Make It Easy On Yourself,” “I Stand Accused,” “Hey, Western Union Man,” “Never Give You Up,” “Only The Strong Survive” and more — were delivered with his richly embracing baritone.

Advertisement

The songs transcended trendy pop music conventions and categorizations. Butler was a genre unto himself.

The Chicago native first became known as a member of the Impressions with church pal Curtis Mayfield, and he soon forged out as a solo hitmaker on Vee-Jay records.

“Only the Strong Survive,” from Butler's 1968 Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff-produced “The Ice Man Cometh” album on Mercury Records, transitioned the singer from a pop R&B hitmaker to a mature soul stirrer during the era’s Black Power movement.

Later, Butler would have a profound impact on two Jersey music men: Bruce Springsteen and TJ Lubinsky.

Advertisement

Butler co-hosted, and performed on, several of Lubinsky's PBS music specials, which puts the music greats of yesteryear into the spotlight. The specials, many filmed at the Ritz Theatre in Elizabreth and Convention Hall in Asbury Park, have raised millions for PBS, and given new stages for performers in their later years to play on across the country.

A new Lubinsky compilation, “The Best of the ’60s,” composed of unseen performances from the series, premieres at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 8, on Thirteen.

“(Butler) did it because he wanted to do it, not because he had to do it,” said Lubinsky, a Bradley Beach native whose dad owned Springwood Electronics, which served as a record outlet on the West Side of Asbury Park. “He was an incredible host. He knew the goal. He knew what we were there for until 2, 3, 4 in the morning.

"He knew it had to be so we could get all these (music greats) captured on video tape because the chances of seeing the same groups again the following year weren't going to happen, so he never gave me anything but support.”

Advertisement

Butler's performance of “Let It Be Me” with an ailing Betty Everett in 2000 is considered one of the best in the history of show. She passed away a year later at the age of 61.

“Jerry clasped her hand and said, 'I want you to sing and sing,' and he coached her, he protected her, and made sure he was safe and took care of her,” Lubinsky said.

After a taping, Butler, who served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners in Illinois from 1985 to 2018, approached Lubinsky.

“Listen, this should be my last show,” Butler said. “Let's just say I want people to remember me the way I was, the way we did it.”

Lubinsky later found out that Butler was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. His concert appearances became less frequent after 2010.

Advertisement

In recent years, Butler picked up a new fan: Springsteen. The Boss named his 2022 album of soul covers “Only the Strong Survive” after the Butler song, and he covered the title track and “Hey, Western Union Man” on the LP.

“I wasn’t super familiar with Jerry Butler until I went searching for material for this record," said Springsteen previously to the Asbury Park Press. “(Manager) Jon Landau was the huge Jerry Butler fan, and he suggested 'Hey, Western Union Man' and I said I don’t know. I listened to it. It was kind of complicated, and then I got into it really deeply.

"The record was finished and at first it was called 'Soul Days,' and then it was called 'Nightshift,' that was going to be the title. Then I’m thinking about doing another (soul covers album), and the next one I do I’m going to call 'Only the Strong Survive.' Jon said it’s a great title, we got to use that now. We got to cut that song when you come home. I was away somewhere. So I came back and spent the day, cut the song and through that I got introduced into more Jerry Butler stuff, and I’ve cut more of his things since then.”

Butler apparently had his eye on Springsteen. The Ice Man attended the Feb. 2, 1973, Springsteen show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, according to Brucebase Wiki. Butler had a run of shows at the club starting the next night.

A teenage Lubinsky became a Butler fan when he walked into the former Yakety-Yak nightclub in Season Heights in the 1980s. DJ Ron Na-Na was playing Butler's “For Your Precious Love” to packed room.

“It was the most incredible thing you could ever see, and it was an anthem because all these people — young, old, older — they were all together," Lubinksy said. "And it didn't matter where we were from because we were all the same because we all loved dancing to his song. It was the most incredible moment.”

Low Dive returns

Cue it up, music returns to Low Dive on the Asbury Park boardwalk on Saturday, March 1. Boardwalk Boogie with DJ Foggy Notion begins at 9 p.m.

Speaker Rats and Great Oblivion play Friday, March 7; the Cranston Dean Band, and Christian Sparacio and the Yellowbrooks take the stage Saturday, March 8. There will be a St. Patrick's Day parade party, to coincide with the city's march, with Jet Weston and his Atomic Ranch Hands at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 9.

Low Dive, and the adjacent Break, have been closed for the winter due to renovations. The Break will reopen as Palmetto, a Southern-style kitchen and bar, on Tuesday, March 18, and will also feature live music, said venue entertainment director Peter Mantas.

Both venues are operated by BarCo Brands. The Break was formerly Langosta Lounge, and Low Dive was the Asbury Park Yacht Club.

Go: Boardwalk Boogie with DJ Foggy Notion, 9 p.m. Saturday, March 1, Low Dive, 1000 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park, free; lowdiveap.com.

Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jerry Butler inspired NJ music men TJ Lubinksy, Bruce Springsteen

Danny Polons has had years to look up at the banners honoring 1,000-point scorers in Butler High School's gym. His name is the last, from 2017.

There will soon be a new addition.

Bulldogs senior point guard P.J. Coffey reached the milestone on a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 50.7 seconds left in the first quarter. He scored 14 points as Butler lost to host North Arlington, 61-54 , on Wednesday night. The game was briefly halted so P.J. could pose for photos with his teammates and parents, Brenda and Patrick Coffey.

"It's been on my mind a lot recently," said Coffey, a three-sport athlete who has verbally committed to continue his academic and football careers at the University of Rhode Island.

"I try to keep it not on my mind while I'm playing. I wanted to get it out of the way, so I can stop thinking about it all the time. It doesn't really seem real."

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Coffey started in flag football at age 5, and said he'd "literally tried it all" before sticking with football, basketball, wrestling and baseball. He eventually gave up wrestling to stick with basketball "because it came naturally."

Coffey was a wide receiver and defensive back for Butler in the fall, and is already looking forward to his last season pitching and playing shortstop.

'I wanted that for myself':Montville point guard Juliana O'Dowd scores 1,000th point

Though former Butler coach Tom Fischer kept track of Coffey's stats on the whiteboard in his office, Coffey didn't do the math himself until the end of his junior season.

After improving his 3-point shooting percentage, Coffey needed 275 points to reach the milestone this season.

"I know when I did it, I was so thrilled," Polons said. "It felt like all the years and years of hard work, in that very moment, everything paid off. It's so cool to look up and see the name on the banner. It'll be even more cool to see someone I coached on the banner."

Coffey dedicated the milestone to his parents, as well as the kids growing up in Butler now. Brenda Coffey played basketball in high school, and was an NCAA Division I swimmer at St. John's University. His father, Patrick, played football and wrestled at Caldwell High School.

"It gives something to the youth kids in our town," said the younger Coffey, whose first name is Patrick John. "We have an issue of kids going to parochial schools. It shows kids there is an opportunity at Butler. You can do what all these other kids are doing at other schools, whether it's 1,000 points or something else major in your high school career."