New Jersey Natural Gas Becomes First Utility in State to Eliminate All Cast Iron from Its System

New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) crews today replaced a section of 4” main at the intersection of Stockton Avenue and Main Street and retired the last piece of cast iron main in its system. With that, NJNG is now the first utility in the state with no active cast iron in its pipeline network.

“Ensuring the safety of our customers and the reliability of our system is the most important thing we do,” said Laurence M. Downes, chairman and CEO of New Jersey Natural Gas. “By eliminating all of the cast iron main and associated services, we continue to strengthen our system and the lifeline service we provide. This is an important milestone in the history our Company and an accomplishment of which we are all proud. It is also a credit to the dedication of the women and men of New Jersey Natural Gas and the leadership of our regulators.”

Over the past three years, NJNG has replaced approximately 62 miles of cast iron and 159 miles of unprotected steel main and associated services throughout its service territory as a part of its Safety Acceleration and Facility Enhancement (SAFE) program. Approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) in October of 2012, SAFE was designed to replace 276 miles of aged infrastructure. Cast iron and unprotected steel main were most commonly used prior to 1970, and are more susceptible to corrosion and leaks.

NJNG routinely replaces its facilities through its annual capital construction and accelerated infrastructure programs. The replacement of its aged main through the SAFE program is consistent with the state’s Energy Master Plan and its emphasis on infrastructure reliability and resiliency as a pathway to lower energy costs and enhanced energy security.

NJNG will continue the replacement of 55 miles of unprotected steel main and services through fiscal 2016, and has filed with the BPU to replace an additional 276 miles.

About New Jersey Resources

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) is a Fortune 1000 company that provides safe and reliable natural gas and clean energy services, including transportation, distribution and asset management. With annual revenues in excess of $3 billion, NJR is comprised of five primary businesses:

• New Jersey Natural Gas is NJR’s principal subsidiary that operates and maintains over 7,000 miles of natural gas transportation and distribution infrastructure to serve over half a million customers in New Jersey’s Monmouth, Ocean and parts of Morris and Middlesex counties.
• NJR Energy Services manages a diversified portfolio of natural gas transportation and storage assets and provides physical natural gas services to its customers across North America.
• NJR Clean Energy Ventures invests in, owns and operates solar and onshore wind projects with a total capacity of over 195 megawatts, providing residential and commercial customers with low-carbon solutions.
• NJR Midstream serves customers from local distributors and producers to electric generators and wholesale marketers through its equity ownership in a natural gas storage facility and its stake in Dominion Midstream Partners, L.P.
• NJR Home Services provides heating, central air conditioning, standby generators, solar and other indoor and outdoor comfort products to residential homes and businesses throughout New Jersey and serves approximately 117,000 service contract customers.

NJR and its nearly 1,000 employees are committed to helping customers save energy and money by promoting conservation and encouraging efficiency through Conserve to Preserve^® and initiatives such as The SAVEGREEN Project^® and The Sunlight Advantage^®.

For more information about NJR:

Visit www.njresources.com.
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