New Jersey Natural Gas Files with Board of Public Utilities for Recovery of Costs Associated with NJ Rise and Safe II Programs
New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG), the regulated subsidiary of New Jersey
Resources (NYSE:NJR), today filed with the New Jersey Board of Public
Utilities (BPU) seeking recovery of costs associated with its NJ
Reinvestment in System Enhancement (NJ RISE) and Safety Acceleration and
Facility Enhancement (SAFE II) programs. If approved, the typical
residential heating customer using 100 therms a month would see an
increase of $0.68, or 0.65 percent, on their monthly bill.
“We never stop working to ensure safe, reliable service for our
customers,” said Mariellen Dugan, senior vice president and chief
operating officer of New Jersey Natural Gas. “It’s our top priority and
the most important thing we do. The investments we are making in NJ RISE
and SAFE II strengthen the integrity of our system and enable us to
better meet our customers’ expectations.”
Through NJ RISE, approved by the BPU in 2014, NJNG is investing $102.5
million for a series of capital projects designed to help mitigate the
impact of major weather events by enhancing the resiliency of its
natural gas distribution and transmission systems. The projects include
the installation of secondary natural gas feeds into Sea Bright, Long
Beach Island and the Seaside Peninsula, as well as the relocation of a
regulator station from Mantoloking to the mainland and two regulator
station reinforcement projects in Mantoloking and Long Beach Island,
respectively. Additionally, NJNG is installing excess flow valves, which
restrict the flow of natural gas when there is a change in pressure, on
all distribution services in coastal communities that may be impacted by
storm surges and flooding. These upgrades will help minimize the number
and duration of outages, improve NJNG’s ability to respond to and
control service disruptions and enhance the safety and reliability of
its system.
In 2016, the BPU approved NJNG’s SAFE II program to replace the
remaining approximately 276 miles of unprotected steel main and
associated services in the company’s distribution system. NJNG has been
routinely addressing the replacement of these facilities, and in 2015
became the first natural gas utility in New Jersey to eliminate all cast
iron from its system.
For both projects, NJNG is allowed to earn an Allowance for Funds Used
During Construction (AFUDC) rate on its invested capital during
construction and request rate increases for related spending in annual
filings over the duration of the programs. Pending BPU approval, NJNG is
seeking to adjust its rates effective October 1, 2017 to recover
approximately $31.4 million of related NJ RISE and SAFE II costs made
through June 30, 2017, resulting in a base rate increase of $4.3 million.
About New Jersey Resources
New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) is a Fortune 1000 company that,
through its subsidiaries, provides safe and reliable natural gas and
clean energy services, including transportation, distribution, asset
management and home services. NJR is comprised of five primary
businesses:
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New Jersey Natural Gas, NJR’s principal subsidiary, operates
and maintains over 7,300 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, Middlesex and
Burlington counties.
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NJR Energy Services manages a diversified portfolio of natural
gas transportation and storage assets and provides physical natural
gas services and customized energy solutions to its customers across
North America.
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NJR Clean Energy Ventures invests in, owns and operates solar
and onshore wind projects with a total capacity of nearly 280
megawatts, providing residential and commercial customers with
low-carbon solutions.
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NJR Midstream serves customers from local distributors and
producers to electric generators and wholesale marketers through its
50 percent equity ownership in the Steckman Ridge natural gas storage
facility and its stake in Dominion Midstream Partners, L.P., as well
as its 20 percent equity interest in the PennEast Pipeline Project.
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NJR Home Services provides service contracts as well as
heating, central air conditioning, water heaters, standby generators,
solar and other indoor and outdoor comfort products to residential
homes throughout New Jersey.
NJR and its more than 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.
Follow
us on Twitter @NJNaturalGas.
“Like” us on
facebook.com/NewJerseyNaturalGas.
Download our free NJR investor
relations app for iPad, iPhone and Android.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170331005512/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2017
Source: Business Wire
(March 31, 2017 - 11:03 AM EDT)
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