Dive Brief:
- Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) has reached a tentative deal with New Jersey regulators which would allow it to move forward with a new $95 million investment in energy efficiency programs.
- NJ Spotlight reports the program would target energy use at hospitals, government facilities and apartment buildings.
Dive Insight:
Details are tentative and scant, but NJ Spotlight reports Ralph Izzo, head of PSE&G parent company Public Services Enterprise Group, told analysts the utility is nearing a deal on a new efficiency program in the state. It was originally proposed with a budget of more than $100 million.
‘’We need to make this a win-win-win for the consumer, for the environment and for the utility because otherwise it will not happen," Izzo said.
Speaking at the company’s 2015 investor conference in New York, Izzo also said the company anticipates spending about $13 billion in capital investments through 2019, primarily on transmission and other critical infrastructure projects by its electric and gas utility, PSE&G.
The utility’s capital plan of $11 billion includes PJM-mandated transmission upgrades to relieve projected system overloads and maintain reliability for millions of customers. It also now includes $1.2 billion in upgrades, approved in May 2014, to make electric and gas systems more resilient in the wake of severe storms.
“If approved, these new infrastructure investments will provide additional growth for PSEG during a period of low energy prices. More importantly, the improvements under way and now proposed will provide our more than 2 million utility customers with safe, highly reliable electric and gas service day in and day out, for years to come,” Izzo said.