Public Service Enterprise Group to invest record amount in energy infrastructure in 2017
Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) Chair, President and CEO Ralph Izzo outlined plans to spend a record amount of $4.7 billion in 2017 to upgrade the company’s energy infrastructure at PSEG’s annual meeting held recently in Newark, New Jersey.
The investment in PSEG’s utility, Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G), and its wholesale generator, PSEG Power, is part of the company’s five-year, $15 billion capital spending program.
Changes brought about by the low cost of natural gas, the continued growth of renewable energy and changing customer demand helped spur the investments, Rizzo said.
“In response, we have increased investment in our utility and regulated assets, increasing PSE&G’s percentage of our 2016 earnings,” Izzo said. “Today, the utility represents more than 60 percent of earnings, and its share is forecast to continue to grow this year.”
The Gas System Modernization Program, which replaces older cast-iron and steel gas mains, represents one of the company’s significant utility investments. The company also implemented the Energy Strong program after Superstorm Sandy to protect PSE&G’s distribution systems from damage caused by potential future storms. The company also expanding its Solar 4 All program to include an additional 33 megawatts (MW) of solar development after the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved an $80 million extension to the program in October.
Utility investments make up over 80 percent of PSEG’s planned capital expenditures over the next five years. The utility’s investment program is expected to yield seven to nine percent growth in rate base through the end of the decade.
“Our results once again reflect the strength and stability of our business model,” Izzo said. “We are executing well on our capital investments, to the benefit of customers, shareholders and New Jersey’s economy.”
