NJ natgas utility to spend $507mn on infrastructure

New Jersey Natural Gas plans to spend $507mn to reinforce its natural gas delivery infrastructure and invest in information technology systems.

The natural gas utility filed the spending plan with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities last week. Pending its approval, the company will spend the money over five years on a series of infrastructure projects on its system.

The plan consists of transmission and distribution projects including 19 looping reinforcements that will add secondary feeds or interconnects to single-feed distribution systems, and replace and upgrade the company's trunk line system in Lakewood, Denville and Roxbury. Other projects include replacing more than 7 miles (11km) of mainline, installing a new regulator station, connecting the company's LNG facility in Howell to its transmission backbone, and relocating a regulator station in Brick Township. The plans also include installing protective devices on regulator vents in flood-prone areas and installing excess flow valves, which restrict the flow of gas if a service line is broken.

The company plans to recover its capital investment through six annual adjustments to its base rate with the first change scheduled in October 2020. A typical residential heating customer using 1,000 therms/yr could see an average annual increase of $18.35, or about 2pc.

New Jersey Natural Gas operates 7,400 miles of natural gas transportation and distribution infrastructure to serve about half a million customers in the state. The company's subsidiary NJR Midstream serves local distributors, producers, electric generators and wholesale marketers.