Benzinga | Apr 8, 2021 08:30AM EDT

South Jersey Gas Receives Approval For Energy-Efficiency Program

South Jersey Gas (SJG), a subsidiary of SJI (NYSE:SJI) announced today that it received New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) approval to significantly expand its energy-efficiency program, providing increased energy and cost-saving opportunities for all customers. The expanded program authorizes SJG to spend $133M over the next three years to deliver meaningful and innovative energy-efficiency solutions to help customers lower energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint.

The program, which consists of approximately $121.7 million in energy-efficiency related investments, continues SJG's long-standing commitment to reducing consumption and saving customers money. Since 2009, SJG has invested more than $121 million in energy efficiency programs. SJG's new program demonstrates the company's commitment to the clean energy and environmental priorities of our State and region, advancing New Jersey's energy policy goals in a manner that will benefit customers and the environment, and will help grow the State's green energy economy. The program positions SJG to meet or exceed its annual energy consumption reduction targets set by the New Jersey Clean Energy Act. Fully subscribed, the program will help customers save $177 million in energy costs and 59 million therms over its lifetime, which equates to preventing the release of over 510,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere -- the same as removing nearly 100,000 cars from New Jersey roadways for a year. Moreover, the program has the potential to support the creation of over 2,500 jobs over 3 years.