As the country looks at ways to combat our climate crisis, natural gas utilities have the opportunity to be leaders in creating renewable energy to achieve environmental sustainability.
As one of the largest investor-owned gas utility companies in New Jersey, South Jersey Industries has already answered the call to be a partner in our clean-energy future. In fact, we’re investing in innovative technologies to reduce the carbon content of our gas and advance energy efficiency measures for our customers, while committing 25% of our annual capital expenditures to sustainability and clean-energy projects. At the same time, we continue to make the necessary investments to harden our existing natural gas delivery system to ensure reliability and resiliency. Coupling our solid infrastructure that has been part of New Jersey’s blueprint for over 100 years with investments in advanced technologies, we plan to be part of the solution for our state’s clean-energy efforts.
Among those investments include a focus on fuel cell technologies, renewable natural gas (RNG) and “green hydrogen” — a zero-carbon fuel when partnered with wind and solar power. As part of our commitment to sustainability, SJI recently broke ground on an RNG plant with our partner REV LNG at Oakridge Dairy, the largest dairy farm in Connecticut. This cutting-edge clean-energy venture will allow hundreds of thousands of natural gas and dairy customers to share in carbon reduction benefits.
The $12 million project includes installing an anaerobic digester to capture methane produced by cow manure and equipment to clean the biogas to commercial-grade natural gas for integration into the distribution system of Elizabethtown Gas. The RNG plant will produce close to 60,000 dekatherms of RNG per year, creating carbon offsets and environmental savings equal to 3,175 metric tons of CO2 equivalent, 690 passenger vehicles driven per year and 7,978,398 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle.
In addition, new proposed state legislation regarding RNG, if approved, can also help New Jersey utilities capture and repurpose methane freely escaping from sites like water treatment plants, landfills and agricultural sites, to be utilized within the gas system.
Other clean-energy projects
In other clean-energy projects, SJI and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind are partnering on a green hydrogen pilot project that has the potential to deploy technology that can reduce fossil fuel use at hard-to-decarbonize industries such as refineries, in transportation and in heavy manufacturing. SJI and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind plan to help lead the state’s decarbonization efforts through innovation and advancements in various green technologies.
And by the end of next year, SJI plans to construct a solar facility and electrolyzer at one of our facilities to blend hydrogen into our distribution system. These investments can help remove greenhouse gases from our atmosphere, reduce emissions and help fight climate change.
In fact, a recent Columbia University study found that to reach our climate goals faster, we should continue to invest in our nation’s reliable, affordable and resilient natural gas delivery system to support these exciting new technologies and provide the flexibility to transition to a greener power grid that will rely on renewable, but intermittent, sources of electricity.
Although some argue for bans on new natural gas hookups, and in favor of electric heat, studies from California found that these policies would have a disproportionate cost impact on low-income residents, who are often unable to afford new electric appliances, let alone the cost of electric heat. Further, a migration away from natural gas to electric for heating and cooking would amplify the risk to our state during extreme temperatures and weather, because an electric-only approach would make us far more vulnerable to outages during more intense and more frequent storms.
Keeping New Jersey affordable
The recent cost analyses from the Biden administration show that customers can expect to pay nearly four times more for energy from other sources versus natural gas. This gap is expected to grow once we build out new transmission and generation resources. Simply put, we cannot overlook these potential additional costs if we want to keep New Jersey affordable and attractive for families and businesses, while meeting our climate commitments, especially as the natural gas system begins to rely on greener sources of energy.
We all share a goal of a clean-energy future for New Jersey. Solar, wind, renewable natural gas and green hydrogen all have roles to play in this future. So, too, does affordable, traditional natural gas. With this goal in mind, South Jersey Industries is committed to being an ally with our energy partners while working tirelessly to be part of the solution in our state’s clean-energy efforts. As we invest in innovative technologies to bring our communities the cleanest energy we can deliver, we will always do so with safety and affordability at the core of our efforts.