Last week, we experienced record-high temperatures and wildfires in our region, stark reminders that climate change is already impacting New Jersey. The question now is what we do next.
At PSEG, we are responsible for delivering electricity to over 2.3 million customers in New Jersey and natural gas to over 1.9 million homes and businesses. We also own and operate nuclear power plants in South Jersey and operate the Long Island power grid under contract with the Long Island Power Authority. We have been headquartered in Newark since our founding 120 years ago.
We take the responsibility of keeping the lights and heat on very seriously and are committed to doing right by the people who live and work in the communities we serve.
Earlier this year, Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled ambitious climate goals for the state, including 100% clean energy by 2035, the electrification of 400,000 homes and 200,000 commercial properties by 2030 and the phaseout of the sale of petroleum-powered vehicles by 2035. These goals align closely with PSEG’s Powering Progress Vision for a future where people use less energy and it’s cleaner, safer and delivered more reliably than ever.
We at PSEG are committed to supporting the state’s goals and doing our part to build a cleaner future in New Jersey, including pursuing our own goal of net-zero carbon emissions for our operations by 2030.
Over the next five years, PSE&G plans to invest over $15.5 billion to modernize and strengthen our infrastructure. We have filed with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to continue our effort to update our aging natural gas infrastructure, which has so far cut methane emissions by 22% compared to 2018 levels, equal to removing 54,000 passenger vehicles from the road for one year. Since we work with New Jersey firms on this effort, this program also supports 4,000 long-term union jobs for our state’s skilled workforce and puts our investments right back into the state economy.
We believe investments in our current infrastructure are critical to ready our pipes for the future as we engage with the state and other stakeholders to determine the future of natural gas in New Jersey. Updating our current system means we can help the state work toward a cleaner and more sustainable future without letting methane — which has 25 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide — needlessly leak into the air. We believe this integrated approach will effectively reduce our carbon footprint now and also prepare us for alternative technologies and new fuel delivery methods that support our climate objectives. It will also allow us to prioritize continued affordability and reliability for our customers.
To further reduce emissions, we are building new electric vehicle infrastructure to support the transition to our state’s EV future and reduce range anxiety for customers, an effort that supports over 200 direct jobs. Transportation is the number one source of national greenhouse gas emissions and electrifying transportation would profoundly impact the future.
And as more and more people bring EVs home, it’s our job to ensure there’s enough power for each car on the block.
As we move forward, we will continue to operate our nuclear plants, which employ over 1,600 people full-time and over 1,000 additional contractors twice per year, with 70% of employees living in South Jersey. The plants also supply 85% of New Jersey’s carbon-free energy, making them an important part of the state’s clean energy goals.
To deal with the impacts of climate change that are already here, we have focused on hardening the grid to make it more resilient and provide our customers with energy when they need it most, including during extreme weather. In fact, infrastructure improvements after Superstorm Sandy meant that when Hurricane Ida pummeled our region in 2021, our customers were minimally impacted by outages.
We are doing all of this while investing in building what we call the workforce of the future. That means a diverse talent pipeline that can leverage different experiences to meet the challenges of our customers. It means reskilling and reinvesting in the employees we already have to build and prepare our workforce for new opportunities in an evolving industry. And it means attracting new talent that can help us with our goals.
As part of that effort, we launched our Clean Energy Jobs Training Program, a partnership with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development designed to place approximately 2,000 people from underrepresented communities into clean energy jobs — and we are on track to meet this goal.
We’re also deploying energy efficiency solutions to customers to reduce overall usage, including a $1 billion investment to help customers cut household energy use, reducing the state’s carbon footprint. To find the right talent for our energy efficiency programs — which include appliance recycling, rebates and discounts for residential energy use and free in-home assessments to help people learn how they can save on energy costs — we work with New Jersey-based firms to create opportunities for diverse candidates across the state.
Our investments support New Jersey’s clean energy goals, our state and the people who rely on us, while keeping energy affordable, highly reliable and increasingly efficient.
We are putting our ingenuity to work to solve the problems that confront our customers and communities. That requires new thinking and approaches like our landmark commitment to energy efficiency — something that makes our company a rare business that is actually making a case to sell you less of its product.
The challenges presented by climate change are real and significant. We at PSEG stand ready to work with the governor and policymakers to face this shared challenge, and we are optimistic about the future.
Happy Earth Day!