PSE&G Cuts Gas Bills by a Third for November and December Usage

NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) announced today that it is providing a two-month bill credit for its residential gas customers that will cut the typical monthly bill by about 33 percent in both November and December.   

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The bill credit of 35 cents per therm, including NJ Sales and Use Tax (SUT), will reduce the current supply rate of approximately 54 cents to 19 cents per therm including SUT for usage in November and December.

With the bill credit factored in, a typical residential heating customer using 106 therms in November and 160 therms in December would see a reduction in their two-month bill to $188.65 from $281.75 for a savings of $93.10. Depending on meter reading schedules, many customers will see some of the credit in November and December, with the remainder in January.

This latest action by the utility is in addition to nine decreases in a row for residential customers since January 2009 that saves the typical customer about $674 per year. A 15-cent per therm bill credit for February 2012 usage provided an additional $24 in savings.

"We're pleased that we can provide this substantial credit to our customers, especially at this time of year," said Jorge Cardenas, PSE&G vice president of asset management and centralized services."This bill credit will return money to customers as temperatures are dropping and they strive to keep their winter heating bills affordable.

"Since 2009, PSE&G's residential gas customers have benefitted from steady reductions in the cost of natural gas," Cardenas said.  "Annual bills for residential heating customers have dropped about 39 percent as a result. Our close proximity to the abundance of gas supply in the Marcellus Shale Formation in Pennsylvania, plus our transportation and storage capabilities and the way we manage our pipeline contracts, enabled us to seize this opportunity to once again reduce costs for our customers."   

In addition to the two-month credit, the utility offers some steps customers can take to reduce their costs even further.  

• Check for sufficient water levels in the sight glass for hot water and steam heating systems to ensure maximum efficiency. Clean or replace the furnace filter on hot air heating systems.
  
• Lower your thermostat by just one degree, which may reduce your heating bill by up to 3 percent. Save even more by lowering your thermostat 2 degrees during the day and 5 to 10 degrees at bedtime if health conditions permit.
  
• Close dampers in fireplaces you don't use.

• Purchase and wrap an insulation blanket around the tank of your hot water heater.  Wrap the outlet pipe with inexpensive flexible insulating tubing to reduce the time it takes for hot water to reach your shower.  Set your hot water heater to no more than 120 degrees.

• Move furniture and drapes away from heating registers, radiators, and baseboard element covers.  Open any register or baseboard dampers.

• Cover window air conditioners to reduce drafts. Install insulated or lined drapes on your windows. 

• Use weather stripping or one-sided sticky tape to seal up cracks and prevent drafts in windows and doorframes. Caulk smaller gaps. Beneath doors, install draft guards available at hardware stores.   

• Use a shrink film insulation kit on really drafty windows or make one yourself from plastic sheeting and double-faced tape.

• Seal wall switches and electrical outlets with small foam gaskets available at home improvement centers and hardware stores. Remove the cover plate, insert the gasket, and screw the cover plate back in place.   

• If you have a door leading outside from your basement, hang a full-size sheet of plastic from the door frame to keep heat from escaping. Seal windows in the basement with plastic to create a barrier against the cold. (Make sure you allow enough air supply to feed your fuel-burning appliances safely.)

• Keep your garage door closed if the garage is attached to the house.      

• If your budget permits, install (or have installed) a programmable thermostat that you can set to automatically lower room temperatures when rooms are not in use and also at bedtime if health conditions permit. 

• Visit PSE&G's Home Energy Toolkit at www.pseg.com/toolkit. You can calculate the energy efficiency of your home and find out how to save energy and money on appliances and heating systems.

Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) is New Jersey's oldest and largest regulated gas and electric delivery utility, serving nearly three-quarters of the state's population.  PSE&G is the winner of the ReliabilityOne Award for superior electric system reliability.  PSE&G is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG) (NYSE: PEG), a diversified energy company (www.pseg.com).

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For customers & others: 800 436 7734

SOURCE Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G)