New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) filed Tuesday with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) for a 5% increase in prices as a direct result of continued higher natural gas prices on the wholesale market.

NJNG said that wholesale gas prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange increased at times by over 100% during 2003, and market prices for 2004 are forecast to remain at elevated levels.

“Although wholesale prices are driven by the market and not under our control, we go to great lengths to avoid increases on behalf of our customers,” said Laurence M. Downes, CEO of NJNG, a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources. “While this increase is necessary strictly because of higher wholesale natural gas prices, we remain committed to offering our customers the best prices possible.

“This past winter alone, our natural gas purchasing strategies saved customers over $60 million in natural gas costs through innovative management of our storage contracts and effective use of our hedging program,” Downes added.

The utility pointed out that its customers save approximately 5% annually on their bills through the sales of unused pipeline capacity and natural gas when not required to serve the company’s core market. In turn, these margins from off-system sales and capacity management programs offset a portion of customers’ costs. Since their inception in 1992 as a partnership with the BPU and the Ratepayer Advocate, these programs have enabled NJNG to achieve over $205 million in savings for customers, the company said.

“Customers are counting on us for affordability and price stability, and we make every effort to meet their expectations,” Downes said.

The utility added that it has not filed for a traditional base rate increase for non-fuel costs to operate and maintain the company’s pipeline system and provide customer services in over 10 years. During this time, NJNG said, it has invested over half a billion dollars in new capital to meet the needs of system reliability and a growing customer base, and added nearly 120,000 new natural gas heating customers.

If the requested increase is accepted, the price for a residential heating customer will rise from $1.0214 to $1.0758 per therm. The increase will add about $4.99 to the monthly bill of an average customer using 1,100 therms per year, amounting to $59.84 annually. The new prices would go into effect Feb. 1, 2004.

NJNG serves nearly 450,000 customers in New Jersey’s Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex and Morris counties.

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