News Release July 25, 2014 –
NEWARK – With approval of its Energy Strong program, Public Service Electric & Gas Co. (PSE&G) is upgrading gas facilities in South Amboy and South River.
The utility will be installing new gas mains, as well as upgrading associated service lines that carry the gas to homes and businesses. Beginning on or about August 11, work will take place Monday through Saturday between the hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., conditions permitting. The project is expected to be complete in November.
Customers will be notified when work is about to begin in their area. This upgrade is part of PSE&G’s recently approved Energy Strong program to strengthen and protect the state’s electric and gas infrastructure from severe weather. Customers can find a list of affected streets at www.pseg.com/energystrong.
As part of Energy Strong, PSE&G will replace 250 miles of older cast iron main with new plastic pipe in or near flood areas throughout its service territory. This year, the utility will replace the first 88 miles, with the remainder scheduled for replacement in 2015. These new pipes will prevent water from entering the mains, increasing the reliability of gas service in these locations.
“We’re working to start building the resiliency into our systems needed to withstand the kind of severe weather that has devastated our state in recent years,” said Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G president and COO. “The gas pipes we are replacing were impacted by flood waters from Hurricane Irene or the storm surges from Superstorm Sandy. Once this work is done, our gas system in these areas will be better protected during future storms.”
To upgrade the mains, it will be necessary to dig trenches in the roadway to install the new pipe. As a result, there may be road closures and/or detours. Local police will be on the scene to direct vehicle and pedestrian traffic. At the end of each workday, the trenches will be filled in. Plates will be secured on any other open areas so people can safely drive and walk.
Once the gas mains are upgraded, PSE&G will need to access customers’ homes to connect their service and meter to the new main. PSE&G will contact homeowners to arrange a date and time to do the work. During this reconnection, customers will be without gas service for approximately four hours. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.
For everyone’s safety, PSE&G crews will be using work area protection including traffic cones, utility work signs, and barriers to allow the job to be done safely. The utility reminds motorists to slow down and follow detour signs when driving through the construction area.
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).
