RATES AND REGULATORY ACTIONS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Public Utilities, General Disclosures [Abstract]

RATES AND REGULATORY ACTIONS

RATES AND REGULATORY ACTIONS:

SJG is subject to the rules and regulations of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU). In January 2013, the BPU approved an extension of the current Energy Efficiency Program (“EEP I”) to June 30, 2013 and approved additional investments of up to $2.5 million.

Also in January 2013, SJG credited the accounts of our periodic BGSS customers with refunds totaling $9.4 million due to gas costs that were lower than projected.

In July 2012, SJG filed a petition to implement a five-year, $250.0 million Accelerated Infrastructure Replacement Program (“AIRP”). The Company proposed spending an incremental $50.0 million per year on the accelerated replacement of its cast iron and bare steel main and service infrastructure and was seeking a return on program investments as it had under prior Capital Investment Recovery Tracker ("CIRT") programs. SJG's CIRT III program expired on December 31, 2012. In February 2013, the parties executed a Stipulation agreeing to $35.3 million per year of incremental capital spending for four years, totaling $141.2 million under the AIRP. The BPU approved the Stipulation in February 2013.

In March 2013, SJG filed a joint petition with New Jersey Natural Gas requesting modifications to, and the continuation of, the Conservation Incentive Plan (“CIP”) program effective October 1, 2013.

There have been no other significant regulatory actions or changes to SJG's rate structure since December 31, 2012. See Note 3 to the Financial Statements in Item 8 of SJG's Form 10-K as of December 31, 2012.