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RATES AND REGULATORY ACTIONS
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 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 Company's Energy Efficiency Program (“EEP”) to June 30, 2013 and approved additional investments of up to $2.5 million. In June 2013, the BPU approved a further extension of SJG's EEP through June 2015 and authorized incremental investments totaling $24.0 million. The costs and returns associated with the EEP program investments will continue to be recovered through the Company's Energy Efficiency Tracker (“EET”).

Also in June 2013, SJG filed its annual EET petition requesting additional revenues to recover the costs of, and its allowed return on, prior investments associated with the EEP programs. This petition is currently pending.

In January 2013, SJG credited the accounts of SJG's periodic Basic Gas Supply Service (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”). SJG 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 another utility requesting modifications to, and the continuation of, the Conservation Incentive Plan (“CIP”) program effective October 1, 2013. This petition is currently pending.

In May 2013, SJG made its annual BGSS and CIP filing requesting a $17.9 million decrease in annual revenues. This petition is currently pending.
In October 2012 SJG filed a petition requesting a $13.2 million increase in annual revenues by rolling $110.6 million of CIRT I, II and III investments into base rates. In May 2013, SJG filed a supplemental petition requesting to roll an additional $6.9 million of CIRT III investments into base rates, for a total annual revenue increase of $15.5 million related to $117.5 million of CIRT investments made since our last base rate case in 2010. This petition is currently pending.

In June 2013, SJG filed a petition requesting deferral of incremental operating and maintenance expenses incurred due to Superstorm Sandy. These costs totaled $0.7 million and are expected to be recovered in SJG's next base rate case. This petition is currently pending.

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