New Jersey Resources Hosts Annual Meeting; Proposes Programs to Support Local Economy

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) highlighted another year of consistent financial performance at its 58th Annual Shareowners Meeting held today at the Hilton Parsippany.

During the meeting, shareowners elected Donald L. Correll, Rev. M. William Howard Jr., J. Terry Strange and George R. Zoffinger, each for 3-year terms, to the NJR Board of Directors. Additionally, the appointment of Deloitte & Touche, LLP as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009 was ratified.

NJR also highlighted another year of solid performance in fiscal 2008. The company achieved a 17th consecutive year of net financial earnings growth and provided shareowners with a 1-year total return of 11.9 percent. In November, the company increased its dividend by 10.7 to an annual rate of $1.24 per share. New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) added over 7,000 new customers that will contribute an annual gross margin of approximately $4 million. During fiscal 2008, NJR Energy Services attained record earnings and NJR Home Services expanded its commercial business while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction. Steckman Ridge, a joint venture with Spectra Energy to develop and operate a natural gas storage facility, is on schedule and expected to be placed into service in summer 2009. Additionally, Public Utilities Fortnightly magazine, named NJR one of the top 10 best energy companies in America.

"Even in the face of severe global market adversity, our company performed extremely well in 2008,” said Laurence M. Downes, chairman and CEO of NJR. "Our performance speaks volumes about the resiliency of our strategy, but more importantly, it is a testament to the dedication and commitment of our employees.”

For fiscal 2009, NJR reiterated net financial earnings guidance in the range of $2.30 to $2.40 per basic share subject to the risks and uncertainties identified below under "Forward-Looking Statements.”

Underscoring its commitment to encourage new generations to Conserve to Preserve®, NJR celebrated the winners of the "Kids in Conservation” Poster Contest. The contest was open to fifth grade students who were asked to create a poster illustrating one or more of the conservation tips on the company’s energy-saving tip card. One winner was selected from each of the three counties in NJR’s service territory and awarded a laptop computer as well as a $1,000 contribution towards a conservation or environmental project at their school. This year’s winners are Keisy Ramos of Canfield Avenue School in Mine Hill, Mara Kash of the West Freehold School in Freehold and William Pagdatoon of Holy Family School in Lakewood.

Separately, NJNG submitted a filing yesterday to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) for approval of two new programs aimed at stimulating the local economy through energy efficiency, job creation and infrastructure spending.

"Governor Corzine has called on all utilities in the state to accelerate spending on capital improvement projects for the benefit of our state’s economy,” said Downes. "Today, we are doing our part by proposing new programs that will not only create jobs in our communities, but will also help to ensure the continued safety and reliability of our distribution system and make energy efficiency a smart and viable choice for our customers.”

The first proposal, the Accelerated Infrastructure Program (AIP), would allow NJNG to accelerate previously planned infrastructure projects in order to help stimulate the economy. Both the federal government and Governor Corzine have highlighted the benefits that infrastructure spending can provide to the economy. With approval for the proposal, NJNG could create as many as 100 jobs by expediting capital improvements including replacements, reinforcements and expansions throughout its distribution system. In addition to the economic benefits, these upgrades would help to ensure the continued safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to a growing customer base.

The AIP has been proposed as a program to be in place for approximately two years. It would be funded through an annual adjustment to customers’ base rates. These adjustments would be subject to the approval of the BPU. NJNG has proposed spending up to $70.8 million on infrastructure projects with rate adjustments occurring over a 3-year period enabling the company to recover related investments over a 42-year period. If approved, the AIP would result in a potential rate increase of less than one-half of 1 percent to the average customer’s bill. The exact level of spending will be dependent on such issues as permitting, staffing, training and other project-specific factors.

In a separate filing, NJNG has asked for approval to provide programs for customers that would promote energy efficiency and create or sustain jobs approximately 100 jobs while supporting the state’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the goals of the Energy Master Plan. Some of the proposed programs include enhancements to current rebates available through New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program and the establishment of new offers for the installation of energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment.

Proposed to be recovered in rates over a 4-year period, these efficiency programs would increase a typical residential customer’s bill by approximately one-half of 1 percent, on average, or about $9 annually; however, participating customers are expected to achieve annual savings on their energy bills that exceed the potential increases.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. NJR cautions readers that the assumptions forming the basis for forward-looking statements include many factors that are beyond NJR’s ability to control or estimate precisely, such as estimates of future market conditions and the behavior of other market participants. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company’s expectations include, but are not limited to, weather, economic conditions and demographic changes in NJNG’s service territory, rate of customer growth, volatility of natural gas commodity prices and its impact on customer usage and NJR Energy Services (NJRES) operations, changes in rating agency requirements and/or credit ratings and their effect on availability and cost of capital to the company, conditions in the credit markets and their potential impact on the company’s access to capital and borrowing costs, increased interest costs resulting from failures in the market for auction rate securities, the impact of the company’s risk management efforts, including commercial and wholesale credit risks, changes in the costs of providing pension and post-employment benefits to current and former employees, the company’s ability to obtain governmental approvals, property rights and/or financing for the construction, development and operation of its non-regulated energy investments, risks associated with the management of the company’s joint ventures and partnerships, the impact of regulation (including the regulation of rates), the outcome of any future base rate cases, fluctuations in energy-related commodity prices, customer conversions, other marketing efforts, actual energy usage patterns of NJNG’s customers, the pace of deregulation of retail gas markets, access to adequate supplies of natural gas, the regulatory and pricing policies of federal and state regulatory agencies, changes due to legislation at the federal and state level, an adequate number of appropriate counterparties, sufficient liquidity in the energy trading market, the disallowance of recovery of environmental-related expenditures, environmental and other litigation and other uncertainties, the effects and impacts of inflation, change in accounting pronouncements issued by the appropriate standard setting bodies and terrorist attacks or threatened attacks on energy facilities or unrelated energy companies. NJR does not, by including this paragraph, assume any obligation to review or revise any particular forward-looking statement referenced herein in light of future events. More detailed information about these factors is set forth under the heading "Risk Factors” in NJR’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) including its Form 10-K.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

This press release includes net financial earnings and utility gross margin, which are financial measures not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of the United States. As indicators of the company’s operating performance, these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered alternatives to, or more meaningful than, net income or gross margin, as determined in accordance with GAAP.

Net financial earnings excludes unrealized gains or losses on derivative instruments related to the company’s unregulated subsidiaries and certain realized gains and losses on derivative instruments related to natural gas that has been placed into storage at NJRES. Volatility associated with the change in value of these financial and physical commodity contracts is reported in the income statement in the current period. In order to manage its business, NJR views its results without the impacts of the unrealized gains and losses, and certain realized gains and losses, caused by changes in value of these financial instruments and physical commodity contracts prior to the completion of the planned transaction because it shows changes in value currently as opposed to when the planned transaction ultimately is settled. NJNG’s utility gross margin represents the results of revenues less natural gas costs, sales and other taxes and regulatory rider expenses, which are key components of the company’s operations that move in relation to each other. Management uses these non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental measures to other GAAP results to provide a more complete understanding of the company’s performance. Management believes these non-GAAP measures are more reflective of the company’s business model, provide transparency to investors and enable period-to-period comparability of financial performance. For a full discussion of NJR’s non-GAAP financial measures, please see NJR’s most recent Form 10-K, Item 7.

About New Jersey Resources

New Jersey Resources, a Fortune 1000 company, provides natural gas and clean energy services to customers in New Jersey and in states from the Gulf Coast to New England, and Canada. With over $3 billion in annual revenues, NJR safely and reliably delivers natural gas through more than 6,500 miles of main to nearly half a million customers; develops and manages a diverse portfolio of more than 740,000 dth/d of transportation capacity and nearly 27 Bcf of storage capacity; and provides appliance installation and service to approximately 150,000 homes and businesses. NJR has also made significant investments in the midstream asset sector through equity partnerships, including Steckman Ridge and Iroquois. Through Conserve to Preserve®, NJR is providing customers solutions to meet their energy needs in an environmentally responsible way. For more information about NJR, visit www.njliving.com.