In this year of ongoing challenges – from extreme weather to economic uncertainty to the global COVID-19 pandemic soon entering its third year – PSEG’s mission to provide safe, clean, reliable and affordable energy to millions of homes and businesses has remained as essential as ever.
As we take time to reflect on everything we’ve experienced and accomplished during 2021, I’d like to share some highlights of the many ways we strive to serve you, our customers.
The challenge of climate change
PSEG has, for many years, recognized that climate change poses a preeminent threat to our customers, our environment and to our economy. Throughout 2021, as the United Nations declared climate change a “code red for humanity” and world leaders gathered in Glasgow to set urgent new emissions targets in hopes of minimizing the damage, PSEG also has taken bold steps to increase the pace and scope of our own transition toward a cleaner energy future, following our Powering Progress vision.
During the past 12 months, we have effectively reshaped our company to better address the challenges of climate change.
Clean energy investments
We’re committed to providing a cleaner, more sustainable supply of energy to our customers and communities.
We’ve completed our exit from coal-fired generation and reached agreements to sell our natural gas power plants. This marks the retirement, sale or sale-in-progress of more than 10,000 megawatts of fossil units, including nearly 4,000 MW we have retired since 2012.
At the same time, we have strengthened our carbon-free energy sources by ensuring the economic viability of New Jersey’s nuclear plants through 2025 and ramping up our investment in offshore wind – becoming partners in the state’s first offshore wind farm, proposing billions in transmission investments, and hosting the state’s future marshalling port.
We launched nearly $2 billion worth of Clean Energy Future investments, from EV charging infrastructure to installing electric smart meters in millions of homes to our historic energy efficiency program that will help our customers save energy and money on their utility bills. Meanwhile, two of our ongoing infrastructure programs – Energy Strong and our Gas System Modernization Program – were instrumental in helping our customers weather Tropical Storm Ida without losing power.
As a result of the clean energy progress we’ve achieved in 2021, we were able to accelerate our target date for achieving net-zero emissions by 20 years – to 2030 – and to join the global Business Ambition for 1.5°C and Race to Zero climate campaigns. These efforts build on our already successful progress in new and innovative ways – including new publications, such as our first-ever ESG Performance Report and our combined Sustainability and Climate Report.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
There’s so much more our team accomplished, especially when it comes to advancing our Core Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. PSEG continues to celebrate our diverse employees and communities – highlighting these efforts in our just-published DEI Report, another first for our company.
PSEG continues to be recognized as a top employer for diversity, for veterans, for those with disabilities and for multicultural women. We’ve earned accolades as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek, as one of the year’s 250 best-managed companies by the Wall Street Journal, and continued our track record of being named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, now for 14 consecutive years.
And, finally, we have accomplished all of this progress against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as it continues to impact our employees, our communities and – unfortunately – you and your loved ones, as well.
Looking ahead
For all of our progress in 2021, I am enthusiastic and energized about what lies ahead.
My overarching goal for 2022 is that PSEG continues to build on the tremendous progress of the past 12 months – and the many forms that progress will take, such as:
- Our increasing focus on addressing the emissions that cause climate change, with new investments in carbon-free power generated with nuclear, solar and offshore wind;
- Our ongoing efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change that are already impacting our customers, including our newly proposed Infrastructure Advancement Program (IAP) that will address the rising concerns around last-mile reliability;
- The culmination of our Strategic Alternatives process, driving our transition to a new business model as a clean energy infrastructure-focused utility; and
- Our ongoing determination to build a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that positions us to meet the evolving needs of our customers and ensures that PSEG remains a great place to work and a positive force for the many unique communities we serve.
As 2021 draws to a close, I wish each and every one of our customers in New Jersey and Long Island a safe, healthy and prosperous 2022.
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