(Newark, N.J. – March 6, 2019) – Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset (RWJUH Somerset) today announced the completion of $5.7 million in energy efficiency improvements that will save the Somerville, New Jersey hospital more than $600,000 annually in energy costs.  

The work was completed through the PSE&G Hospital Efficiency Program, a $199 million effort by New Jersey’s oldest and largest electric and gas utility that has helped dozens of Garden State hospitals to better manage their energy consumption. 

“We are grateful to PSE&G for partnering with us to help us go ’green’ and reduce our carbon footprint while also improving lighting and air flow throughout the hospital to enhance the comfort of our patients,” said Tony Cava, president, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset. “The cost savings will help us to invest in new technologies and facility upgrades to further improve the care we provide to our community.” 

The energy efficiency improvements at RWJUH Somerset included a major upgrade to the hospital’s air conditioning chiller plant, the installation of energy efficient lighting fixtures and controls in the hospital and in the parking deck and the replacement of old, inefficient motors, fans and pumps with new energy efficient models.

“Hospitals are among our most important customers, so we welcome the opportunity to work with facilities like Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset to help them save energy and money,” said Karen Reif, vice president, renewables and energy solutions for PSE&G. 

The energy efficiency work at RWJUH Somerset will save more than 3.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 226,000 therms of natural gas annually. That is enough electricity to power about 500 homes for a year and enough natural gas to supply about 225 homes for a year.  

The PSE&G Hospital Efficiency Program targets hospitals and healthcare facilities located in PSE&G’s service territory. Through the program, PSE&G provides an audit and proposes various cost effective energy conservation measures that will make substantial improvements in the hospital’s efficient use of energy.  

The program greatly reduces the financial burden on a hospital by providing upfront funding for the total cost of a project. The hospital then pays back a portion of the total project cost over 5 years. Work has been completed at 36 hospitals, with an average annual energy cost savings of more than $400,000 per hospital. The program has also saved enough kilowatt-hours of electricity to power more than 10,000 homes for a year and enough natural gas to supply more than 3,000 homes for a year. The initiative has garnered interest from almost every hospital in PSE&G’s service territory and currently has a waiting list of facilities that want to participate in the program.

PSE&G recently filed a Clean Energy Future proposal with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to make critical investments in clean energy and advanced technology that would position New Jersey as a national leader in energy efficiency and jump-start other clean energy priorities.  

“We’ve proposed extensive investments in energy efficiency, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, energy storage and advanced metering technologies,” said Reif.  “As part of these investments, PSE&G seeks to continue bringing the benefits of energy efficiency to even more hospitals and healthcare facilities as well as colleges and municipalities.”

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About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset
Located in Somerville, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) Somerset, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, is a nationally accredited, 355-bed regional hospital providing comprehensive emergency, medical/surgical, behavioral health and rehabilitative services to central New Jersey residents.  As a designated teaching hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the hospital maintains a family medicine residency program with 21 residents.

RWJUH Somerset has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety including the prestigious Magnet® Award for Nursing Excellence and an “A” Hospital Safety Score from the Leapfrog Group. As the first hospital in New Jersey to offer primary health care services for the LGBTQIA community, RWJUH Somerset has been honored as a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.

The Steeplechase Cancer at RWJUH Somerset, a clinical research affiliate of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, has been designated as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.

About PSE&G
Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) is New Jersey’s oldest and largest gas and electric delivery public utility, serving nearly three-quarters of the state’s population. PSE&G is the winner of the ReliabilityOne Award for superior electric system reliability as well as the 2018 Outstanding Customer Reliability Experience Award. PSE&G is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) (NYSE:PEG), a diversified energy company. PSEG has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America for 11 consecutive years.