Elizabethtown Gas to Refund Customers up to $75 in AprilCompany Passes Along Reduced Natural Gas Cost Savings March 9, 2006
UNION, N.J.--March 9, 2006--Elizabethtown Gas, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based AGL Resources (NYSE: ATG), today announced that the company will refund $16.5 million to its customers effective April 1, 2006 as a result of declining wholesale natural gas prices.
Under the company's proposal, filed late yesterday with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), a typical residential heating customer using 1,100 therms of natural gas annually will receive a credit of approximately $75 in their April bills. A typical residential non-heating customer using 215 therms annually will receive a credit of approximately $15 in April.
"Energy prices for all kinds of heating -- natural gas, fuel oil, electricity and propane -- have all risen since last year," said Don Carter, vice president of Elizabethtown Gas. "But thanks to warmer than normal winter temperatures and higher than usual storage levels nationwide, the price of natural gas has recently declined. We're pleased to pass along these savings to our customers in Union, Middlesex, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Morris and Mercer counties.
"Despite these recent price drops, natural gas prices are higher now than in the past because demand for this most efficient and cleanest-burning fossil fuel has increased while production has not," said Carter. "The natural gas market is extremely volatile, and Elizabethtown Gas will make every effort to hold costs to the lowest reasonable level."
Elizabethtown Gas makes no profit on the natural gas it purchases on behalf of customers. The commodity cost is passed along to customers without markup.
The one-time savings will appear in customers' April bills.
In January 2005, Elizabethtown Gas refunded similar amounts to its residential customers as part of a November 2004 agreement reached with the BPU for AGL Resources to purchase the NUI Corporation, the former parent of Elizabethtown Gas. As part of this agreement, AGL Resources offered to accelerate the rest of a refund owed to Elizabethtown Gas customers, which was approximately $21 million plus interest. Heating customers received an average refund of $75 and non-heating customers received an average refund of $14.50 in their January 2005 bills.
About Elizabethtown Gas
Elizabethtown Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL Resources (NYSE: ATG), provides delivery service to more than 265,000 residential, business and industrial natural gas customers in New Jersey. In operation since 1855, the company serves parts of Union, Middlesex, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Morris and Mercer counties. For more information, visit www.elizabethtowngas.com.
About AGL Resources
AGL Resources (NYSE: ATG), an Atlanta-based energy services holding company, serves 2.2 million customers in six states through its utility subsidiaries - Atlanta Gas Light, Elizabethtown Gas in New Jersey, Virginia Natural Gas, Florida City Gas, Chattanooga Gas, and Elkton Gas in Maryland. Ranked by Forbes as one of the 10 Best Managed Utilities and No. 250 in the Forbes Platinum 400 in 2006 as well as a Fortune 1000 company in 2005, AGL Resources reported revenue of $2.7 billion and net income of $193 million in 2004. The company also owns Houston-based Sequent Energy Management, an asset manager serving natural gas wholesale customers throughout the East and Midwest. As a 70 percent owner in the SouthStar partnership, AGL Resources markets natural gas to consumers in Georgia under the Georgia Natural Gas brand. AGL Networks, the company's telecommunications subsidiary, owns and operates fiber optic networks in Atlanta and Phoenix. The company also owns and operates Jefferson Island Storage & Hub, a high-deliverability natural gas storage facility near the Henry Hub in Louisiana. For more information, visit www.aglresources.com.
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