By Peter Key

Public Service Enterprise Group CEO Ralph Izzo said last week that the company has received “just about universal support for the continued operation” of its nuclear plants.

Speaking during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Friday, Izzo also revealed that PSEG’s Public Service Electric and Gas plans to ask the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to decouple its distribution revenue from its sales volume to enable it to support large-scale investments in energy efficiency.

PSEG — which owns the Hope Creek Generating Station and 57% of the adjacent Salem Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, and 50% of the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania — wants financial compensation for its emissions-free generation, which it says is at risk from low power prices.

Izzo said it’s good that the Department of Energy recognizes a challenge “with baseload generation and fuel diversity,” which will be the subject of a report the department plans to release soon. He called “the recent PJM proposals on how to deal with inflexible units … potentially quite helpful.” (See PJM Stakeholders See Capacity Auction Flaws, Offer Solutions.) Izzo also said the recent court decisions supporting zero-emission credits (ZECs) in Illinois and New York “have solidified the fact that the states have the ability to act in these matters, and that’s good news.” (See related story, New York ZEC Suit Dismissed.)

Still, Izzo said, “the problem, according to the forward price curve, is at New Jersey’s doorstep, and there’s no denying it.” As a result, he said, PSEG will “continue to educate stakeholders at the state level about the need to preserve the diversity and resiliency of our electric generating mix.”

PSE&G will make the decoupling request in a rate case it plans to file no later than Nov. 1. A growing number of utilities are seeking to decouple their revenue from their sales. The move enables them to get the money they say they need to maintain their infrastructure even if their sales are flat or declining. In California, for example, utilities receive incentives to encourage their customers to use renewables and conserve electricity.

PSEG earned $109 million ($0.22/share) in the quarter, down from $187 million ($0.37/share) in the second quarter of 2016. The company said its most recent figures were affected by accelerated depreciation associated with the June 1 retirement of its last two coal-fired generating stations. PSEG’s revenue in the most recent quarter was $2.13 billion, up from $1.91 billion a year ago.