Making the Grid More Resilient within Reason

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Paper published June 2014.

Following the devastating impact from Superstorm Sandy, Public Service Electric and Gas Company introduced a 10-year, $3.9 billion investment program for grid hardening and grid resiliency. The company’s petition sought $2.6 billion in rate recovery over five years. Almost 18 months after the initial petition, the Company reached a settlement with intervening parties for $1.2 billion over three years. In the whitepaper “Making the Grid More Resilient within Reason,” Synapse identified themes and lessons from our involvement in the case on behalf of New Jersey Rate Counsel for consumer advocates to ensure that utilities develop reasonable and prudent programs to plan for major outage events. These themes include: understanding proper goals, understanding cost-effectiveness analysis, ensuring proper planning, and preventing gold-plating.