NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 6, 2000 (PRNewswire) — The New Jersey Supreme Court today announced it has affirmed the Appellate Court Division's decision upholding the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities restructuring and securitization orders for PSE&G.

A written decision will follow. Today's court action allows PSE&G to move ahead with its plans to comply with the 1999 Board Orders.

"We will move quickly to implement the BPU order and to begin to realize the benefits — for customers, employees and shareholders — of finalizing the restructuring of PSEG," said E. James Ferland, Chairman and CEO of PSEG. "Putting the uncertainty of the judicial appeals behind us will allow us to take the necessary steps to increase our competitiveness in the US energy markets."

As a result of the decision, and to comply with the Board Orders, PSEG will initiate the following as soon as possible:

— The sale of $2.5 billion of securitization bonds by PSE&G, the proceeds of which will be used to retire outstanding debt and/or equity.

— The implementation of an additional 2% rate reduction for all PSE&G electric customers, based on the savings achieved through the securitization process. This is in addition to the 5% reduction that became effective August 1, 1999.

— The financing of PSEG Power LLC through the sale of debt.

"As a result of this decision and the restructuring that will take place at PSEG, PSE&G will now focus on what we have done well for more than 100 years — delivering gas and electricity reliably and safely — to our New Jersey customers," said Al Koeppe, president and COO, PSE&G.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) (NYSE: PEG) is a publicly traded diversified energy and energy services company with three principal subsidiaries: Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) Company, a regulated New Jersey electric and gas delivery company with more than 3.5 million customers; PSEG Power LLC, an unregulated power generation and trading company operating in the United States; and PSEG Energy Holdings, a holding company for other PSEG unregulated businesses, including PSEG Global and PSEG Resources. The PSEG website address is http://www.pseg.com.

SOURCE: PSE&G Company