New Jersey Resources Announces $50,000 Pledge to Launch Rutgers University’s First Vibrant Communities Sustainability & Resiliency Project

 Announcement made in conjunction with release of Company’s 2024 Corporate Sustainability Report

New Jersey Resources (NYSE: NJR), the parent company of New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG), today announced a new collaborative effort with Rutgers University and its School of Environmental and Biological Sciences to advance the University’s “Vibrant Communities” program. NJR committed $50,000 from its Coastal Climate Initiative (CCI) to support the inaugural Vibrant Communities program’s sustainability and resiliency project. The CCI supports projects and programs designed to improve the resilience of ecosystems and impacts from climate change, as well strengthen community engagement and environmental education.

The project’s focus will be the creation and implementation of a sustainable landscape master plan in the Manitou Park section of South Toms River Borough, a community identified as being overburdened. Project work will include mapping out and designing resiliency and environmental improvements with implementation to follow. The project will also include an ongoing stewardship and management plan to maintain the improvement for the long-term benefit of the community.

"We believe stronger communities make us a stronger company,” said Steve Westhoven, President and CEO of New Jersey Resources. “Giving back and investing in the communities we serve is a core value of our company. Together with the state’s largest university, this project gives us an opportunity to support the residents of Manitou Park and make a difference in the community by improving resiliency, providing access to green spaces and reducing negative impacts on ecosystems and habitats.”

Centering on an affordable housing development built by Homes for All, an Ocean County-based affordable housing nonprofit, the project will engage graduate students from Rutgers University’s Landscape Architecture Program to develop a sustainable landscape master plan for the area – a first-of-its-kind for the program.

The efforts of the Vibrant Communities project at Manitou Park project will be:

• Enhancing community green spaces through the design and installation of sustainable landscaping and natural features in the area
• Improving stormwater management to improve resiliency to local flood risks and reduce pollution from run-off flowing to the Toms River – a tributary of the Barnegat Bay
• Promoting local environmental stewardship and engagement from community stakeholders and private sector partners (including NJR) for beautification and local improvement projects
• Providing graduate students with direct experience in community and regulatory engagement through the development and implementation of a project

“Rutgers’ Vibrant Communities program is a collaboration between our corporate partners, Rutgers graduate students and New Jersey communities,” said Professor Holly Nelson, Graduate Program Director of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers University. “The program reflects the Landscape Architecture Department’s commitment to graduate research and development and its mission to creatively steward the environment through collective action. Students contribute knowledge, innovation and creativity and receive real life experience. They apply disciplinary theory in practice and shape the environment through outreach and collaboration in diverse cultural, social and environmental communities. This project is a blueprint for promoting environmental stewardship, community enhancements and educational experiences in overburdened communities.”

Today’s announcement builds on NJR’s long history of philanthropic support – both financial and volunteerism – to local communities and nonprofits in the areas in which it operates. Since 2008, NJR has partnered with Homes for All and provided over $275,000 to create affordable housing opportunities in Ocean County. This support includes the ongoing or completed construction of 228 affordable homes in underserved communities – nearly 150 of which are located in Manitou Park. The community is also located adjacent to the New Jersey Audubon’s Hovnanian Sanctuary, which is another beneficiary of support through the CCI.

NJR Releases 2024 Corporate Sustainability Report

Today’s announcement was made in conjunction with the release of NJR’s fiscal 2024 Corporate Sustainability Report, which details the company’s progress on a host of sustainability topics, including: emissions reduction and environmental stewardship programs; volunteerism, community engagement and philanthropic impact; and corporate governance and risk management, among others.

Highlights within NJR’s Corporate Sustainability Report, covering its fiscal year 2024, include:

• NJR’s employees and retirees provided over 4,200 hours of volunteer service, and its charitable foundations provided over $2.1 million in direct funding to local nonprofits.
• An additional $1.1 million in commitments were made through our charitable foundations to New Jersey Audubon and Monmouth Conservation Foundation for multi-year projects to enhance coastal resiliency within NJNG’s service territory.
• NJR completed its first capped landfill community solar facility in New Jersey, building on a decade-long record of investing more than $1.2 billion in renewable solar energy projects across six states.
• NJNG achieved the highest single-year investment in the company’s SAVEGREEN energy-efficiency program, deploying over $71.3 million to cut carbon emissions by helping customers reduce their energy consumption.
• NJR continued to invest in innovation, advancing cutting-edge, lower-carbon energy solutions, including NJNG becoming the first utility in New Jersey to install and operate distributed carbon capture technology and to fuel a portion of its fleet with renewable diesel.
• NJR was named one of America’s Most Responsible Companies for 2024 by Newsweek – earning the recognition for the fifth consecutive year.

To read the full sustainability report, please visit our website: www.njrsustainability.com.

About New Jersey Resources:

New Jersey Resources (NYSE: NJR) is a Fortune 1000 company that, through its subsidiaries, provides safe and reliable natural gas and clean energy services, including transportation, distribution, asset management and home services. NJR is composed of five primary businesses:

• New Jersey Natural Gas, NJR’s principal subsidiary, operates and maintains natural gas transportation and distribution infrastructure to serve customers in New Jersey’s Monmouth, Ocean, Morris, Middlesex, Sussex and Burlington counties.

• Clean Energy Ventures invests in, owns and operates solar projects, providing customers with low-carbon solutions.

• Energy Services manages a diversified portfolio of natural gas transportation and storage assets and provides physical natural gas services and customized energy solutions to its customers across North America.

• Storage and Transportation serves customers from local distributors and producers to electric generators and wholesale marketers through its ownership of Leaf River and the Adelphia Gateway Pipeline, as well as our 50% equity ownership in the Steckman Ridge natural gas storage facility.

• Home Services provides service contracts as well as heating, central air conditioning, water heaters, standby generators, solar and other indoor and outdoor comfort products to residential homes throughout New Jersey.

NJR and its over 1,300 employees are committed to helping customers save energy and money by promoting conservation and encouraging efficiency through Conserve to Preserve® and initiatives such as SAVEGREEN®.

For more information about NJR: www.njresources.com. Follow us on X.com (Twitter) @NJNaturalGas. “Like” us on facebook.com/NewJerseyNaturalGas.

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