Hope Creek Nuclear Unit to Begin Refueling Outage Early

Hope Creek Nuclear Unit to Begin Refueling Outage Early
Decision Follows October 10 Shutdown Due to Steam Pipe Failure



NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 18  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PSEG Power, the wholesale
energy subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), has informed the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that its Hope Creek nuclear station will
transition to a planned refueling outage following the unit's shutdown on
October 10 due to a steam pipe failure.

Refueling was to have begun on October 28 and conclude in mid-December.
However, an earlier start of the refueling may provide an opportunity for an
earlier return-to-service date.

Chris Bakken, PSEG's chief nuclear officer, said in a message to employees that
the "best course of action is to keep the unit off line and transition to the
refueling outage now." Bakken added:  "After this outage, I expect Hope Creek
will be a much stronger plant, prepared for a safe and reliable cycle."

Thomas O'Flynn, PSEG's chief financial officer, said the extension of the
refueling outage is expected to increase replacement power costs and O&M by
about $12 million (after taxes) or 5 cents per share of PSEG common stock in
the fourth quarter.  "These added costs will pressure the low end of PSEG's
2004 guidance of $3.15 to $3.35 per share," O'Flynn said.

Hope Creek was manually taken out of service as a result of a failed eight-inch
discharge line from the "A" moisture separator to the main condenser in Hope
Creek's turbine building.  "Our preliminary investigation of the event has
revealed equipment and personnel performance issues, which we will address
prior to the restart of the unit," Bakken said.

In a letter over the weekend to the NRC, Bakken outlined the key actions that
will be completed prior to resumption of service.  A copy of the NRC letter is
available at http://www.pseg.com/nrcletter.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

Readers are cautioned that statements contained in this press release about our
and our subsidiaries' future performance, including future revenues, earnings,
strategies, prospects and all other statements that are not purely historical,
are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although we believe that
our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance
they will be achieved.  The results or events predicted in these statements may
differ materially from actual results or events.  Factors which could cause
results or events to differ from current expectations include, among other
things: the effects of weather; the performance of generating units and
transmission systems; the availability and prices for oil, gas, coal, nuclear
fuel, capacity and electricity; changes in the markets for electricity and
other energy-related commodities; changes in the number of participants and the
risk profile of such participants in the energy marketing and trading business;
the effectiveness of our risk management and internal controls systems; the
effects of regulatory decisions and changes in law; changes in competition in
the markets we serve; the ability to recover regulatory assets and other
potential stranded costs; the outcomes of litigation and regulatory proceedings
or inquiries; the timing and success of efforts to develop domestic and
international power projects; conditions of the capital markets and equity
markets; advances in technology; changes in accounting standards; changes in
interest rates and in financial and foreign currency markets generally; the
economic and political climate and growth in the areas in which we conduct our
activities; and changes in corporate strategies.  For further information,
please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Form
10-Q and Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  These
documents address in further detail our business, industry issues and other
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
indicated in this release. In addition, any forward-looking statements included
herein represent our estimates only as of today and should not be relied upon
as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date.  While we may elect to
update forward-looking statements from time to time, we specifically disclaim
any obligation to do so, even if our estimates change, unless otherwise
required by applicable securities laws. 

DATASOURCE: Public Service Enterprise Group



CONTACT:  For PSEG: Paul Rosengren, [phone], For PSEG Nuclear:

Skip Sindoni, [phone]



Web site:  http://www.pseg.com/

http://www.pseg.com/nrcletter 

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