TOMS RIVER, New Jersey - New Jersey Natural Gas Company (NJNG), the principal subsidiary of New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR), took part in a press conference this morning announcing Ocean County College’s (OCC) plans to install, own and operate a 250-kilowatt fuel cell system that will generate a portion of the college’s electricity using natural gas. NJNG will supply the natural gas necessary to power the on-site generation equipment.

"We are pleased to be a part of the college’s commitment to achieving new standards for environmentally friendly and energy-efficient operations," said Laurence M. Downes, chairman and CEO of NJNG. "Fuel cells offer low emissions and high efficiency, while at the same time increase reliability and power quality."

Fuel cells are a type of distributed generation (DG) technology that generate electricity through a chemical process with no combustion. Since the fuel is not burned, pollution commonly associated with traditional electric generation is dramatically reduced. DG is broadly defined as the use of small-scale power generation technologies located close to the load being served and include fuel cells, microturbines, reciprocating engines, combustion gas turbines, photovoltaics and wind turbines.

OCC will be the first college in NJNG’s service territory to install this type of technology, which is expected to run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The college projects $60,000 in energy cost savings per year by installing the natural gas-powered fuel cell system manufactured by FuelCell Energy, Inc. The system will provide clean, on-site energy to meet about 90 percent of the power needs to OCC’s Instructional Building, Lecture Hall and Nursing Arts Building. In addition, 20 percent of heating needs will be provided to those three buildings and the Administration Building, Gymnasium, Library and Robert J. Novins Planetarium.

Construction is expected to begin this winter, with the fuel cell system operational by the spring of 2003.

Fuel cells are becoming viable alternate energy choices for institutions and businesses that want clean, cost-effective power and require a high level of reliability. And because many fuel cells are powered by natural gas, local distribution companies such as NJNG have the opportunity to increase throughput on their distribution systems.

NJNG has pending with the Board of Public Utilities a special pricing plan for customers using on-site fuel cells and other types of distributed generation technology. And through the state’s Comprehensive Resource Analysis initiative, the New Jersey Clean Energy program is providing $827,000 in funding for the Ocean County College project to offset the initial capital costs.

New Jersey Natural Gas Company (NJNG), one of the fastest-growing local distribution companies in the United States, is the principal subsidiary of New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR). Since 1952, natural gas customers in central and northern New Jersey have relied on NJNG to keep them warm and ensure they have the energy they need to run their homes and businesses. NJNG provides energy services to more than 430,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in New Jersey’s Monmouth and Ocean counties and parts of Morris and Middlesex counties and maintains a nearly 6,000-mile underground pipeline system. The Company has added nearly 12,000 new customers for the past seven consecutive years. NJNG is also a leader in the off-system sales and capacity release markets. More information about NJNG can be found at their Web site at www.njliving.com.

New Jersey Resource Corp.

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