South Jersey Industries, Inc.

NEWS RELEASE
1 South Jersey Plaza, Folsom, New Jersey 08037
Tel. (609) 561-9000 Fax (609) 561-8225 TDD ONLY 1-800-547-9085

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SJI MEDIA CONTACT: Joanne Brigandi X4240          SJI IR CONTACT: Stephen Clark X 4260
MSI CONTACT: Mike Buttrill 1-877-384-3624

JULY 11, 2000

Two Utility Industry Leaders Agree to Form Metering and
Measurement Services Company


    FOLSOM, N.J. -- Measurement Solutions International and South Jersey Industries today signed a letter of intent agreeing to form a joint venture company, Measurement Solutions International - Northeast, LLC (MSI-Northeast) to provide a full range of metering and measurement services to utilities and energy service providers in the northeast United States.

    Charles Biscieglia, the President and CEO of South Jersey Industries, Inc. of Folsom, New Jersey stated, "The new alliance will meet the demands of gas, electric, and water utilities in our regional service area to earn more profits from their business segments. The newly-combined technical and management expertise of MSI-Northeast will allow utilities to either strengthen their internal measurement operation or divest the function."

    "Increasing financial and competitive pressures in the utility industry are forcing local energy companies to operate more efficiently," explained Rick Emerick, President of Measurement Solutions International of Raleigh, North Carolina. "We are very excited to be working with South Jersey Industries. Together, as MSI-Northeast, we will perform a broad range of services more effectively including procurement, warehousing and distribution of meters, meter sampling, meter population management and maintenance, engineering, and technical support."

    Many local energy service providers are being restructured, due to deregulation and competition, and are outsourcing areas of their operations including measurement. These local energy service companies may have also either merged with or been acquired by other providers, so, even with these changes, measurement needs to be performed differently and equally well in gas, electric, and water segments. MSI-Northeast is fully capable of delivering single-source measurement and meter services to gas, water, and electric utilities.

    South Jersey Industries (NYSE - SJI) is an energy services holding company for South Jersey Gas, a natural gas utility and South Jersey Energy, an energy management services company.

    Measurement Solutions International is a measurement and metering services organization is a joint venture between Invensys Measurement Services of Raleigh, North Carolina and BC Gas of Vancouver, British Columbia. MSI combines the strengths of meter manufacture and repair with technical support for increased measurement management effectiveness.

    Invensys pic is a global leader in the Automation and Controls industry. With its head office in London, England, it operates in all regions of the world through four focused divisions - Intelligent Automation, Industrial Drive Systems, Power System, and Controls. With over 100,000 employees, the company's products and services range from advanced control systems and networks for automating industrial plants and controlling the environments of buildings, to electronic devices and controls found in residential buildings and light commercial applications, plus complete power systems for the telecommunications and information technology industries. The Group was formed on February 4, 1999 through the merger of BTR pic and Siebe pic.

###


Return to SJI News Releases For 2000