Company History

Over the past century, SJI has remained committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable energy, ensuring the safety of our employees, customers and the communities we serve, while also delivering value to our shareholders and being stewards of the environment. Through dedication to exceptional service to customers, with a focus on innovation and continuous improvement, while still always putting safety first, SJI has grown into the second-largest natural gas provider in New Jersey.

SJI traces its roots back to 1910 when Atlantic City Gas and Water Company merged with Atlantic City Gas Company. As the resort town grew, so did the need for natural gas and the company that supplied it. This was the first in a series of acquisitions throughout Atlantic, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties that eventually led to the creation of SJI’s subsidiary, South Jersey Gas in 1947.

The SJG headquarters originated in Atlantic City. During the 1950s, SJG continued to acquire smaller gas companies, building its territory in Cumberland and Salem counties. SJG purchased its Cape May county division in 1983 from New Jersey Natural Gas.

In 1969, SJG’s board of directors and management decided to diversify into business lines that SJG could not participate in as a regulated utility. Thus, SJI was incorporated as a holding company with SJG as its primary subsidiary.

In 1970, SJI built a new corporate headquarters in Folsom and over the next three decades bought and sold several non-utility subsidiary companies. In the mid-1980s, SJI created South Jersey Energy to participate in retail commodity sales opportunities created by deregulation of the natural gas industry. At the end of the 1990s, SJI revised its strategic direction from being a diversified holding company to one focused on energy and energy services. This new direction was taken to maximize long-term shareholder value.

With South Jersey Gas as a foundation and South Jersey Energy as a viable non-regulated business, SJI began expanding the non-regulated side of its energy business, forming South Jersey Resources Group in 1996 to provide natural gas storage, peaking services and transportation capacity for wholesale customers.

In 2008, South Jersey Resources Group entered into a lease agreement with an exploration and production company to develop deep mineral rights on property in the Marcellus Shale. Today, as one of the largest marketers of Marcellus gas, SJRG helps natural gas producers move gas from the wellhead to end users. SJRG also redeploys capital from its lease arrangement to acquire additional royalty interests in acreage throughout the Marcellus.

In 2018, SJI became the second-largest natural gas provider in New Jersey with the acquisition of Elizabethtown Gas from Southern Gas Company, furthering the company’s commitment to safety, operational excellence, and an outstanding customer experience, while providing the opportunity for high quality, regulated earnings growth.

That same year, SJI created SJI Utilities, a holding company for its, regulated natural gas utility businesses - South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas – allowing SJI to best align talent and resources in support of a consistent strategy across our regulated utility operations.

South Jersey Gas returned to its hometown of Atlantic City in late 2018 with the construction of its new headquarters on Atlantic Avenue in the University District as part of the Atlantic City Gateway project.

At our core, SJI provides safe, reliable, affordable energy services, ensuring the safety of our employees, customers and the communities we serve while delivering value for our shareholders.

With a unified focus on our core strength, we’ve positioned our organization for strong growth.