Community Partnerships
Our company prides itself on being a committed community partner, assisting local, regional and statewide organizations that deliver critical support to those in need, providing vital funding and contributing countless volunteer hours to programs that benefit the communities we serve.
External Affairs
SJI's External Affairs team strives to enhance the positive impact the organization has in the community through stakeholder and community engagement, external communications and government affairs. Through this alignment of resources and personnel, we can drive a more cohesive strategy to identify and deliver actionable solutions to the challenges facing our communities.
This enhanced focus on community engagement was needed more than ever in the past few years as the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented economic contraction to our state and nation. Through it all, we have remained committed to helping our customers maintain energy security by providing for the uninterrupted delivery of safe and reliable natural gas to our more than 700,000 customers and critical support to the communities we serve.
Most notably, SJI instituted extended deferred payment arrangements without interest or penalty for our customers, worked to align our customers with available energy assistance support programs that fit their needs and voluntarily commenced a moratorium on utility shut offs. The External Affairs team worked with our customer care professionals to enhance SJI’s efforts to connect our customers with available assistance programs through education and pairing those in need with service providers and public assistance agencies. We utilized social media, news media, email newsletters, bill messages and inserts, as well as live and virtual events, to deliver important messages to our customers and other stakeholders.
The team also provided necessary support to hundreds of municipal, county and state officials in New Jersey, keeping them informed about energy and utility issues facing their residents throughout the pandemic and maintaining an open line of communication. We not only educate and advocate for the priorities of our company, customers and industry, but we also provide a critical communications channel concerning our infrastructure enhancements and government-regulated projects. The government affairs professionals within our External Affairs team work to identify the best use of financial resources to support civic, health, economic development and charitable programs in the communities we serve.
The External Communications team educates stakeholders on SJI's mission to provide safe, reliable, affordable clean energy to the communities we serve through communications on the company website, social media, media partnerships, and community events. The team showcases SJI's efforts to "Lead the Way" to a clean energy future while elevating SJI's brand as a trusted energy provider for our over 700,000 customers throughout New Jersey.