New Jersey's largest utility company is proposing to spend $3.9 billion to protect its electric and gas system against future storms like Sandy.

PSE+G crew working after Sandy
PSE&G crew working after Sandy (Twitter)
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PSE&G says it wants to strengthen distribution lines, protect utility stations from storm surges and make the electrical grid easier to repair.

During Superstorm Sandy, 2 million of the company's 2.2 million customers lost power. The company says 800,000 of them wouldn't have been knocked out if the proposed upgrades were in place. The rest would have had service returned sooner.

The company says customers won't see bills go up much higher because the price of natural gas has been dropping. The company anticipates lower electricity prices, too.

The 10-year plan needs approval of the state's Board of Public Utilities.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)

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