Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) reported fourth-quarter net income of $0.63 per share and full-year 2025 net income of $4.22 per share, according to management’s remarks on the company’s Feb. 26 earnings call. On a non-GAAP operating basis, PSEG posted earnings of $0.72 per share for the fourth quarter and $4.05 per share for the full year, with CEO Ralph LaRossa noting results landed at the high end of the company’s narrowed 2025 operating guidance range of $4.00 to $4.06 per share.
Management also declared a first-quarter 2026 dividend, setting the indicative annual rate at $2.68 per share. LaRossa said the $0.16 per share increase represents an approximately 6% year-over-year rise and was supported by confidence in the company’s long-term projections.
Operational performance and customer bill initiatives
On customer affordability, LaRossa pointed to several actions taken with New Jersey regulators, including summer relief initiatives implemented in July to help customers manage PJM-related electric supply costs passed through to bills. He also said PSE&G held its residential gas rate flat for the remainder of the winter 2025-2026 heating season beginning Feb. 1, and described the utility’s residential gas bill profile as the lowest cost in New Jersey and the region.
Management noted the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities certified results of the annual Basic Generation Service (BGS) auction, which is expected to reduce the electricity supply portion of PSEG residential electric bills by 1.8% starting June 1, 2026. LaRossa said additional customer programs are planned over the coming months, including increased budget billing education, new time-of-use rates, and additional energy efficiency solutions.
PSE&G also received approval to extend its three-year GSMP III program. LaRossa said cumulative progress from methane programs has reduced system-wide methane emissions by more than 30% from 2018 levels, and that winter conditions have validated the effectiveness of gas system investments by reducing pipe breaks and low-pressure issues versus similar cold events in prior years.
2025 segment performance: utility growth and nuclear output
CFO Dan Cregg said PSE&G delivered fourth-quarter net income and non-GAAP operating earnings of $352 million in 2025, compared with $378 million in 2024, while full-year PSE&G net income and non-GAAP operating earnings rose to $1.75 billion from $1.55 billion. Cregg attributed the full-year utility results primarily to new electric and gas base distribution rates implemented in mid-October 2024, which were designed to recover returns on more than $3 billion of prior capital investments and higher working capital balances.
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, Cregg said distribution margin increased by $0.07 per share, largely reflecting incremental gas margin from a GSMP2 roll-in, customer growth, and higher gas demand, with higher energy-efficiency investment also contributing. Offsetting factors included higher distribution O&M (up $0.04 per share), higher depreciation and interest expense (up $0.02 per share), and higher distribution-related taxes (up $0.05 per share), including plant-related taxes and lower bad-debt write-offs.
Cregg noted fourth-quarter weather was 9% colder than normal and 23% colder than the year-ago quarter, and reiterated that the Conservation Incentive Program (CIP) decouples weather and other sales variances from a significant portion of distribution margin by primarily linking margin to customer counts. Residential customer growth for both electric and gas segments was approximately 1% in 2025, he said.
At PSEG Power and Other, Cregg reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $37 million, compared with a net loss of $92 million in the year-ago quarter. Non-GAAP operating earnings were $10 million in the fourth quarter, down from $43 million in 2024. For the full year, PSEG Power and Other posted net income of $366 million (up from $225 million) and non-GAAP operating earnings of $284 million (down slightly from $292 million).
On nuclear operations, LaRossa said the fleet posted a 91.2% capacity factor for 2025 and produced approximately 30.9 terawatt hours of carbon-free baseload generation. Cregg added the fleet generated about 7.2 TWh in the fourth quarter versus 7.3 TWh a year earlier, with capacity factors of 83.7% for the quarter and 91.2% for the full year. Cregg said scheduled refueling at the company’s 100%-owned Hope Creek unit reduced fourth-quarter generation volume, and he noted the outage included work to shift Hope Creek from an 18-month to a 24-month refueling cycle, which management expects will increase megawatt-hours and generate long-term O&M savings.
Capital spending and balance sheet update
LaRossa said PSE&G invested about $1 billion in regulated capital spending in the fourth quarter and about $3.7 billion for full-year 2025. Cregg said the regulated business is planned to invest approximately $4.2 billion in 2026.
Management updated PSEG’s 2026-2030 capital program to $24 billion to $28 billion, with over 90% focused on regulated investments. Regulated capital spending is forecast at $22.5 billion to $25.5 billion, up from a prior plan of $21 billion to $24 billion. Cregg said the $1.5 billion increase is primarily tied to anticipated load growth from data centers and other new customers, plus incremental distribution, reliability, and resiliency investments.
Cregg said the updated plan supports a 6% to 7.5% compounded annual rate base growth rate through 2030, starting from a year-end 2025 balance of approximately $36 billion, including construction work in progress.
On liquidity and financing, Cregg said PSEG ended December with $2.8 billion of total available liquidity, including about $130 million of cash. He noted that in December, PSEG Power amended a $400 million 364-day variable-rate term loan, increasing it to $500 million and extending the maturity to December 2026. Variable-rate debt represented about 6% of total debt at year-end, he said.
2026 guidance and long-term growth outlook through 2030
Management initiated 2026 non-GAAP operating earnings guidance of $4.28 to $4.40 per share, which LaRossa described as a 7% increase at the midpoint compared with 2025. The outlook assumes continued investment at PSE&G and expected nuclear output, with market prices exceeding the nuclear production tax credit (PTC) threshold; management said it is approximately 95% hedged for the remainder of 2026.
Cregg also outlined several 2026 drivers, including clause-based recoveries and an annual FERC transmission formula filing implemented Jan. 1 that increased annual transmission revenue by $82 million, subject to true-up. He said electric base rates for 2026 are projected to be stable. In Power and Other, Cregg said PSEG does not expect to book nuclear PTCs in 2026 due to the higher price environment, and reminded investors that Zero Emission Certificates earned by New Jersey nuclear units concluded in May 2025.
PSEG raised its long-term non-GAAP earnings growth outlook to 6% to 8% through 2030. LaRossa said the higher growth outlook is supported by utility operations and customer-focused modernization and energy efficiency programs, with nuclear generation ownership providing significant cash flow and differentiation among peers. Management added that growth above the 6% to 8% range could come from contracting existing or additional generation output and incremental regulated capital investment.
During Q&A, executives discussed New Jersey policy developments, including recently reintroduced legislation related to natural gas plant procurement and a separate bill establishing a nuclear procurement program. LaRossa said PSEG has sites with grid connection and pipeline supplies and internal expertise to build new supply in New Jersey if policymakers pursue new in-state generation. Management also emphasized it has not incorporated any new regulatory compensation framework changes from ongoing BPU studies into its projections, calling it too early to assess outcomes.
About Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG)
Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE: PEG) is a diversified energy company that operates primarily in New Jersey. Its core businesses include a regulated utility that delivers electric and natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as generation and energy services operations that participate in wholesale power markets. The company’s activities encompass transmission and distribution, power generation operations, and related energy infrastructure services.
The regulated utility arm, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), is responsible for owning and maintaining electric and gas networks, connecting customers, performing meter and billing services, and managing system reliability and storm response.
