South Jersey Gas Co. v. SunOlin Chemical Co.

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

STEIN, J.

In this case we consider whether SunOlin Chemical Company (SunOlin), a corporation that seeks to harvest the by-product of a refinery process and to use its New Jersey pipeline system to sell methane-rich gas to a select group of large industrial users, is a “public utility” subject to the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Utility Commissioners (BPU or Board). The Appellate Division affirmed the Board’s determination that SunOlin’s activities were “clothed in the public interest to such an extent as to require” that SunOlin be subject to BPU…