The state wants Public Service Electric & Gas to spend ratepayer money to modernize its electric and gas systems, but is not ready to write a blank check allowing the utility to spend $4 billion over the next decade to cover those costs.

During its monthly meeting in Trenton yesterday, the state Board of Public Utilities said it wants a lot more information about the spending program filed last month by the state’s largest utility before acting on the proposal.

Instead, the BPU approved a couple of separate proceedings to examine how utilities will recover costs from Hurricane Sandy and other storms, as well as what is needed to enact other expensive measures to prevent outages caused by extreme weather in the future.

Opponents of the PSE&G proposal, who earlier this week had asked the agency to reject the spending plan out of hand or delay a decision indefinitely, applauded the BPU’s actions.

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