NEWARK — Public Service Enterprise Group will stay in Newark until at least 2030, the company will announce today.

The company committed to a 15-year lease renewal on its 26-story tower complex with 825,000 square feet of space near Penn Station. The deal also calls for $15 million in new efficiency measures, according to President and CEO Ralph Izzo.

"You have to, as the expression goes, walk the talk," Izzo said of the efficiency measures, which include heating, ventilating, air conditioning, lighting and high-tech controls.

The work is similar to projects the company has overseen for schools and hospitals like UMDNJ and Newark Beth Israel for years.

But the utility was like other companies in that efficiency work wasn't a top priority until now, Izzo said, because PSEG spends money mostly on its core mission of reliable service.

"We're here to serve customers and our customers are less interested in how energy efficient we are and more interested in us keeping their lights on," Izzo said.

The company pushed for the efficiency measures to be part of its new deal with landlord Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II.

But before signing its long-term lease in Newark, the company considered other locations, Izzo said.

"We looked at urban centers in our service territory, primarily New Brunswick and Trenton," Izzo said. "Obviously a lot (of the decision) goes along with the fact that we've been in Newark over 100 years ... many of our employees have commuting patterns consistent with an office in Newark."

Izzo said Newark's development is on the right track.

"Newark is a city that is making tremendous progress. It's got a vibrant higher education community, we're seeing a resurgence of the arts and entertainment, new housing stock being built," Izzo said. "When you consider that in light of what the national economy has been in the last four years, you have to be optimistic about what's to come."

Newark Mayor Cory Booker said he was happy the company would stay and thanked it for its leadership.

"PSEG is a good neighbor and has been a generous corporate citizen of the City of Newark since 1978, having invested in community initiatives and programs which have empowered our residents," Booker said in a statement.

That includes contributions to cultural institutions and programs at institutions like NJPAC, the Newark Museum and the Prudential Center.

PSEG's decision not to leave is also a good thing for commercial space lease prices, according to the company's broker, Bryn Cinque of Colliers International New Jersey.

"Certainly if a tenant had decided to vacate, it would have put significant downward pressure on rental rates," Cinque said. "Right now the (Newark) Penn Station market has about a 6 percent vacancy rate and this would have increased it considerably."

The market for space close to Newark Penn Station is strong, said Curtis Foster, executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield.

But he agreed the rent prices would have dropped had PSEG moved.

"That would have been an awful lot of space to absorb in that particular type of building," Foster said. "It would probably have driven down the market between 10 to 15 percent until it was stabilized."

Eliot Caroom: (973) 392-7919, ecaroom@starledger.com and @eliotter on Twitter