SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Assets Held for Sale and Liabilities Held for Sale

(in thousands):

	2019
Assets Held for Sale:
Current Assets	$	5,365
Net Utility Plant	18,692
Net Nonutility Property, Plant & Equipment	110,400
Goodwill	59
Regulatory Assets	415
Other Noncurrent Assets	8,509
Total Assets Held for Sale	$	143,440
Liabilities Held for Sale:
Current Liabilities	$	916
Asset Retirement Obligations	2,515
Regulatory Liabilities	2,583
Other Noncurrent Liabilities	29
Total Liabilities Held for Sale	$	6,043

Summarized operating results of the discontinued operations for the years ended December 31, were (in thousands, except per share amounts):

	2020		2019		2018
Loss before Income Taxes:
Sand Mining	$	(49)	$	(79)	$	(118)
Fuel Oil	(272)		(263)		(184)
Income Tax Benefits	66		70		62
Loss from Discontinued Operations — Net	$	(255)	$	(272)	$	(240)
Earnings Per Common Share from
Discontinued Operations — Net:
Basic and Diluted	$	—	$	—	$	—

Asset Retirement Obligation Activity

ARO activity was as follows (in thousands):

SJI (includes SJG and all other consolidated subsidiaries):	2020		2019
AROs as of January 1,	$	263,950	$	80,163
Accretion	8,185		9,263
Additions (A)	6,574		175,082
Settlements	(9,564)		(14,437)
Revisions in Estimated Cash Flows (B)	(67,053)		13,879
AROs as of December 31,	$	202,092	$	263,950
SJG:	2020		2019
AROs as of January 1,	$	96,509	$	79,890
Accretion	4,121		3,741
Additions	3,729		2,553
Settlements	(2,579)		(3,554)
Revisions in Estimated Cash Flows (B)	(12,528)		13,879
AROs as of December 31,	$	89,252	$	96,509

(A) The additions in 2019 are related to the recording of ETG's ARO liability as part of purchase accounting.

(B) The revisions in estimated cash flows for SJI and SJG for the year ended December 31, 2020 reflect decreases in the estimated retirement costs primarily as a result of changes in contractor costs to settle the ARO liability, as well as a decrease to the discount rate. The revisions in estimated cash flows for SJI and SJG for the year ended December 31, 2019 reflect an increase in the estimated retirement costs to settle the ARO liability and an increase in the inflation rate, partially offset by a decrease to the discount rate. Corresponding entries in both years were made to Regulatory Assets and Utility Plant, thus having no impact on earnings.

Public Utility Property, Plant, and Equipment

Utility Plant balances and Nonutility Property and Equipment as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 were comprised of the following (in thousands):

	SJI (includes SJG and all other consolidated subsidiaries):				SJG
	2020		2019		2020		2019
Utility Plant
Production Plant	$	1,334	$	1,334	$	25	$	25
Storage Plant	90,294		84,611		61,971		61,936
Transmission Plant	338,981		332,049		311,272		305,459
Distribution Plant	4,330,797		3,973,466		2,705,893		2,441,342
General Plant	428,737		310,785		265,185		238,379
Other Plant	1,955		1,955		1,855		1,855
Utility Plant In Service	5,192,098		4,704,200		3,346,201		3,048,996
Construction Work In Progress	73,563		201,150		41,630		105,740
Total Utility Plant	$	5,265,661	$	4,905,350	$	3,387,831	$	3,154,736
Nonutility Property and Equipment
Solar Assets (A)	$	40,380	$	—	$	—	$	—
Fuel Cell Assets (B)	80,546		—		—		—
Other Assets	26,838		25,991		—		—
Total Nonutility Property and Equipment	$	147,764	$	25,991	$	—	$	—

(A) Solar assets represent the assets of four newly acquired LLCs (see Note 20), as well as two projects that were previously classified as Assets Held for Sale in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2019 as discussed in "Sale of Solar Assets" above.

(B) Fuel cell assets represent the assets of Annadale, which is an entity owned by the Catamaran joint venture and consolidated by SJI. See Note 20.

Schedule of Asset Management Agreement Contract Purchase

The amounts received by ETG will be credited to its BGSS clause and returned to its ratepayers. The total purchase price was allocated as follows (in thousands):

Natural Gas in Storage	$	9,685
Intangible Asset	19,200
Profit Sharing - Other Liabilities	(17,546)
Total Consideration	$	11,339

Schedule of New Accounting Pronouncements

NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS -

Recently Adopted Standards:

Standard	Description	Date of Adoption	Application	Effect on the Financial Statements of SJI and SJG
ASU 2017-04: Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment	The update simplifies the accounting for goodwill impairments by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test and, instead, if the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to that excess, limited to the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.	January 1, 2020	Prospective	Adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the financial statement results of SJI, and is not applicable to SJG.
ASU 2018-13: Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement	This ASU modifies the disclosure requirements on the timing of liquidation of an investee's assets and the description of measurement uncertainty at the reporting date. Entities are now required to disclose: (1) the changes in unrealized gains and losses for the period included in other comprehensive income for recurring Level 3 fair value measurements; and (2) the range and weighted average of significant unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 fair value measurements. Further, the standard eliminates disclosure requirements with respect to: (1) the transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy; (2) the policy for timing of transfers between levels; and (3) the valuation process for Level 3 fair value measurements.	January 1, 2020	Prospective for added disclosures and for the narrative description of measurement uncertainty	Adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the financial statement results of SJI or SJG. Disclosure requirements are reflected in Note 17.
ASU 2019-04: Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and Topic 825, Financial Instruments	The amendments in this ASU provide codification improvements and further clarification on several topics, including ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities, as well as ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10). See ASU 2016-13 below for more detail.	January 1, 2020	Amendments related to ASU 2016-01 and ASU 2016-13 - modified retrospective; all other amendments - prospective	Adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the financial statement results of SJI or SJG.
ASU 2016-13: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments	The amendments in this update replace the incurred loss impairment methodology in current GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to develop credit loss estimates. An entity will apply the amendment through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective.	January 1, 2020	Modified retrospective	The impact of adoption did not result in an adjustment to retained earnings for either SJI or SJG as of January 1, 2020.

ASU 2018-14:
Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans This ASU eliminates requirements for certain disclosures such as the amount and timing of plan assets expected to be returned to the employer and the amount of future annual benefits covered by insurance contracts. The standard adds new disclosures that provide information relating to the weighted-average interest crediting rate for cash balance plans and other plans with promised interest crediting rates and an explanation for significant gains or losses related to changes in the benefit obligations for the period. Annual disclosures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020 Retrospective Adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the financial statement results of SJI and SJG. Disclosure requirements are reflected in Note 12.

Standards Not Yet Effective:

Standard	Description	Date of Adoption	Application	Effect on the Financial Statements of SJI and SJG
ASU 2019-12: Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes	This ASU removes exceptions related to the incremental approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the requirement to recognize a deferred tax liability for changes in ownership of a foreign subsidiary or equity method investment, and the general methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period when the year-to-date loss exceeds the anticipated loss. The guidance also adds requirements to reflect changes to tax laws or rates in the annual effective tax rate computation in the interim period in which the changes were enacted, to recognize franchise or other similar taxes that are partially based on income as an income-based tax and any incremental amounts as non-income-based tax, and to evaluate when a step up in the tax basis of goodwill should be considered part of the business combination in which the book goodwill was originally recognized and when it should be considered a separate transaction.	January 1, 2021; early adoption permitted	Modified retrospective for amendments related to changes in ownership of a foreign subsidiary or equity method investment; Modified retrospective or retrospective for amendments related to taxes partially based on income; Prospective for all other amendments	Management does not expect adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on the financial statements of SJI and SJG.
ASU 2020-01: Clarifying the Interactions between Topic 321 (Investments - Equity Securities), Topic 323 (Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures), and Topic 815 (Derivatives and Hedging)	The amendments in this ASU clarify that an entity should consider observable transactions that require it to either apply or discontinue the equity method of accounting for the purposes of applying the measurement alternative in accordance with Topic 321 immediately before applying or upon discontinuing the equity method. The amendments in this ASU also clarify that for the purposes of applying Topic 815, an entity should not consider whether, upon the settlement of a forward contract or exercise of a purchased option, individually or with existing investments, the underlying securities would be accounted for under the equity method in Topic 323 or the fair value option in accordance with the financial instruments guidance in Topic 825.	January 1, 2021; early adoption permitted	Prospective	Management does not expect adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on the financial statements of SJI and SJG.

ASU 2020-04: Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) - Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting
ASU 2021-01: Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) The amendments in ASU 2020-04 provide various optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The amendments apply only to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. The expedients and exceptions provided by the amendments do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2022, except for hedging relationships existing as of December 31, 2022, that an entity has elected certain optional expedients for and that are retained through the end of the hedging relationship.
The amendments in ASU 2021-01 clarify that certain optional expedients and exceptions in Topic 848 for contract modifications and hedge accounting apply to changes in the interest rates used for margining, discounting, or contract price alignment for derivative instruments that are being implemented as part of the market-wide transition to new reference rates (commonly referred to as the "discounting transition"). March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022
An entity may elect to apply the amendments for contract modifications by Topic or Industry Subtopic as of any date from the beginning of an interim period that includes or is subsequent to March 12, 2020, or prospectively from a date within an interim period that includes or is subsequent to March 12, 2020, up to the date that the financial statements are available to be issued. Prospective for contract modifications and hedging relationships. Once elected for a Topic or an Industry Subtopic, the amendments in this Update must be applied prospectively for all eligible contract modifications for that Topic or Industry Subtopic. Management is currently determining the impact that adoption of this guidance will have on the financial statements of SJI and SJG. Management is also evaluating timing of adoption.

ASU 2020-06: Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity's Own Equity The amendments in this ASU simplify the accounting for convertible instruments by removing certain separation models in Subtopic 470-20. Under the amendments, embedded conversion features are no longer separated from the host contract for convertible instruments with conversion features that are not required to be accounted for as derivatives under Topic 815, or that do not result in substantial premiums accounted for as paid-in capital. Consequently, a convertible debt instrument will be accounted for as a single liability measured at its amortized cost and a convertible preferred stock will be accounted for as a single equity instrument measured at its historical cost, as long as no other features require bifurcation and recognition as derivatives. The amendments also add new convertible instrument disclosure requirements. Additionally, the amendments in this ASU remove certain conditions from the settlement guidance within the derivative scope exception guidance contained in Subtopic 815-40 and further clarify the derivative scope exception guidance. Finally, the amendments in this ASU align the diluted EPS calculation for convertible instruments by requiring that an entity use the if-converted method instead of the treasury stock method when calculated diluted EPS for convertible instruments. January 1, 2022; early adoption permitted, but not before January 1, 2021 Retrospective or Modified Retrospective Management is currently determining the impact that adoption of this guidance will have on the financial statements of SJI and SJG.