SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Asset Retirement Obligation Activity

ARO activity was as follows (in thousands):

SJI (includes SJG and all other consolidated subsidiaries):	2021		2020
AROs as of January 1,	$	202,092	$	263,950
Accretion	8,875		8,185
Additions	6,605		6,574
Settlements	(8,736)		(9,564)
Revisions in Estimated Cash Flows (A)	20,194		(67,053)
AROs as of December 31,	$	229,030	$	202,092
SJG:	2021		2020
AROs as of January 1,	$	89,252	$	96,509
Accretion	3,776		4,121
Additions	3,017		3,729
Settlements	(2,221)		(2,579)
Revisions in Estimated Cash Flows (A)	9,547		(12,528)
AROs as of December 31,	$	103,371	$	89,252

(A) The revisions in estimated cash flows for SJI and SJG for the year ended December 31, 2021 reflect changes in inflation, and 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, along with a decrease to the discount rate.

Public Utility Property, Plant, and Equipment

Utility Plant balances and Nonutility Property and Equipment as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 were comprised of the following (in thousands):

	SJI (includes SJG and all other consolidated subsidiaries):				SJG
	2021		2020		2021		2020
Utility Plant
Production Plant	$	241	$	1,334	$	25	$	25
Storage Plant	82,313		90,294		62,140		61,971
Transmission Plant	345,716		338,981		322,051		311,272
Distribution Plant	4,703,918		4,330,797		2,923,016		2,705,893
General Plant	430,940		428,737		264,194		265,185
Other Plant	1,955		1,955		1,855		1,855
Utility Plant In Service	5,565,083		5,192,098		3,573,281		3,346,201
Construction Work In Progress	117,722		73,563		40,079		41,630
Total Utility Plant	$	5,682,805	$	5,265,661	$	3,613,360	$	3,387,831
Accumulated Depreciation	(975,619)		(914,122)		(656,829)		(606,925)
Net Utility Plant	$	4,707,186	$	4,351,539	$	2,956,531	$	2,780,906
Nonutility Property and Equipment
Solar Assets	$	61,478	$	40,380	N/A		N/A
Fuel Cell Assets	80,550		80,546		N/A		N/A
Other Assets	24,711		26,838		N/A		N/A
Construction Work In Progress (A)	73,764		—
Total Nonutility Property and Equipment	$	240,503	$	147,764
Accumulated Depreciation	(35,367)		(35,069)
Net Nonutility Property and Equipment	$	205,136	$	112,695

(A) Represents costs incurred for ongoing construction of fuel cells, solar energy projects, and renewable natural gas facilities and equipment at dairy farms.

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 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	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	Adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the financial statement results of SJI or 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	Prospective	Adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the financial statement results of SJI or SJG.

Standards Not Yet Effective:

Standard Description Date of Adoption Application Effect 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 does not expect adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on the financial statements of SJI and SJG. Management will adopt the new guidance effective January 1, 2022.

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 does not expect adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on the financial statements of SJI and SJG.

ASU 2021-08: Business Combinations (ASC 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities From Contracts With Customers The amendments to ASC 805 in this ASU require an acquirer to account for revenue contracts acquired in a business combination in accordance with ASC 606 as if it had originated the contracts. The acquirer may assess how the acquiree applied ASC 606 to determine what to record for the acquired contracts. The standard also provides practical expedients for acquirers when recognizing and measuring acquired contract assets and contract liabilities from a business combination. January 1, 2023; early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period Prospectively to business combinations occurring on or after the effective date of the amendments These amendments have not yet been adopted and management is currently evaluating whether to adopt this amendment prior to the effective date.

ASU 2021-10: Government Assistance (ASC 832): Disclosures by Business Entities about Government Assistance This ASU requires disclosure in the notes to annual financial statements of government financial assistance from local, (city, town, county, municipal), regional, and federal governments and entities related to those governments. Required disclosure for government assistance transactions includes: 1) information about the nature of transactions and the related accounting policy used to account for the transactions; 2) the line items on the balance sheet and income statement that are affected by the transactions and the amounts applicable to each financial statement line item; and 3) significant terms and conditions of the transactions, including commitments and contingencies. January 1, 2022; early adoption is permitted. Either (1) Prospectively to all transactions that are reflected in financial statements at the date of initial application and to all transactions that are entered into after adoption (2) retrospectively to those transactions Since this ASU is disclosure only, adoption will not have an impact on the financial statement results of SJI or SJG. Management is currently determining the impact that adoption of this guidance will have on the disclosures of SJI and SJG.