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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

Other financial investments or contractual interests that lack the characteristics of a voting interest entity, which are commonly referred to as variable interest entities, are evaluated by NJR to determine if it has the power to direct business activities and, therefore, would be considered a controlling interest that NJR would have to consolidate. Based on those evaluations, NJR has determined that it does not have any investments in variable interest entities as of September 30, 2013, 2012 and 2011.

Investments in entities over which the Company does not have a controlling financial interest are either accounted for under the equity method or cost method of accounting.

Regulatory Assets and Liabilities

Regulatory Assets & Liabilities

Under cost-based regulation, regulated utility enterprises generally are permitted to recover their operating expenses and earn a reasonable rate of return on their utility investment.

NJNG maintains its accounts in accordance with the FERC Uniform System of Accounts as prescribed by the BPU and in accordance with the Regulated Operations Topic of the FASB ASC. As a result of the impact of the ratemaking process and regulatory actions of the BPU, NJNG is required to recognize the economic effects of rate regulation. Accordingly, NJNG capitalizes or defers certain costs that are expected to be recovered from its customers as regulatory assets and recognizes certain obligations representing probable future expenditures as regulatory liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 3. Regulation, for a more detailed description of NJNG's regulatory assets and liabilities.

Derivative Instruments

NJR accounts for its financial instruments, such as futures, options, foreign exchange contracts and swaps, as well as its physical commodity contracts related to the purchase and sale of natural gas at NJRES, as derivatives, and therefore recognizes them at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. NJR's unregulated subsidiaries record changes in the fair value of their financial commodity derivatives and physical forward contracts in gas purchases or operating revenues, as appropriate, on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. NJRES designates its foreign exchange contracts as cash flow hedges of Canadian dollar dominated gas purchases. Changes in the fair value of the effective portion of these hedges are recorded to OCI, a component of stockholders' equity, and reclassified to gas purchases on the Consolidated Statements of Operations when they settle. Ineffective portions of the cash flow hedges are recognized immediately in earnings. NJR did not have derivatives designated as fair value hedges during fiscal 2012 and 2013.

The Derivatives and Hedging Topic of the ASC also provides for a normal scope exception for qualifying physical commodity contracts that are intended for purchases and sales during the normal course of business and for which physical delivery is probable. NJR applies this normal scope exception to physical commodity contracts at NJNG and forward contracts at NJRCEV, therefore does not record changes in the fair value of these contracts until the contract settles and the related underlying natural gas or SREC is delivered. NJNG's derivatives used to economically hedge its natural gas purchasing activities are recoverable through its BGSS, a component of its tariff. Accordingly, the offset to the change in fair value of these derivatives is recorded as a regulatory asset or liability on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

See Note 4. Derivative Instruments for additional details regarding natural gas trading and hedging activities.

Fair values of exchange-traded instruments, including futures, swaps, foreign exchange contracts and certain options, are based on actively quoted market prices. Fair values are subject to change in the near term and reflect management's best estimate based on various factors. In establishing the fair value of commodity contracts that do not have quoted prices, such as physical contracts, over-the-counter options and swaps and certain embedded derivatives, management uses available market data and pricing models to estimate fair values. Estimating fair values of instruments that do not have quoted market prices requires management's judgment in determining amounts that could reasonably be expected to be received from, or paid to, a third party in settlement of the instruments. These amounts could be materially different from amounts that might be realized in an actual sale transaction.

The Company is subject to commodity price risk due to fluctuations in the market price of natural gas. To manage this risk, the Company enters into a variety of derivative instruments including, but not limited to, futures contracts, physical forward contracts, financial options and swaps to economically hedge the commodity price risk associated with its existing and anticipated commitments to purchase and sell natural gas and SREC sales. In addition, the Company may utilize foreign currency derivatives as cash flow hedges of Canadian dollar denominated gas purchases. These contracts, with a few exceptions as described below, are accounted for as derivatives. Accordingly, all of the financial and certain of the Company's physical derivative instruments are recorded at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. For a more detailed discussion of the Company's fair value measurement policies and level disclosures associated with the NJR's derivative instruments, see Note 5. Fair Value.

Since the Company chooses not to designate its financial commodity and physical forward commodity derivatives as accounting hedges or to elect NPNS as appropriate, changes in the fair value of these derivative instruments are recorded as a component of gas purchases or operating revenues, as appropriate for NJRES, on the Consolidated Statements of Operations as unrealized gains or (losses). For NJRES at settlement, realized gains and (losses) on all financial derivative instruments are recognized as a component of gas purchases and realized gains and (losses) on all physical derivatives follow the presentation of the related unrealized gains and (losses) as a component of either gas purchases or operating revenues.

NJRES also enters into natural gas transactions in Canada and, consequently, is exposed to fluctuations in the value of Canadian currency relative to the US dollar. NJRES utilizes foreign currency derivatives to lock in the currency translation rate associated with natural gas transactions denominated in Canadian currency. The derivatives may include currency forwards, futures, or swaps and are accounted for as derivatives. These derivatives are being used to hedge future forecasted cash payments associated with transportation and storage contracts along with purchases of natural gas. The Company has designated these foreign currency derivatives as cash flow hedges of that exposure, and expects the hedge relationship to be highly effective throughout the term. Since NJRES designates its foreign exchange contracts as cash flow hedges, changes in fair value of the effective portion of the hedge are recorded in OCI. When the foreign exchange contracts are settled and the related purchases are recognized in income, realized gains and (losses) are recognized in gas purchases on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

As a result of NJRES entering into transactions to borrow gas, commonly referred to as “park and loans,” an embedded derivative is created related to differences between the fair value of the amount borrowed and the fair value of the amount that may ultimately be repaid, based on changes in forward natural gas prices during the contract term. This embedded derivative is accounted for as a forward sale in the month in which the repayment of the borrowed gas is expected to occur, and is considered a derivative transaction that is recorded at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, with changes in value recognized in current period earnings.

Changes in fair value of NJNG's financial derivative instruments are recorded as a component of regulatory assets or liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, as NJNG has received regulatory approval to defer and to recover these amounts through future BGSS rates as an increase or decrease to the cost of natural gas in NJNG's tariff.

The Company elects NPNS accounting treatment on all physical commodity contracts at NJNG. These contracts are accounted for on an accrual basis. Accordingly, gains or (losses) are recognized in regulatory assets or liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets when the contract settles and the natural gas is delivered.

Revenues

Revenues from the sale of natural gas to customers of NJNG are recognized in the period that gas is delivered and consumed by customers, including an estimate for unbilled revenue.

In determining the amount of revenue from sales to natural gas customers by NJNG, certain assumptions are used to develop estimates of unaccounted-for gas. Unaccounted-for gas occurs for a number of reasons, including leakage or other actual losses, discrepancies due to meter inaccuracies, variations of temperature and/or pressure, and other variants. The estimating factors may change from time to time as a result of improvements in the quality and/or the timeliness of certain metering and billing information.

NJNG records unbilled revenue for natural gas services. Natural gas sales to individual customers are based on meter readings, which are performed on a systematic basis throughout the month. At the end of each month, the amount of natural gas delivered to each customer after the last meter reading is estimated, and NJNG recognizes unbilled revenues related to these amounts. The unbilled revenue estimates are based on amounts delivered from date of the last meter read to the end of the respective accounting period, estimated customer usage by customer type, weather effects, unaccounted-for gas and the most current tariff rates.

Revenues for NJRES are recognized when the gas is physically delivered to the customer. In addition, changes in the fair value of derivatives that economically hedge the forecasted sales of the natural gas are recognized in operating revenues as they occur, as noted above.

Revenues from all other activities are recorded in the period during which products or services are delivered and accepted by customers, or over the related contractual term.

Gas Purchases

NJNG's tariff includes a component for BGSS, which is designed to allow NJNG to recover the cost of natural gas through rates charged to its customers and is typically revised on an annual basis. As part of computing its BGSS rate, NJNG projects its cost of natural gas, net of supplier refunds, the impact of hedging activities and credits from non-firm sales and transportation activities. NJNG subsequently recovers or refunds the difference, if any, of actual costs compared with those included in current rates. Any underrecoveries or overrecoveries are either refunded to customers or deferred and, subject to BPU approval, reflected in the BGSS rates in subsequent years.

NJRES' gas purchases represent the total commodity contract cost, recognized upon completion of the transaction, as well as realized gains and losses of settled derivative instruments, both for physical purchase contracts and all financial contracts and unrealized gains and losses on the change in fair value of financial derivative instruments that have not yet settled.

Income Taxes

The Company computes income taxes using the liability method, whereby deferred income taxes are generally determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect in the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. See Note 12. Income Taxes.

In addition, NJR evaluates its tax positions to determine the appropriate accounting and recognition of future obligations associated with unrecognized tax benefits.

The Company invests in property that qualifies for federal ITCs and utilizes the ITCs, as allowed, based on the cost and life of the assets purchased. ITCs at NJNG are deferred and amortized as a reduction to the tax provision over the average lives of the related equipment in accordance with regulatory treatment. ITCs at NJR's unregulated subsidiaries are recognized as a reduction to income tax expense when the property is placed in service.

Capitalized and Deferred Interest

NJNG's base rates include the ability for NJNG to recover the cost of debt associated with AFUDC and CWIP. For most of NJNG's construction projects, an incremental cost of equity is also recoverable during periods when NJNG's short-term debt balances are lower than its CWIP. For more information on AFUDC treatment with respect to certain accelerated infrastructure projects, see Note 3 Regulation - Infrastructure programs

Capitalized amounts associated with the debt and equity components of NJNG's AFUDC, are recorded in utility plant on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Sales Tax Accounting

Sales tax and TEFA are collected from customers and presented in both operating revenues and operating expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the fiscal years ended September 30, as follows:



(Millions)	2013		2012		2011
Sales tax	$	44.4	$	32.3	$	50.7
TEFA ⁽¹⁾	5.0		6.0		9.0
Total	$	49.4	$	38.3	$	59.7


(1)	TEFA will be phased out over a three-year period commencing January 1, 2012.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents consists of cash on deposit and temporary investments with original maturities of three months or less, and excludes restricted cash of $1.1 million and $1.2 million as of September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, related to escrow balances for utility plant projects, which is recorded in other noncurrent assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Property Plant and Equipment

Regulated property, plant and equipment and solar equipment are stated at original cost. Regulated property, plant and equipment costs include direct labor, materials and third-party construction contractor costs, AFUDC and certain indirect costs related to equipment and employees engaged in construction. Upon retirement, the cost of depreciable regulated property, plus removal costs less salvage, is charged to accumulated depreciation with no gain or loss recorded.

Depreciation is computed on a straight-line basis over the useful life of the assets for non-regulated assets for financial statement purposes and using rates based on the estimated average lives of the various classes of depreciable property for NJNG.

Disposal of Equipment and Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

Disposal of Equipment

In October 2012, certain NJRCEV's solar assets sustained damage as a result of Superstorm Sandy. To the extent that any of the assets were deemed irreparable, the Company disposed of the damaged assets. As a result, the Company recognized a pre-tax loss of $766,000, which is included in other income on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company received $997,000 from an insurance claim, representing the replacement value of the disposed assets and recorded a gain in the same amount in other income on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company reviews the carrying amount of an asset for possible impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that such amount may not be recoverable.

Available for Sale Securities

Included in other noncurrent assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets are certain investments in equity securities of a publicly traded energy company that have a fair value of $11.7 million and $11 million as of September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Total unrealized gains associated with these equity securities, which are included as a part of accumulated other comprehensive income, a component of common stock equity, were $9.1 million ($5.4 million, after tax) and $8.3 million ($4.9 million, after tax) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Reclassifications made from unrealized gains to realized gains are determined based on average cost. During fiscal 2013, NJR received proceeds of approximately $482,000 from the sale of available-for-sale securities and realized a pre-tax gain of $380,000, which is included in other income in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Reclassifications of realized gains out of OCI into income are determined based on average cost. There were no sales of securities during fiscal 2012.

Investments in Equity Investees

The Company accounts for its investments in Steckman Ridge and Iroquois using the equity method of accounting, where its respective ownership interests are 50 percent or less and/or it has significant influence over operating and management decisions, but is not the primary beneficiary, as defined under ASC 810. The Company's share of earnings is recognized as equity in earnings of affiliates on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Steckman Ridge is a 17.7 Bcf natural gas storage facility, with up to 12 Bcf of working capacity, which was jointly developed and constructed with a partner in western Pennsylvania. Iroquois is a limited partnership, which owns and operates a 412-mile interstate natural gas transmission pipeline providing service to local gas distribution companies, electric utilities and electric power generators, as well as marketers and other end-users, directly or indirectly, by connecting with pipelines and interconnects throughout the northeastern United States.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company, through its subsidiary NJRCEV, acquired a 18.7 percent ownership interest in OwnEnergy, a developer of onshore wind projects. NJRCEV is not the primary beneficiary of OwnEnergy, nor does it have significant influence over operating and management decisions. Therefore, NJRCEV applies the cost method of accounting and records dividends, if and when received, as a component of other income on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Loan Receivable

NJNG provides interest-free loans, with terms ranging from two to ten years, to customers that elect to purchase and install certain energy efficient equipment in accordance with its BPU approved SAVEGREEN program. The loans are recognized at net present value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Refer to Note 5. Fair Value for a discussion of the Company's fair value measurement policies and level disclosures. As of September 30, 2013, the Company has recorded $1.9 million in other current assets and $14.3 million in other noncurrent assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of September 30, 2012, the Company recorded $6.8 million related to the loans.

NJR's policy is to establish an allowance for doubtful accounts when loan balances are outstanding for more than 60 days.

Customer Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Our receivables consist of natural gas sales and transportation services billed to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers, as well as equipment sales, installations, solar leases and power purchase agreements to commercial and residential customers. NJR evaluates it accounts receivables and, to the extent customer account balances are outstanding for more than 60 days, establishes an allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance is based on a combination of factors including historical collection experience and trends, aging of receivables, general economic conditions in the company's distribution or sales territories, and customer specific information. NJR writes-off customers' accounts once it is determined they are uncollectible.

Asset Retirement Obligations

NJR recognizes a liability for its AROs based on the fair value of the liability when incurred, which is generally upon acquisition, construction, development and/or through the normal operation of the asset. Concurrently, NJR also capitalizes an asset retirement cost by increasing the carrying amount of the related asset by the same amount as the liability. In periods subsequent to the initial measurement, NJR is required to recognize changes in the liability resulting from the passage of time (accretion) or due to revisions to either timing or the amount of the originally estimated cash flows to settle the conditional ARO.

Pension and Postemployment Plans

NJR has two noncontributory defined pension plans covering substantially all employees, including officers. Benefits are based on each employee's years of service and compensation. NJR's funding policy is to contribute annually to these plans at least the minimum amount required under ERISA, as amended, and not more than can be deducted for federal income tax purposes. Plan assets consist of equity securities, fixed-income securities and short-term investments. NJR contributed $20 million, $20 million and $4.9 million in aggregate to the plans in fiscal 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

NJR also provides two primarily noncontributory medical and life insurance plans for eligible retirees and dependents. Medical benefits, which make up the largest component of the plans, are based upon an age and years-of-service vesting schedule and other plan provisions. Funding of these benefits is made primarily into Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association trust funds.

Foreign Currency Transactions

NJRES' market area includes Canadian delivery points and as a result incurs certain natural gas commodity costs and demand fees that are denominated in Canadian dollars. Gains or losses that occur as a result of these foreign currency transactions are reported as a component of gas purchases on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and were not material during the fiscal years ended September 30, 2013, 2012 and 2011.

Recent Updates to the Accounting Standards Codification

Balance Sheet Offsetting

In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-11, an amendment to ASC Topic 210, Balance Sheet, requiring additional disclosures about the nature of an entity's rights of setoff and related master netting arrangements associated with its financial and derivative instruments. The objective of the disclosures is to facilitate comparison between financial statements prepared on the basis of GAAP and those prepared on the basis of IFRS. The amended guidance became effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013, as well as interim periods within those annual periods, and was applied retrospectively. There was no impact to the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows upon adoption.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

In February 2013, the FASB issued ASU No. 2013-02, an amendment to ASC Topic 220, Comprehensive Income, requiring information about amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income as well as income statement line items that are affected by the reclassifications. The new guidance does not change existing requirements for reporting net income or OCI in the financial statements. ASU 2013-02 became effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012. There was no impact to the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows upon adoption.

NJR applied the provisions of the new guidance and the information for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013, is as follows:



(Thousands)	Unrealized gain on available for sale securities				Net unrealized gain on derivatives				Adjustment to postemployment benefit obligation				Total
Balance at September 30, 2012	$	4,921			$	51			$	(15,743	)		$	(10,771	)
Other comprehensive income, net of tax
Other comprehensive income, excluding reclassifications, net of tax of $(485), $16, $(5,124), $(5,593)	703				(28		)		7,526				8,201
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax of $155, $7, $(810), $(648)	(224		)	⁽¹⁾	(11		)	⁽²⁾	1,184			⁽³⁾	949
Net current-period other comprehensive income, net of tax of $(331), $23, $(5,934), $(6,242)	479				(39		)		8,710				9,150
Balance at September 30, 2013	$	5,400			$	12			$	(7,033	)		$	(1,621	)


(1)	Reclassified to other income in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.


(2)	Reclassified to gas purchases in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.


(3)	Included in the computation of net periodic pension cost, a component of O&M expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Income Taxes

In July 2013, the FASB issued ASU No. 2013-11, an amendment to ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes, which clarifies financial statement presentation for unrecognized tax benefits. The ASU requires that an unrecognized tax benefit, or portion thereof, shall be presented in the balance sheet as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, similar tax loss or a tax credit carryforward. To the extent such a deferred tax asset is not available or the company does not intend to use it to settle any additional taxes that would result from the disallowance of a tax position, the related unrecognized tax benefit will be presented as a liability in the financial statements. The amended guidance will become effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2013. As of September 30, 2013, the Company does not have any unrecognized tax benefits, however, it will apply the provisions of the new guidance, as applicable at the effective date, on a prospective basis.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires NJR to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and related disclosure of contingencies during the reporting period. On a monthly basis, NJR evaluates its estimates, including those related to the calculation of the fair value of derivative instruments, debt, unbilled revenues, allowance for doubtful accounts, provisions for depreciation and amortization, regulatory assets and liabilities, income taxes, pensions and other postemployment benefits, contingencies related to environmental matters and litigation. AROs are evaluated as often as needed. NJR's estimates are based on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.

NJR has legal, regulatory and environmental proceedings during the normal course of business that can result in loss contingencies. When evaluating the potential for a loss, NJR will establish a reserve if a loss is probable and can be estimated, in which case it is NJR's policy to accrue the full amount of such estimate. Where the information is sufficient only to establish a range of probable liability, and no point within the range is more likely than any other, it is NJR's policy to accrue the lower end of the range. In the normal course of business, estimated amounts are subsequently adjusted to actual results that may differ from estimates.

Fair Value Hierarchy

NJR applies fair value measurement guidance to its financial assets and liabilities, as appropriate, which include financial derivatives and physical commodity contracts qualifying as derivatives, available for sale securities and other financial assets and liabilities. In addition, authoritative accounting literature prescribes the use of a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value based on the source of the data used to develop the price inputs. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities and the lowest priority to inputs that are based on unobservable market data and include the following:

Level 1

Unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets. NJR's Level 1 assets and liabilities include exchange traded futures and options contracts, listed equities, and money market funds. Exchange traded futures and options contracts include all energy contracts traded on the NYMEX/CME and ICE that NJR refers internally to as basis swaps, fixed swaps, futures and options that are cleared through a FCM.

Level 2

Other significant observable inputs such as interest rates or price data, including both commodity and basis pricing that is observed either directly or indirectly from publications or pricing services. NJR's Level 2 assets and liabilities include over-the-counter physical forward commodity contracts and swap contracts or derivatives that are initially valued using observable quotes and are subsequently adjusted to include time value, credit risk or estimated transport pricing components for which no basis price is available. Level 2 financial derivatives consist of transactions with non-FCM counterparties (basis swaps, fixed swaps and/or options). For some physical commodity contracts the Company utilizes transportation tariff rates that are publicly available and that it considers to be observable inputs that are equivalent to market data received from an independent source. There are no significant judgments or adjustments applied to the transportation tariff inputs and no market perspective is required. Even if the transportation tariff input was considered to be a “model”, it would still be considered to be a Level 2 input as:

1) The data is widely accepted and public

2) The data is non-proprietary and sourced from an independent third party

3) The data is observable and published

These additional adjustments are generally not considered significant to the ultimate recognized values.


Level 3	Inputs derived from a significant amount of unobservable market data; these include NJR's best estimate of fair value and are derived primarily through the use of internal valuation methodologies.

NJNG's and NJRES' financial derivatives portfolios consist mainly of futures, options and swaps. NJR primarily uses the market approach and its policy is to use actively quoted market prices when available. The principal market for its derivative transactions is the natural gas wholesale market, therefore, the primary source for its price inputs is the NYMEX exchange. NJRES also uses NGX for Canadian delivery points and Platts and NYMEX ClearPort for certain over-the-counter physical forward commodity contracts. However, NJRES also engages in transactions that result in transporting natural gas to delivery points for which there is no actively quoted market price. In most instances, the cost to transport to the final delivery location is not significant to the overall valuation. If required, NJRES' policy is to use the best information available to determine fair value based on internal pricing models, which would include estimates extrapolated from broker quotes or pricing services.

NJR also has available for sale securities and other financial assets that include listed equities, mutual funds and money market funds for which there are active exchange quotes available.

When NJR determines fair values, measurements are adjusted, as needed, for credit risk associated with its counterparties, as well as its own credit risk. NJR determines these adjustments by using historical default probabilities that correspond to the applicable S&P issuer ratings, while also taking into consideration collateral and netting arrangements that serve to mitigate risk.