RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (Details)		3 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2010 USD ($) Bcf	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) contract	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 Bcf / d	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Number of asset management agreements | contract		4
NJRES to Steckman Ridge Affiliate
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Demand fees expense recognized pertaining to related party agreement		$ 685,000	$ 484,000
Due to related parties		376,000			$ 375,000
NJNG to Steckman RIdge Affiliate
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Demand fees expense recognized pertaining to related party agreement		1,400,000	$ 1,400,000
Due to related parties		$ 774,900			$ 774,900
Related party agreement term	10 years
Natural gas sold at cost under asset management agreement (in Bcf) | Bcf	3.0
Approximate annual demand fees under agreement from April 1 2010 to March 31 2020	$ 9,300,000
NJNG to PennEast Affiliate [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Transportation precedent agreement, period				15 years
Transportation capacity under precedent agreement from NJNG with PennEast (in bcf per day) | Bcf / d				0.18