RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

14. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Effective April 1, 2010, NJNG entered into a 10-year agreement for 3 Bcf of firm storage capacity with Steckman Ridge. Under the terms of the agreement, NJNG incurs demand fees at market rates of approximately $9.3 million annually, a portion of which is eliminated in consolidation. These fees are recoverable through NJNG's BGSS mechanism and are included as a component of regulatory assets.

Energy Services may periodically enter into storage or park and loan agreements with its affiliated FERC-jurisdictional natural gas storage facility, Steckman Ridge. As of June 30, 2019, Energy Services has entered into transactions with Steckman Ridge for varying terms, all of which expire by October 31, 2020.

Demand fees, net of eliminations, associated with Steckman Ridge were as follows:



	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	June 30,				June 30,
(Thousands)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Natural Gas Distribution	$	1,431	$	1,451	$	4,349	$	4,306
Energy Services	695		705		2,106		2,086
Total	$	2,126	$	2,156	$	6,455	$	6,392

The following table summarizes demand fees payable to Steckman Ridge as of:



(Thousands)	June 30, 2019		September 30, 2018
Natural Gas Distribution	$	775	$	775
Energy Services	375		375
Total	$	1,150	$	1,150

NJNG and Energy Services have entered into various asset management agreements, the effects of which are eliminated in consolidation. Under the terms of these agreements, NJNG releases certain transportation and storage contracts to Energy Services. As of June 30, 2019, NJNG and Energy Services had four asset management agreements with expiration dates ranging from October 31, 2019 through October 31, 2021.

NJNG entered into a 15-year transportation precedent agreement for committed capacity of 180,000 Dths per day and NJRES entered into a 5-year, 50,000 Dths per day transportation precedent agreement with PennEast, both to commence when PennEast is placed in service.