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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
14. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

Cash Commitments

NJNG has entered into long-term contracts, expiring at various dates through September 2039, for the supply, transportation and storage of natural gas. These contracts include annual fixed charges of approximately $198.3M at current contract rates and volumes, which are recoverable through BGSS.

For the purpose of securing storage and pipeline capacity, ES enters into storage and pipeline capacity contracts, which require the payment of certain demand charges by ES to maintain the ability to access such natural gas storage or pipeline capacity, during a fixed time period, which generally ranges from one to 10 years. Demand charges are established by interstate storage and pipeline operators and are regulated by FERC. These demand charges represent commitments to pay storage providers or pipeline companies for the right to store and/or transport natural gas utilizing their respective assets.

Commitments as of September 30, 2023, for natural gas purchases and future demand fees for the next five fiscal year periods, are as follows:
(Thousands)20242025202620272028Thereafter
ES:
Natural gas purchases$66,525 $2,498 $— $— $— $— 
Storage demand fees16,944 8,099 6,010 4,878 3,505 6,780 
Pipeline demand fees43,755 43,271 31,749 24,234 13,719 14,457 
Sub-total ES$127,224 $53,868 $37,759 $29,112 $17,224 $21,237 
NJNG:
Natural gas purchases$23,952 $— $— $— $— $— 
Storage demand fees42,469 30,673 14,975 10,163 5,084 — 
Pipeline demand fees155,875 155,559 134,555 128,651 113,998 966,963 
Sub-total NJNG$222,296 $186,232 $149,530 $138,814 $119,082 $966,963 
Total$349,520 $240,100 $187,289 $167,926 $136,306 $988,200 

Certain pipeline demand fees totaling approximately $4.0M per year, for which ES is the responsible party, are being paid for by the counterparty to a capacity release transaction beginning November 1, 2021 for a period of 10 years.

As of September 30, 2023, the Company’s future minimum lease payments under various operating leases will not be more than $7.9M annually for the next five years and $213.9M in the aggregate for all years thereafter.

Guarantees

As of September 30, 2023, there were NJR guarantees covering approximately $192.3M of ES’s natural gas purchases and demand fee commitments not yet reflected in accounts payable on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Legal Proceedings

Manufactured Gas Plant Remediation

NJNG is responsible for the remedial cleanup of certain former MGP sites, dating back to gas operations in the late 1800s and early 1900s, which contain contaminated residues from former gas manufacturing operations. NJNG is currently involved in administrative proceedings with the NJDEP, and is participating in various studies and investigations by outside consultants, to determine the nature and extent of any such contaminated residues and to develop appropriate programs of remedial action, where warranted, under NJDEP regulations.

NJNG periodically, and at least annually, performs an environmental review of former MGP sites located in Atlantic Highlands, Berkeley, Long Branch, Manchester, Toms River, Freehold and Aberdeen, New Jersey, including a review of potential liability for investigation and remedial action. NJNG estimated at the time of the most recent review that total future expenditures at the former MGP sites for which it is responsible, including potential liabilities for natural resource damages that might be brought by the NJDEP for alleged injury to groundwater or other natural resources concerning these sites, will range from approximately $137.3M to $201.5M. NJNG’s estimate of these liabilities is based upon known facts, existing technology and enacted laws and regulations in place when the review was completed. Where it is probable that costs will be incurred, and the information is sufficient to establish a range of possible liability, NJNG accrues the most likely amount in the range. If no point within the range is more likely than the other, it is NJNG’s policy to accrue the lower end of the range. Accordingly, as of September 30, 2023, NJNG recorded a MGP remediation liability and a corresponding regulatory asset of approximately $169.4M on the Consolidated Balance Sheets based on the most likely amount. The actual costs to be incurred by NJNG are dependent upon several factors, including final determination of remedial action, changing technologies and governmental regulations, the ultimate ability of other responsible parties to pay and insurance recoveries, if any.

NJNG recovers its remediation expenditures, including carrying costs, over rolling seven-year periods pursuant to a RAC approved by the BPU. In March 2022, the BPU approved an increase in the RAC, which increased the pre-tax annual recovery from $11.1M to $11.7M, effective April 1, 2022. On April 12, 2023, the BPU approved on a final basis NJNG’s annual SBC filing of RAC expenditures through June 30, 2022, as well as an increase to the RAC annual recoveries of $3.7M, which increased the pre-tax annual recovery to $15.4M, effective May 1, 2023. As of September 30, 2023, $66.3M of previously incurred remediation costs, net of recoveries from customers and insurance proceeds, are included in regulatory assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. NJNG will continue to seek recovery of MGP-related costs through the RAC. If any future regulatory position indicates that the recovery of such costs is not probable, the related non-recoverable costs would be charged to income in the period of such determination.

General

The Company is involved, and from time to time in the future may be involved, in a number of pending and threatened judicial, regulatory and arbitration proceedings relating to matters that arise in the ordinary course of business. In view of the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of litigation matters, particularly when such matters are in their early stages or where the claimants seek indeterminate damages, the Company cannot state with confidence what the eventual outcome of the pending litigation will be, what the timing of the ultimate resolution of these matters will be, or what the eventual loss, fines or penalties related to each pending matter will be, if any. In accordance with applicable accounting guidance, the Company establishes accruals for litigation for those matters that present loss contingencies as to which it is both probable that a loss will be incurred and the amount of such loss can be reasonably estimated. The Company also discloses contingent matters for which there is a reasonable possibility of a loss. Based upon currently available information, the Company believes that the results of litigation that are currently pending, taken together, will not have a materially adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. The actual results of resolving the pending litigation matters may be substantially higher than the amounts accrued.

The foregoing statements about the Company’s litigation are based upon the Company’s judgments, assumptions and estimates and are necessarily subjective and uncertain. The Company has a number of threatened and pending litigation matters at various stages.