Commitments And Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments And Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Environmental Matters.  The Company is subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment.  The Company has established procedures for the ongoing evaluation of its operations to identify potential environmental exposures and to comply with regulatory requirements.  It is the Company’s policy to accrue estimated environmental clean-up costs (investigation and remediation) when such amounts can reasonably be estimated and it is probable that the Company will be required to incur such costs. 

    At December 31, 2023, the Company has estimated its remaining clean-up costs related to former manufactured gas plant sites will be approximately $3.2 million.  The Company's liability for such clean-up costs has been recorded in Other Liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2023. The Company has recovered its environmental clean-up costs through rate recovery and is currently not aware of any material additional exposure to environmental liabilities.  However, changes in environmental laws and regulations, new information or other factors could have an adverse financial impact on the Company.

Northern Access Project. On February 3, 2017, Supply Corporation and Empire received FERC approval of the Northern Access project described herein. Shortly thereafter, the NYDEC issued a Notice of Denial of the federal Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification and other state stream and wetland permits for the New York portion of the project (the Water Quality Certification for the Pennsylvania portion of the project was received in January of 2017). Subsequently, FERC issued an Order finding that the NYDEC exceeded the statutory time frame to take action under the Clean Water Act and, therefore, waived its opportunity to approve or deny the Water Quality Certification. FERC denied rehearing requests associated with its Order and FERC's decisions were appealed. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order upholding the FERC waiver orders. In addition, in the Company's state court litigation challenging the NYDEC's actions with regard to various state permits, the New York State Supreme Court issued a decision finding these permits to be preempted. The Company remains committed to the project and, on June 29, 2022, received an extension of time from FERC, until December 31, 2024, to construct the project which is the subject of an ongoing appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. As of December 31, 2023, the Company has spent approximately $56.0 million on the project, all of which is recorded on the balance sheet.

Other.  The Company is involved in other litigation and regulatory matters arising in the normal course of business.  These other matters may include, for example, negligence claims and tax, regulatory or other governmental audits, inspections, investigations and other proceedings.  These matters may involve state and federal taxes, safety, compliance with regulations, rate base, cost of service and purchased gas cost issues, among other things.  While these other matters arising in the normal course of business could have a material effect on earnings and cash flows in the period in which they are resolved, an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss, if any, cannot be made at this time.