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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES:

GUARANTEES — As part of the Transaction involving the Energenic projects (see Note 3), the Company is relieved of any guarantees from prior periods related to the projects in which it no longer has an ownership interest.

As of March 31, 2016, SJI had issued $6.2 million of parental guarantees on behalf of an unconsolidated subsidiary. These guarantees generally expire within the next two years and were issued to enable our subsidiary to market retail natural gas.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS — Unionized personnel represent approximately 45% of our workforce at March 31, 2016. The Company has collective bargaining agreements with two unions that represent these employees: the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1293 and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 76.  SJG and SJESP employees represented by the IBEW operate under collective bargaining agreements that run through February 2017. The remaining unionized employees are represented by the IAM and operate under collective bargaining agreements that run through August 2017.

STANDBY LETTERS OF CREDIT — As of March 31, 2016, SJI provided $3.3 million of standby letters of credit through its revolving credit facility to enable SJE to market retail electricity and for various construction and operating activities. SJG provided a $2.1 million letter of credit under its revolving credit facility to support the remediation of environmental conditions at certain locations in SJG's service territory. The Company has also provided $87.5 million of additional letters of credit under separate facilities outside of the revolving credit facilities to support variable-rate demand bonds issued through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) to finance the expansion of SJG’s natural gas distribution system and to finance Marina's initial thermal plant project.

PENDING LITIGATION — The Company is subject to claims arising in the ordinary course of business and other legal proceedings. The Company has been named in, among other actions, certain gas supply and capacity management contract disputes and certain product liability claims related to our former sand mining subsidiary. We accrue liabilities related to these claims when we can reasonably estimate the amount or range of amounts of probable settlement costs or other charges for these claims. The Company has accrued approximately $3.3 million and $3.2 million related to all claims in the aggregate as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. Management does not believe that it is reasonably possible that there will be a material change in the Company's estimated liability in the near term and does not currently anticipate the disposition of any known claims that would have a material effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION COSTS — SJI incurred and recorded costs for environmental cleanup of 12 sites where SJG or its predecessors operated gas manufacturing plants. SJG stopped manufacturing gas in the 1950s. SJI and some of its nonutility subsidiaries also recorded costs for environmental cleanup of sites where SJF previously operated a fuel oil business and Morie maintained equipment, fueling stations and storage. There have been no changes to the status of the Company’s environmental remediation efforts since December 31, 2015, as described in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of SJI’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.