COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENT AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES:

GUARANTEES — As of September 30, 2019, SJI had issued $10.6 million of parental guarantees on behalf of an unconsolidated subsidiary. These guarantees generally expire within the next two years and were issued to enable the subsidiary to market retail natural gas.

GAS SUPPLY CONTRACTS - In the normal course of business, SJG, SJRG and ETG have entered into long-term contracts for natural gas supplies, firm transportation and gas storage service. The transportation and storage service agreements with interstate pipeline suppliers were made under FERC-approved tariffs. SJG and ETG's cumulative obligation for gas supply-related demand charges and reservation fees paid to suppliers for these services averages approximately $6.9 million and $5.1 million per month, respectively, and is recovered on a current basis through the BGSS. SJRG's cumulative obligation for demand charges and reservation fees paid to suppliers for these services averages approximately $1.3 million per month. SJRG has also committed to purchase 832,500 dts/d of natural gas, from various suppliers, for terms ranging from 4 to 10 years at index-based prices.

ETG has an AMA with SJRG for transportation and storage capacity to meet natural gas demands. The AMA is valid through March 31, 2022. It also requires SJRG to pay minimum annual fees of $4.25 million to ETG and includes tiered margin sharing levels between ETG and SJRG (see Note 1).

TSA - SJI has entered into a TSA with Southern Company Gas whereby the latter will provide certain administrative and operational services through no later than January 31, 2020.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS — Unionized personnel represent approximately 45% and 69% of SJI's and SJG's workforce at September 30, 2019, respectively. SJI has collective bargaining agreements with unions that represent these employees: IBEW Local 1293, IAM Local 76 and UWUA Local 424. SJG employees represented by the IBEW operate under a collective bargaining agreement that runs through February 2022. SJG's remaining unionized employees are represented by the IAM and operate under a collective bargaining agreement that runs through August 2021. ETG employees represented by the UWUA operate under a collective bargaining agreement that runs through November 2020.

STANDBY LETTERS OF CREDIT — As of September 30, 2019, SJI provided $9.6 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. ETG provided a $1.0 million letter of credit under its revolving credit facility to support commodity trading activity. SJG provided a $0.8 million letter of credit under its revolving credit facility to support the remediation of environmental conditions at certain locations in SJG's service territory. SJG has provided $25.1 million of additional letters of credit under a separate facility outside of the revolving credit facility to support variable-rate demand bonds issued through the NJEDA to finance the expansion of SJG’s natural gas distribution system.

EQUITY AND CORPORATE UNITS - The Company has a contract obligating the holder of the units to purchase from the Company, and for the Company to sell to the holder for a price in cash of $50, a certain number of shares of common stock. See Note 4.

PENDING LITIGATION — SJI and SJG are subject to claims, actions and other legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. Neither SJI nor SJG can make any assurance as to the outcome of any of these actions but, based on an analysis of these claims and consultation with outside counsel, we do not believe that any of these claims, other than described below, will have a material impact on the business or financial statements of SJI or SJG. 

SJI was involved in a pricing dispute related to two long-term gas supply contracts. On May 8, 2017, a jury from the United States District Court for the District of Colorado returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff supplier. On July 21, 2017, the court entered final judgment against SJG and SJRG. As a result of this ruling, SJG and SJRG have accrued, including interest, $22.9 million and $59.3 million, respectively, from the first quarter of 2017 through September 30, 2019. We believe that the amount to be paid by SJG reflects a gas cost that ultimately will be recovered from SJG’s customers through adjusted rates. As such, the $22.9 million associated with SJG was recorded as both an Accounts Payable and an increase in Regulatory Assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheets of both SJI and SJG as of September 30, 2019. The $59.3 million associated with SJRG was also recorded as an Accounts Payable on the condensed consolidated balance sheets of SJI as of September 30, 2019. Charges recorded to Cost of Sales - Nonutility on the condensed consolidated statements of income of SJI were $0.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, and $1.4 million and $2.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively. There were no charges recorded to Cost of Sales - Nonutility on the condensed consolidated statement of income of SJI for the three months ended September 30, 2019. SJI also recorded to Interest Charges on the condensed consolidated statements of income $0.4 million and $1.1 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and $0.3 million and $0.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively. In April 2018, SJI filed an appeal of this judgment which was heard by the Tenth Circuit on January 22, 2019. On August 6, 2019, the Tenth Circuit issued its decision affirming the lower court’s decision and finding that SJG and SJRG breached the contracts and the plaintiff is entitled to damages. SJI established a reserve to reflect the differences between the invoices and paid amounts, as noted above. The plaintiff supplier filed a second related lawsuit against SJG and SJRG in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado on December 21, 2017, alleging that SJG and SJRG have continued to breach the gas supply contracts notwithstanding the judgment in the prior lawsuit. The plaintiff supplier sought recovery of the amounts disputed by SJI since the earlier judgment, and a declaration regarding the price under the disputed contracts going forward until the contracts terminate in October 2019. The decision in the first lawsuit is prejudicial to this second lawsuit and SJI is similarly obligated to pay damages related to this breach of contract claim as well. All reserves related to this second lawsuit are recorded as part of the accrued amounts disclosed above. As a result of these judgments, SJRG paid $59.3 million in September 2019 and SJG paid $22.9 million in October 2019 to the plaintiff supplier (see Note 20). These cases are now concluded.

In August 2018, the State of New Jersey filed a civil enforcement action against SJG and several other current and former owners of certain property in Atlantic City, NJ where SJG and its predecessors previously operated a manufactured gas plant. The State of New Jersey is alleging damage to the State's natural resources and seeking payment for damages to those natural resources. SJG has been working with a licensed state remediation professional to remediate the site and is currently evaluating the merits of the State of New Jersey's allegations. At this time, SJG cannot reasonably estimate nor provide an assessment of the claim or any assurance regarding its outcome.

Liabilities related to claims are accrued when the amount or range of amounts of probable settlement costs or other charges for these claims can be reasonably estimated. For matters other than the disputes noted above, SJI has accrued approximately $2.8 million and $3.2 million related to all claims in the aggregate as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively, of which SJG has accrued approximately $0.6 million and $0.9 million as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.

ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION COSTS — SJG 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. ETG is subject to environmental remediation liabilities associated with six former manufactured gas plant sites in New Jersey. These environmental remediation expenditures are recoverable from customers through rate mechanisms approved by the BPU. 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 significant changes to the status of SJI’s environmental remediation efforts since December 31, 2018, as described in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of SJI’s and SJG's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.