RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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 December 31, 2017, 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
	December 31,
(Thousands)	2017		2016
Natural Gas Distribution	$	1,448	$	1,410
Energy Services	701		701
Total	$	2,149	$	2,111

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



(Thousands)	December 31, 2017		September 30, 2017
Natural Gas Distribution	$	775	$	775
Energy Services	375		377
Total	$	1,150	$	1,152

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 December 31, 2017, NJNG and Energy Services had four asset management agreements with expiration dates ranging from February 28, 2018 through October 31, 2020.

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