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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 12 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Commitments The Company and the Utilities have entered into contracts with various counterparties, expiring on dates through 2031, for the storage, transportation, and supply of natural gas. Minimum payments required under the contracts in place at September 30, 2017 are estimated at $1,281.8, $563.9 and $285.6 for the Company, Spire Missouri and Spire Alabama, respectively. Additional contracts are generally entered into prior to or during the heating season of November through April. The Utilities recover their costs from customers in accordance with their PGA clauses or GSA riders. Spire NGL Inc. is providing liquid propane transportation service to Spire Missouri pursuant to an approved FERC tariff and a contractual arrangement with Spire Missouri. In accordance with the terms of that agreement, Spire Missouri is obligated to pay Spire NGL Inc. approximately $1.0 annually, at current rates. The agreement renews at the end of each contract year, unless terminated by either party upon provision of at least six months’ notice. A consolidated subsidiary is a general partner in an unconsolidated partnership that invests in real estate partnerships. The subsidiary and third parties are jointly and severally liable for the payment of mortgage loans in the aggregate outstanding amount of approximately $1.3 incurred in connection with various real estate ventures. Spire has no reason to believe that the other principal liable parties will not be able to meet their proportionate share of these obligations. Spire further believes that the asset values of the real estate properties are sufficient to support these mortgage loans. Leases Aggregate rental expense and annual minimum rental commitments under all leases having an initial or remaining non-cancelable term of more than one year are shown below:
| Aggregate Rental Expense |  |  | Minimum Rental Commitments
| 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2015 |  | 2018 |  | 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2021 |  | 2022 |  | Later |  | Total
Spire | $ | 9.7 |  |  | $ | 11.9 |  |  | $ | 14.1 |  |  | $ | 10.1 |  |  | $ | 9.3 |  |  | $ | 7.8 |  |  | $ | 6.1 |  |  | $ | 6.0 |  |  | $ | 44.4 |  |  | $ | 83.7 |
Spire Missouri | 4.8 |  |  | 4.3 |  |  | 7.6 |  |  | 2.1 |  |  | 1.3 |  |  | 0.2 |  |  | 0.2 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 3.8 |
Spire Alabama | 4.6 |  |  | 3.7 |  |  | 4.0 |  |  | 4.0 |  |  | 4.1 |  |  | 3.8 |  |  | 2.1 |  |  | 2.1 |  |  | 2.8 |  |  | 18.9 |
The lease agreement covering the Company’s primary office space in Missouri extends through January 2035. The lease agreement covering the primary office space of Spire Alabama extends through February 2020. Spire Alabama has an operating lease for additional office space that extends to January 31, 2024. Spire Alabama has subleased all of this additional office space to Energen pursuant to a sublease that expires on December 31, 2019 with an option to extend through January 31, 2024. Amounts in the table above have not been reduced for sublease rentals. For Spire Alabama and Spire, sublease rentals were $2.1, $2.1, and $2.1 for fiscal years 2017, 2016, and 2015, and minimum future rentals to be received in fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020 are $2.1, $2.1, and $0.5, respectively. Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Marketing have other relatively minor rental arrangements that provide for minimum rental payments. Contingencies The Company and Utilities account for environmental liabilities and other contingencies in accordance with accounting standards under the loss contingency guidance of ASC Topic 450, “Contingencies,” when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. The Company and the Utilities own and operate natural gas distribution, transmission, and storage facilities, the operations of which are subject to various environmental laws, regulations, and interpretations. While environmental issues resulting from such operations arise in the ordinary course of business, such issues have not materially affected the Company’s or Utilities’ financial position and results of operations. As environmental laws, regulations, and their interpretations change, the Company or the Utilities may incur additional environmental liabilities that may result in additional costs, which may be material. In addition to matters noted below, the Company, Spire Missouri, and Spire Alabama are involved in other litigation, claims, and investigations arising in the normal course of business. Management, after discussion with counsel, believes that the final outcome will not have a material effect on the statements of income, balance sheets, and statements of cash flows of the Company, Spire Missouri, or Spire Alabama. However, there is uncertainty in the valuation of pending claims and prediction of litigation results. In the natural gas industry, many gas distribution companies have incurred environmental liabilities associated with sites they or their predecessor companies formerly owned or operated where manufactured gas operations took place. The Utilities each have former manufactured gas plant (MGP) operations in their respective service territories. Spire On June 14, 2017, Spire filed a lawsuit against Cellular South, Inc. d/b/a C-Spire in federal district court for the Southern District of Alabama, Civil Action 17-00266-KD-N, seeking a declaratory order that Spire’s SPIRE trademarks do not infringe upon Cellular South’s C-SPIRE trademarks, and that Spire is entitled to federal registration of its trademarks. In prior proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Cellular South filed oppositions to Spire’s attempts to register the SPIRE name, the SPIRE logo and the SPIRE LOGO + HANDSHAKE trademarks. In answer to Spire’s lawsuit, Cellular South filed counterclaims alleging infringement and unfair business practices, and seeking a declaration of infringement and that SPIRE marks are not registrable by Spire. On September 11, 2017, a federal district court judge denied Cellular South’s motion for a temporary restraining order and an injunction that would have prohibited Spire from using the SPIRE trademarks in Alabama and Mississippi. After consultation with counsel, the Company does not believe that the final resolution of this matter will have a detrimental impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations. Spire Gulf is in the chain of title of one former MGP site which it still owns in Mobile, Alabama. On September 15, 2010, Spire Gulf filed an application to enroll the site into the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s (ADEM) Voluntary Cleanup Program. This application was accepted by ADEM on November 16, 2010. Investigation and testing have been completed. Spire Gulf received an approved remediation plan from ADEM and the remedial actions under the plan were completed in fiscal 2017. Spire Gulf and the Company do not expect potential liabilities that may arise from remediating this site to have a material impact on their future financial condition or results of operations. Since April 2012, a total of 14 lawsuits have been filed against Spire Gulf in Mobile County Circuit Court alleging that in the first half of 2008, Spire Gulf spilled tert-butyl mercaptan, an odorant added to natural gas for safety reasons, in Eight Mile, Alabama. Eleven of the lawsuits have been settled. The remaining three lawsuits, which include approximately 270 individual plaintiffs, allege nuisance, fraud and negligence causes of actions, and seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The Company has resolved all coverage disputes with its insurance carriers relating to this matter. The Company does not expect potential liabilities that may arise from these lawsuits to have a material impact on its future financial condition or results of operations. Spire Missouri Spire Missouri has identified four former MGP sites in eastern Missouri where costs have been incurred and claims have been asserted: one in Shrewsbury, Missouri and three in the city of St. Louis, Missouri (City). Spire Missouri has enrolled two of the sites in the City in the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Brownfields/Voluntary Cleanup Program (BVCP). The third site in the City is the result of a more recent claim assertion by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and such claim is currently being investigated. With regard to the former MGP site located in Shrewsbury, Missouri, Spire Missouri and state and federal environmental regulators agreed upon certain remedial actions to a portion of the site in a 1999 Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), which actions have been completed. On September 22, 2008, EPA Region 7 issued a letter of Termination and Satisfaction terminating the AOC. However, if after this termination of the AOC, regulators require additional remedial actions, or additional claims are asserted, Spire Missouri may incur additional costs. In conjunction with redevelopment of one of the sites located in the City, Spire Missouri and another former owner of the site entered into an agreement (Remediation Agreement) with the City development agencies, the developer, and an environmental consultant that obligates one of the City agencies and the environmental consultant to remediate the site and obtain a No Further Action letter from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). The Remediation Agreement also provides for a release of Spire Missouri and the other former site owner from certain liabilities related to the past and current environmental condition of the site and requires the developer and the environmental consultant to maintain certain insurance coverage, including remediation cost containment, premises pollution liability, and professional liability. The operative provisions of the Remediation Agreement were triggered on December 20, 2010, on which date Spire Missouri and the other former site owner, as full consideration under the Remediation Agreement, paid a small percentage of the cost of remediation of the site. The amount paid by Spire Missouri did not materially impact the financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows of the Company. Spire Missouri has not owned the second site located in the City for many years. In a letter dated June 29, 2011, the Attorney General for the state of Missouri informed Spire Missouri that the MDNR had completed an investigation of the site. The Attorney General requested that Spire Missouri participate in the follow up investigations of the site. In a letter dated January 10, 2012, Spire Missouri stated that it would participate in future environmental response activities at the site in conjunction with other potentially responsible parties (PRPs) that are willing to contribute to such efforts in a meaningful and equitable fashion. Accordingly, Spire Missouri entered into a cost sharing agreement for remedial investigation with other PRPs. Pending MDNR approval, which has not occurred to date, the remedial investigation of the site will begin. Additionally, in correspondence dated November 30, 2016, Region 7 of the EPA has asserted that Spire Missouri is liable under Section 107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) for alleged coal gas waste contamination at a third site in the northern portion of the City on which Spire Missouri operated a MGP. Spire Missouri has not owned or operated the site (also known as Station “B”) for over 70 years. Spire Missouri and the site owner have met with the EPA and reviewed its assertions. Both Spire Missouri and the site owner have notified the EPA that the information and data provided by the EPA to date does not rise to the level of documenting a threat to the public health or environment. As such, Spire Missouri is requesting more information from the EPA, some of which will also be utilized to identify other former owners and operators of the site that could be added as PRPs. To date, Spire Missouri has not received a response from the EPA. Spire Missouri has notified its insurers that it seeks reimbursement for costs incurred in the past and future potential liabilities associated with the MGP sites. While some of the insurers have denied coverage and reserved their rights, Spire Missouri continues to discuss potential reimbursements with them. On March 10, 2015, Spire Missouri received a Section 104(e) information request from EPA Region 7 regarding the former Thompson Chemical/Superior Solvents site in the City. In turn, Spire Missouri issued a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the EPA on April 3, 2015, in an effort to identify the basis of the inquiry. The FOIA response from the EPA was received on July 15, 2015 and a response was provided to the EPA on August 15, 2015. Spire Missouri has received no further inquiry from the EPA regarding this matter. In its western service area, Spire Missouri has seven owned MGP sites enrolled in the BVCP: Joplin MGP #1, St. Joseph MGP #1, Kansas City Coal Gas Station B, Kansas City Station A Railroad area, Kansas City Coal Gas Station A North, Kansas City Coal Gas Station A South, and Independence MGP #2. Source removal has been conducted at all of the owned sites since 2003 with the exception of Joplin. On September 15, 2016, a request was made with the MDNR for a restrictive covenant use limitation with respect to Joplin. Remediation efforts at the seven sites are at various stages of completion, ranging from groundwater monitoring and sampling following source removal activities to the aforementioned request in respect to Joplin. As part of its participation in the BVCP, Spire Missouri communicates regularly with the MDNR with respect to its remediation efforts and monitoring activities at these sites. On May 11, 2015, MDNR approved the next phase of investigation at the Kansas City Station A North and Railroad areas. To date, costs incurred for all Spire Missouri MGP sites for investigation, remediation and monitoring these sites have not been material. However, the amount of costs relative to future remedial actions at these and other sites is unknown and may be material. The actual future costs that Spire Missouri may incur could be materially higher or lower depending upon several factors, including whether remediation actions will be required, final selection and regulatory approval of any remedial actions, changing technologies and government regulations, the ultimate ability of other PRPs to pay, the successful completion of remediation efforts required by the Remediation Agreement described above, and any insurance recoveries. In 2013, Spire Missouri retained an outside consultant to conduct probabilistic cost modeling of 19 former MGP sites owned or operated by Spire Missouri. The purpose of this analysis was to develop an estimated range of probabilistic future liability for each site. That analysis, completed in August 2014, provided a range of demonstrated possible future expenditures to investigate, monitor and remediate all 19 MGP sites. Spire Missouri has recorded its best estimate of the probable expenditures that relate to these matters. The amount is not material. Costs associated with environmental remediation activities are accrued when such costs are probable and reasonably estimable. To the extent such costs (less any amounts received from insurance proceeds or as contributions from other PRPs) are incurred prior to a rate case, Spire Missouri would request from the MoPSC authority to defer such costs and collect them in the next rate case. Spire Missouri and the Company do not expect potential liabilities that may arise from remediating these sites to have a material impact on their future financial condition or results of operations. Spire Alabama Spire Alabama is in the chain of title of nine former MGP sites, four of which it still owns, and five former manufactured gas distribution sites, one of which it still owns. Spire Alabama does not foresee a probable or reasonably estimable loss associated with these nine sites. Spire Alabama and the Company do not expect potential liabilities that may arise from remediating these sites to have a material impact on their future financial conditions or results of operations. In 2012, Spire Alabama responded to an EPA Request for Information Pursuant to Section 104 of CERCLA relating to the 35th Avenue Superfund Site located in North Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama. Spire Alabama was identified as a PRP under CERCLA for the cleanup of the site or costs the EPA incurs in cleaning up the site. At this point, Spire Alabama has not been provided information that would allow it to determine the extent, if any, of its potential liability with respect to the 35th Avenue Superfund Site and vigorously denies its inclusion as a PRP. On December 17, 2013, an incident occurred at a Housing Authority apartment complex in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in one fatality, personal injuries and property damage. Spire Alabama cooperated with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which investigated the incident. The NTSB report of findings was issued on March 30, 2016 and no safety recommendations, fines, or penalties were contained therein. Spire Alabama has been named as a defendant in several lawsuits arising from the incident, and additional lawsuits and claims may be filed against Spire Alabama.

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