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 March 31, 2019, 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				Six Months Ended
	March 31,				March 31,
(Thousands)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Natural Gas Distribution	$	1,443	$	1,407	$	2,916	$	2,855
Energy Services	701		680		1,413		1,381
Total	$	2,144	$	2,087	$	4,329	$	4,236

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



(Thousands)	March 31, 2019		September 30, 2018
Natural Gas Distribution	$	778	$	775
Energy Services	376		375
Total	$	1,154	$	1,150

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 March 31, 2019, NJNG and Energy Services had five asset management agreements with expiration dates ranging from March 31, 2019 through October 31, 2021.

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.