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REPORTING SEGMENT AND OTHER OPERATIONS DATA
 3 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Segment Reporting [Abstract]  
REPORTING SEGMENT AND OTHER OPERATIONS DATA
14. REPORTING SEGMENT AND OTHER OPERATIONS DATA

The Company organizes its businesses based on a combination of factors, including its products and its regulatory environment. As a result, the Company manages its businesses through the following reporting segments and other operations: Natural Gas Distribution consists of regulated energy and off-system, capacity and storage management operations; Clean Energy Ventures consists of capital investments in clean energy projects; Energy Services consists of unregulated wholesale and retail energy operations; Storage and Transportation consists of the Company’s investments in natural gas transportation and storage facilities; the Home Services and Other business operations consist of heating, cooling and water appliance sales, installations and services, other investments and general corporate activities.

Information related to the Company's various reporting segments and other operations is detailed below:
Three Months Ended
December 31,
(Thousands)20222021
Operating revenues
Natural Gas Distribution
External customers$357,409 $274,435 
Intercompany337 337 
Clean Energy Ventures
External customers12,792 10,183 
Energy Services
External customers (1)
313,399 365,788 
Intercompany8,383 3,456 
Storage and Transportation
External customers25,714 11,584 
Intercompany1,124 559 
Subtotal719,158 666,342 
Home Services and Other
External customers14,253 13,852 
Intercompany13 99 
Eliminations(9,857)(4,451)
Total$723,567 $675,842 
Depreciation and amortization
Natural Gas Distribution$24,890 $22,893 
Clean Energy Ventures5,576 5,233 
Energy Services (2)
57 28 
Storage and Transportation5,942 2,133 
Subtotal36,465 30,287 
Home Services and Other218 204 
Eliminations— (98)
Total$36,683 $30,393 
Interest income (3)
Natural Gas Distribution$413 $193 
Energy Services269 — 
Storage and Transportation1,401 377 
Subtotal2,083 570 
Home Services and Other654 155 
Eliminations(778)(224)
Total$1,959 $501 
(1)Includes sales to Canada for the Energy Services segment, which are immaterial.
(2)The amortization of acquired wholesale energy contracts is excluded above and is included in natural gas purchases - nonutility on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
(3)Included in other income, net on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Three Months Ended
December 31,
(Thousands)20222021
Interest expense, net of capitalized interest
Natural Gas Distribution$13,709 $10,995 
Clean Energy Ventures5,895 5,427 
Energy Services3,058 675 
Storage and Transportation6,707 2,136 
Subtotal29,369 19,233 
Home Services and Other122 244 
Total$29,491 $19,477 
Income tax provision (benefit)
Natural Gas Distribution$14,383 $13,204 
Clean Energy Ventures(1,837)(2,046)
Energy Services20,064 20,505 
Storage and Transportation1,943 343 
Subtotal34,553 32,006 
Home Services and Other217 246 
Eliminations(1,792)(1,445)
Total$32,978 $30,807 
Equity in earnings of affiliates
Storage and Transportation$909 $1,056 
Eliminations37 (481)
Total$946 $575 
Net financial earnings (loss)
Natural Gas Distribution$54,664 $51,080 
Clean Energy Ventures(3,582)(6,821)
Energy Services52,533 17,567 
Storage and Transportation6,243 2,962 
Subtotal109,858 64,788 
Home Services and Other(29)447 
Eliminations455 535 
Total$110,284 $65,770 
Capital expenditures
Natural Gas Distribution$82,071 $73,464 
Clean Energy Ventures43,993 25,380 
Storage and Transportation19,719 65,375 
Subtotal145,783 164,219 
Home Services and Other140 79 
Total$145,923 $164,298 
The Company's assets for the various reporting segments and business operations are detailed below:
(Thousands)December 31,
2022		September 30,
2022
Assets at end of period:
Natural Gas Distribution$4,226,035 $4,030,686 
Clean Energy Ventures1,047,726 1,015,065 
Energy Services446,017 333,064 
Storage and Transportation1,009,567 999,520 
Subtotal6,729,345 6,378,335 
Home Services and Other145,887 159,068 
Intercompany assets (1)
(265,138)(275,987)
Total$6,610,094 $6,261,416 
(1)Consists of transactions between subsidiaries that are eliminated and reclassified in consolidation.

The Chief Executive Officer, who uses NFE as a measure of profit or loss in measuring the results of the Company's reporting segments and operations, is the chief operating decision maker of the Company. A reconciliation of consolidated NFE to consolidated net income is as follows:
Three Months Ended
December 31,
(Thousands)20222021
Net financial earnings$110,284 $65,770 
Less:
Unrealized (gain) on derivative instruments and related transactions(31,503)(82,191)
Tax effect7,487 19,536 
Effects of economic hedging related to natural gas inventory23,972 23,577 
Tax effect(5,697)(5,603)
NFE tax adjustment104 (861)
Net income$115,921 $111,312 

The Company uses derivative instruments as economic hedges of purchases and sales of physical natural gas inventory. For GAAP purposes, these derivatives are recorded at fair value and related changes in fair value are included in reported earnings. Revenues and cost of natural gas related to physical natural gas flow are recognized when the natural gas is delivered to customers. Consequently, there is a mismatch in the timing of earnings recognition between the economic hedges and physical natural gas flows. Timing differences occur in two ways:

•unrealized gains and losses on derivatives are recognized in reported earnings in periods prior to physical natural gas inventory flows; and

•unrealized gains and losses of prior periods are reclassified as realized gains and losses when derivatives are settled in the same period as physical natural gas inventory movements occur.

NFE is a measure of the earnings based on eliminating these timing differences, to effectively match the earnings effects of the economic hedges with the physical sale of natural gas, SRECs and foreign currency contracts. Consequently, to reconcile between net income and NFE, current period unrealized gains and losses on the derivatives are excluded from NFE as a reconciling item. Realized derivative gains and losses are also included in current period net income. However, NFE includes only realized gains and losses related to natural gas sold out of inventory, effectively matching the full earnings effects of the derivatives with realized margins on physical natural gas flows. Included in the tax effects are current and deferred income tax expense corresponding with the components of NFE. The Company also calculates a quarterly tax adjustment based on an estimated annual effective tax rate for NFE purposes.