Derivative Instruments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Derivative Instruments

Derivative Instruments:

Derivative financial instruments are used to manage exposure to commodity price risk. Commodity price risk represents the potential impact that can be caused by a change in the market value of a particular commodity. BVES purchases power under long-term contracts at a fixed cost depending on the amount of power and the period during which the power is purchased under such contracts.  In December 2014, BVES entered into several CPUC-approved long-term purchased power contracts with energy providers. BVES began taking power under these long-term contracts effective January 1, 2015 at a fixed cost over three- and five-year terms depending on the amount of power and the period during which the power is purchased under the contracts.

The long-term contracts executed in December 2014 are subject to the accounting guidance for derivatives and require mark-to-market derivative accounting. Among other things, the CPUC also authorized GSWC to establish a regulatory asset and liability memorandum account to offset the mark-to-market entries required by the accounting guidance.  Accordingly, all unrealized gains and losses generated from the purchased power contracts executed in December 2014 are deferred on a monthly basis into a non-interest bearing regulatory memorandum account that tracks the changes in fair value of the derivatives throughout the terms of the contracts. As a result, these unrealized gains and losses do not impact GSWC’s earnings. As of September 30, 2016, there was a $5.6 million unrealized loss in the memorandum account for the purchased power contracts as a result of the drop in energy prices. The notional volume of derivatives remaining under these long-term contracts as of September 30, 2016 was approximately 396,000 megawatt hours.

The accounting guidance for fair value measurements applies to all financial assets and financial liabilities that are being measured and reported on a fair value basis. Under the accounting guidance, GSWC makes fair value measurements that are classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;

Level 2: Quoted prices in markets that are not active or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; or

Level 3: Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (i.e., supported by little or no market activity).

To value the contracts, Registrant applies the Black-76 model, utilizing various inputs that include quoted market prices for energy over the duration of the contracts. The market prices used to determine the fair value for these derivative instruments may be estimated based on independent sources such as broker quotes and publications that are not observable in or corroborated by the market.  Registrant received one broker quote to determine the fair value of its derivative instruments.  When such inputs have a significant impact on the measurement of fair value, the instruments are categorized as Level 3. Accordingly, the valuation of the derivatives on Registrant’s purchased power contract has been classified as Level 3 for all periods presented.

 The following table presents changes in the fair value of GSWC’s Level 3 derivatives for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015:

	For The Three Months Ended September 30,						For The Nine Months Ended   September 30,
(dollars in thousands)	2016			2015			2016			2015
Fair value at beginning of the period	$	(4,933	)	$	(5,662	)	$	(7,053	)	$	(3,339	)
Unrealized gain (loss) on purchased power contracts	(648		)	(1,584		)	1,472			(3,907		)
Fair value at end of the period	$	(5,581	)	$	(7,246	)	$	(5,581	)	$	(7,246	)