LEASES

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which revised the previous guidance (Topic 840) regarding accounting for leases. Revisions include requiring a lessee to recognize a lease asset and a lease liability on its balance sheet for each lease, including operating leases with an initial term greater than 12 months. In addition, required quantitative and qualitative disclosures related to lease agreements were expanded.

As required, we adopted Topic 842 effective January 1, 2019. We utilized the following practical expedients, which were available under ASU 2016-02, in our adoption of the new lease guidance.


•	We did not reassess whether any expired or existing contracts were leases or contained leases.


•	We did not reassess the lease classification for any expired or existing leases (that is, all leases that were classified as operating leases in accordance with Topic 840 continue to be classified as operating leases, and all leases that were classified as capital leases in accordance with Topic 840 are classified as finance leases).


•	We did not reassess the accounting for initial direct costs for any existing leases.

We did not elect the practical expedient allowing entities to account for the nonlease components in lease contracts as part of the single lease component to which they were related. Instead, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification 842-10-15-31, our policy is to account for each lease component separately from the nonlease components of the contract.

We did not elect the practical expedient to use hindsight in determining the lease term and in assessing impairment of our right of use assets. No impairment losses were included in the measurement of our right of use assets upon our adoption of Topic 842.

In January 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-01, Leases (Topic 842): Land Easement Practical Expedient for Transition to Topic 842, which is an amendment to ASU 2016-02. Land easements (also commonly referred to as rights of way) represent the right to use, access or cross another entity's land for a specified purpose. This new guidance permits an entity to elect a transitional practical expedient, to be applied consistently, to not evaluate under Topic 842 land easements that were already in existence or had expired at the time of the entity's adoption of Topic 842. Once Topic 842 is adopted, an entity is required to apply Topic 842 prospectively to all new (or modified) land easements to determine whether the arrangement should be accounted for as a lease. We elected this practical expedient, resulting in none of our land easements being treated as leases upon our adoption of Topic 842.

In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements, which amends ASU 2016-02 and allows entities the option to initially apply Topic 842 at the adoption date and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption, if required. We used the optional transition method to apply the new guidance as of January 1, 2019, rather than as of the earliest period presented. We did not require a cumulative-effect adjustment upon adoption of Topic 842.

Both the right of use assets and related lease liabilities related to our operating leases that were recorded upon adoption of Topic 842 were $13.0 million. Regarding our finance leases, while the adoption of Topic 842 changed the classification of expense related to these leases on a prospective basis, it had no impact on the total amount of lease expense recorded, and did not impact the finance lease assets and related liability amounts recorded on our balance sheets.

Obligations Under Operating Leases

We have recorded right of use assets and lease liabilities associated with the following operating leases.


•	Land we are leasing related to our Rothschild biomass plant through June 2051.


•	Rail cars we are leasing to transport coal to various generating facilities through February 2021.


•	Various office space leases.

The operating leases generally require us to pay property taxes, insurance premiums, and operating and maintenance costs associated with the leased property. Many of our leases contain options to renew past the initial term, as set forth in the lease agreement.

Obligations Under Finance Leases

We are the obligor under a power purchase contract with an unaffiliated third party and we lease power plants from We Power. Under finance lease accounting, we have recorded the leased plants and corresponding obligations as right of use assets and lease liabilities on our balance sheets. We treat these agreements as operating leases for rate-making purposes.

Prior to our adoption of Topic 842 on January 1, 2019, we accounted for these finance leases under Topic 980-840, Regulated Operations – Leases, as follows:


•	We recorded our minimum lease payments under the power purchase contract as purchased power expense on our income statement.


•	We recorded our minimum lease payments under our leases with We Power as rent expense in other operation and maintenance in our income statements.


•	We recorded the difference between the minimum lease payments and the sum of imputed interest and amortization costs calculated under finance lease accounting rules as a deferred regulatory asset on our balance sheets.

In conjunction with our adoption of Topic 842, while the timing of expense recognition related to our finance leases did not change, the classification of the lease expense changed as follows:


•	Effective January 1, 2019, the minimum lease payments under the power purchase contract were no longer classified within purchased power expense, but were instead recorded as a component of depreciation and amortization and interest expense in accordance with Topic 980-842, Regulated Operations – Leases.


•	Similarly, the lease payments related to our leases with We Power were no longer classified as rent expense within other operation and maintenance in our income statements, but were also divided between amortization expense and interest expense in accordance with Topic 980-842.


•	In order to ensure the timing of lease expense did not change for these finance leases upon adoption of Topic 842, and still resembled the expense recognition pattern of an operating lease, the amortization of the right of use assets was modified from what would typically be recorded for a finance lease under Topic 842.


•	We continue to record the difference between the minimum lease payments and the sum of imputed interest and unadjusted amortization costs calculated under the finance lease accounting rules as a deferred regulatory asset on our balance sheets.

Power Purchase Commitment

In 1997, we entered into a 25-year power purchase contract with an unaffiliated independent power producer. The contract, for 236 MWs of firm capacity from a natural gas-fired cogeneration facility, includes zero minimum energy requirements. When the contract expires in 2022, we may, at our option and with proper notice, renew for another ten years, purchase the generating facility at fair market value, or allow the contract to expire. We originally recorded this leased facility and corresponding obligation on our balance sheets at the estimated fair value of the plant's electric generating facilities.

As previously discussed, we treat the long-term power purchase contract as an operating lease for rate-making purposes. We record the difference between the minimum lease payments and the sum of imputed interest and amortization costs calculated under finance lease accounting rules as a deferred regulatory asset on our balance sheets. Minimum lease payments are a function of the 236 MWs of firm capacity we receive from the plant and the fixed monthly capacity rate published in the lease. Due to the timing and the amounts of the minimum lease payments, the regulatory asset increased to $78.5 million in 2009, at which time the regulatory asset began to be reduced to zero over the remaining life of the contract. The total obligation under the finance lease was $22.1 million at March 31, 2019, and will decrease to zero over the remaining life of the contract.

Port Washington Generating Station

We are leasing PWGS 1 and PWGS 2, two 545 MW natural gas-fired generation units, which were placed in service in July 2005 and May 2008, respectively, from We Power under PSCW approved leases. We are amortizing the leased units on a straight-line basis over the original 25-year term of the leases. The lease payments are expected to be recovered through our rates, as supported by Wisconsin's 2001 leased generation law. Due to the timing and the amounts of the minimum lease payments, we expect the regulatory asset to increase to approximately $129.3 million in the year 2021 for PWGS 1 and to approximately $126.0 million in the year 2023 for PWGS 2, at which time the regulatory assets will be reduced to zero over the remaining lives of the contracts. The total obligation under the finance leases for the units was $631.5 million as of March 31, 2019, and will decrease to zero over the remaining lives of the contracts.

The only variability associated with the PWGS lease payments relates to the potential for future changes in We Power's tax or interest rates, as the positive or negative impact of these changes are generally passed along to us, and subsequently to our customers. Because variability in the lease payments is dependent upon a rate (interest rate or tax rate), the lease payments are considered unavoidable under Topic 842, and are included in the measurement of the right of use asset and lease liability, consistent with how they were treated under Topic 840.

When the PWGS 1 and PWGS 2 contracts expire in 2030 and 2033, respectively, we may, at our option and with proper notice, choose to renew one or both contracts for up to three consecutive renewal terms (each renewal term would approximate 80% of the then remaining economic useful life of the respective generation unit), purchase one or both generating facilities at fair market value, or allow the contracts to expire.

Elm Road Generating Station

We are leasing ER 1, ER 2, and the common facilities, which are also utilized by our OC 5 through OC 8 generating units, from We Power under PSCW approved leases. We are amortizing the leased units on a straight-line basis over the 30-year term of the leases. ER 1 and ER 2 were placed in service in February 2010 and January 2011, respectively. The lease payments are expected to be recovered through our rates, as supported by Wisconsin's 2001 leased generation law. Due to the timing and the amounts of the minimum lease payments, we expect the regulatory asset to increase to approximately $524.1 million in the year 2028 for ER 1 and to approximately $430.6 million in the year 2029 for ER 2, at which time the regulatory assets will be reduced to zero over the remaining lives of the contracts. The total obligation under the finance leases was $2,212.2 million as of March 31, 2019, and will decrease to zero over the remaining lives of the contracts.

The only variability associated with the ER lease payments relates to the potential for future changes in We Power's tax or interest rates, as the positive or negative impact of these changes are generally passed along to us, and subsequently to our customers. Because variability in the lease payments is dependent upon a rate (interest rate or tax rate), the lease payments are considered unavoidable under Topic 842, and are included in the measurement of the right of use asset and lease liability, consistent with how they were treated under Topic 840.

When the ER 1 and ER 2 contracts expire in 2040 and 2041, respectively, we may, at our option and with proper notice, choose to renew one or both contracts for up to three consecutive renewal terms (each renewal term would approximate 80% of the then remaining economic useful life of the respective generation unit), purchase one or both generating facilities at fair market value, or allow the contracts to expire.

Amounts Recognized in the Financial Statements

The components of lease expense and supplemental cash flow information related to our leases for the quarters ended March 31 are as follows:



(in millions)	2019			2018
Long-term power purchase commitment	$	2.0		$	1.9
We Power leases	91.8			91.8
Total finance/capital lease expense ⁽¹⁾	$	93.8		$	93.7

Operating lease expense ⁽²⁾	0.7			0.7
Total lease expense	$	94.5		$	94.4

Other information

Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows from finance/capital leases ⁽³⁾	$	89.8		$	94.2
Operating cash flows from operating leases	$	0.7		$	0.7
Financing cash flows from finance leases ⁽³⁾	$	5.7		$	—

Non-cash activity - right of use assets obtained in exchange for operating lease liabilities	$	13.0

Weighted-average remaining lease term – finance leases	19.3 years
Weighted-average remaining lease term – operating leases	22.4 years

Weighted-average discount rate – finance leases ⁽⁴⁾	13.9		%
Weighted average discount rate – operating leases ⁽⁴⁾	4.6		%

⁽¹⁾

For the quarter ended March 31, 2019, total finance lease expense included amortization of right of use assets in the amount of $5.7 million (included in depreciation and amortization expense) and interest on lease liabilities of $88.1 million (included in interest expense). For the quarter ended March 31, 2018, total finance lease cost related to the long-term power purchase agreement was included in cost of sales and total finance lease cost related to the PWGS and ERGS units was included in other operation and maintenance.


⁽²⁾	Operating lease expense was included as a component of operation and maintenance for the quarters ended March 31, 2019 and 2018.


⁽³⁾	Prior to our adoption of Topic 842 on January 1, 2019, all cash flows related to finance leases were recorded as a component of operating cash flows.


⁽⁴⁾	Because our operating leases do not provide an implicit rate of return, we used the fully collateralized incremental borrowing rates based upon information available for similarly rated companies in determining the present value of lease payments for our operating leases. For our financing leases, the rate implicit in each lease was readily determinable.

The following table summarizes our finance lease right of use assets, which were included in property, plant and equipment on our balance sheets:



(in millions)	March 31, 2019			December 31, 2018
Long-term power purchase commitment
Under finance/capital lease	$	140.3		$	140.3
Accumulated amortization	(122.3		)	(120.9		)
Total long-term power purchase commitment	$	18.0		$	19.4

PWGS
Under finance/capital lease	$	739.2		$	736.9
Accumulated amortization	(343.9		)	(335.9		)
Total PWGS	$	395.3		$	401.0

ERGS
Under finance/capital lease	$	2,184.5		$	2,166.3
Accumulated amortization	(617.2		)	(598.8		)
Total ERGS	$	1,567.3		$	1,567.5

Total finance lease right of use assets/capital lease assets	$	1,980.6		$	1,987.9

Right of use assets related to operating leases were $12.5 million at March 31, 2019, and were included in other long-term assets on our balance sheets.

Future minimum lease payments under our finance and operating leases and the present value of our net minimum lease payments as of March 31, 2019 were as follows:



(in millions)	Total Operating Leases			Power Purchase Commitment			PWGS			ERGS			Total Finance Leases
Nine months ended December 31, 2019	$	2.0		$	6.2		$	73.5		$	219.8		$	299.5
2020	2.7			8.8			98.0			293.1			399.9
2021	0.7			9.4			98.0			293.1			400.5
2022	0.6			4.2			98.0			292.9			395.1
2023	0.5			—			98.0			292.8			390.8
2024	0.5			—			97.9			292.7			390.6
Thereafter	13.5			—			677.8			4,538.5			5,216.3
Total minimum lease payments	20.5			28.6			1,241.2			6,222.9			7,492.7
Less: Interest	(8.0		)	(6.5		)	(609.7		)	(4,010.7		)	(4,626.9		)
Present value of minimum lease payments	12.5			22.1			631.5			2,212.2			2,865.8
Less: Short-term lease liabilities	(2.2		)	(5.2		)	(23.1		)	(23.7		)	(52.0		)
Long-term lease liabilities	$	10.3		$	16.9		$	608.4		$	2,188.5		$	2,813.8

Short-term and long-term lease liabilities related to operating leases were included in other current liabilities and other long-term liabilities on the balance sheets, respectively.

Significant Judgments and Other Information

We are currently party to several easement agreements that allow us access to land we do not own for the purpose of constructing and maintaining certain electric power and natural gas equipment. The majority of payments we make related to easements relate to our wind farms. We have not classified our easements as leases because we view the entire parcel of land specified in our easement agreements to be the identified asset, not just that portion of the parcel that contains our easement. As such, we have concluded that we do not control the use of an identified asset related to our easement agreements, nor do we obtain substantially all of the economic benefits associated with these shared-use assets.

As of May 3, 2019, we have not entered into any material operating leases that have not yet commenced.