Property, Plant And Equipment

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Property, Plant And Equipment [Abstract]

(5) Property, Plant and Equipment:

Property, plant and equipment, net is as follows:



($ in millions)	March 31, 2015		December 31, 2014

Property, plant and equipment	$	17,095	$	16,946
Less: Accumulated depreciation		(8,617)		(8,380)
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	8,478	$	8,566

Depreciation expense is principally based on the composite group method. Depreciation expense was $249 million and $206 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. We adopted new estimated remaining useful lives for certain plant assets as of October 1, 2014, as a result of our annual independent study of the estimated remaining useful lives of our plant assets, with an insignificant impact to depreciation expense. In addition, we commissioned an independent study to determine the estimated useful lives for assets acquired during the Connecticut Acquisition. These new lives were adopted effective October 24, 2014.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Includes, but is not limited to, accounting policies and methodology, roll forwards, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, including composite depreciation, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, useful lives and method used, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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