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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Other Matters
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Other Matters Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Other Matters
Accounting Policies
The accounting policies of Con Edison and its subsidiaries conform to generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP). For the Utilities, these accounting principles include the accounting rules for regulated operations and the accounting requirements of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the state regulators having jurisdiction.

Investments
Con Edison's investments consist primarily of the investments of Con Edison Transmission that are accounted for under the equity method and the fair value of the Utilities' supplemental retirement income plan and deferred income plan assets.

Investment in Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP)
In January 2016, a subsidiary of Con Edison Transmission acquired a 12.5 percent interest in MVP, a company developing a proposed 300-mile gas transmission project (the Mountain Valley Pipeline) in West Virginia and Virginia. During 2019, Con Edison exercised its right to limit, and did limit, its cash contributions to the joint venture to approximately $530 million, that reduced Con Edison Transmission’s interest in MVP to 9.6 percent and 7.9 percent as of December 31, 2022 and 2023, respectively. As of March 31, 2024, Con Edison Transmission's interest in MVP is 7.2 percent and is expected to be reduced to approximately 6.75 percent based on Con Edison Transmission’s previous capping of its cash contributions. As of December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2024, the Mountain Valley Pipeline was approximately 97 percent and 99 percent complete, respectively.

In June 2023, federal legislation to raise the U.S. debt ceiling included provisions declaring the Mountain Valley Pipeline to be in the national interest, expediting the permitting process and moving jurisdiction of challenges of permits to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. These actions enabled construction activities to resume in June 2023 and continue without substantial interruption for the duration of 2023. In April 2024, the operator of the Mountain Valley Pipeline announced that it expects to complete construction on or about May 31, 2024, with long-term firm capacity obligations to begin on the first day of month immediately following
the date MVP receives FERC authorization to commence service. The operator also announced it is targeting a total project cost of approximately $7,850 million (including contingency and excluding allowance for funds used during construction). At March 31, 2024, Con Edison Transmission’s carrying value of its investment in MVP was $153 million and its cash contributions to the joint venture amounted to $530 million.

There is risk that the fair value of Con Edison’s investment in MVP may be further impaired in the future. Assumptions and estimates used to test Con Edison’s investment in MVP for impairment may change if adverse developments impacting the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline were to occur.

Reclassification
Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.

Earnings Per Common Share
Con Edison presents basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) on the face of its consolidated income statement. Basic EPS is calculated by dividing earnings available to common shareholders (“Net income for common stock” on Con Edison’s consolidated income statement) by the weighted average number of Con Edison common shares outstanding during the period. In the calculation of diluted EPS, weighted average shares outstanding are increased for additional shares that would be outstanding if potentially dilutive securities were converted to common stock.

Potentially dilutive securities for Con Edison consist of restricted stock units and deferred stock units for which the average market price of the common shares for the period was greater than the exercise vesting price.

For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, basic and diluted EPS for Con Edison are calculated as follows:
For the Three Months Ended March 31,
(Millions of Dollars, except per share amounts/Shares in Millions)20242023
Net income for common stock$720$1,433
Weighted average common shares outstanding – basic345.5352.9
Add: Incremental shares attributable to effect of potentially dilutive securities1.31.3
Adjusted weighted average common shares outstanding – diluted346.8354.2
Net Income per common share – basic$2.08$4.06
Net Income per common share – diluted$2.08$4.05

The computation of diluted EPS for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2024 excluded approximately 1.9 million shares and an immaterial number of shares, respectively, because of their anti-dilutive effect. The anti-dilutive shares as of March 31, 2023 were calculated factoring in accelerated share repurchase agreements that Con Edison entered into in March 2023 with two dealers to repurchase $1,000 million in aggregate of Con Edison's Common Shares ($0.10 par value) that were settled during the second quarter of 2023.

Changes in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income/(Loss) by Component
For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, changes to accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss) (OCI) for Con Edison and CECONY are as follows:
 
For the Three Months Ended March 31,
Con EdisonCECONY
(Millions of Dollars)2024202320242023
Beginning balance, accumulated OCI, net of taxes (a)$22$22$2$4
OCI before reclassifications, net of tax of $2 for Con Edison in 2024
(4)(1)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated OCI related to pension plan liabilities, net of tax (a)(b)4
Current period OCI, net of taxes(4)4(1)
Ending balance, accumulated OCI, net of taxes (a)$18$26$2$3
(a) Tax reclassified from accumulated OCI is reported in the income tax expense line item of the consolidated income statement.
(b)For the portion of unrecognized pension and other postretirement benefit costs relating to the Utilities, costs are recorded into, and amortized out of, regulatory assets and liabilities instead of OCI. The net actuarial losses and prior service costs recognized during the period are included in the computation of total periodic pension and other postretirement benefit costs. See Notes E and F. For Con Edison in 2023, amounts reclassified also include accumulated OCI of the Clean Energy Businesses that were sold on March 1, 2023. See Note Q.
Reconciliation of Cash, Temporary Cash Investments and Restricted Cash
Cash, temporary cash investments and restricted cash are presented on a combined basis in the Companies’ consolidated statements of cash flows. At March 31, 2024 and 2023, cash, temporary cash investments and restricted cash for Con Edison were as follows; CECONY did not have material restricted cash balances as of March 31, 2024 and 2023:
At March 31,
Con Edison
(Millions of Dollars)20242023
Cash and temporary cash investments$169$771
Restricted cash (a)62
Total cash, temporary cash investments and restricted cash$175$773
(a)On March 1, 2023, Con Edison completed the sale of all of the stock of the Clean Energy Businesses. See Note Q. Con Edison retained one deferred project, Broken Bow II, a 75MW nameplate capacity wind power project located in Nebraska. Con Edison's restricted cash for the 2023 and 2024 periods include restricted cash of Broken Bow II that continued to be classified as held for sale as of March 31, 2024. See Note R.


Variable Interest Entities
The accounting rules for consolidation address the consolidation of a variable interest entity (VIE) by a business enterprise that is the primary beneficiary. A VIE is an entity that does not have a sufficient equity investment at risk to permit it to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support, or whose equity investors lack the characteristics of a controlling financial interest. The primary beneficiary is the business enterprise that has the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance and either absorbs a significant amount of the VIE’s losses or has the right to receive benefits that could be significant to the VIE.
The Companies enter into arrangements including leases, partnerships and electricity purchase agreements, with various entities. As a result of these arrangements, the Companies retain or may retain a variable interest in these entities.
CECONY has an ongoing long-term electricity purchase agreement with Brooklyn Navy Yard Cogeneration Partners, LP, a potential VIE. In 2023, a request was made of this counterparty for information necessary to determine whether the entity was a VIE and whether CECONY is the primary beneficiary; however, the information was not made available. The payments for this contract constitute CECONY’s maximum exposure to loss with respect to the potential VIE.

Assets Held for Sale
Generally, a long-lived asset or business to be sold is classified as held for sale in the period in which management, with approval from the Board of Directors, commits to a plan to sell, and a sale is expected to be completed within one year. During the first nine months of 2022, Con Edison considered strategic alternatives with respect to the Clean Energy Businesses.

As described further in Note R, on October 1, 2022, Con Edison's management received authority to commit to a plan to sell the Clean Energy Businesses and entered into a purchase and sale agreement. On March 1, 2023, Con Edison completed the sale of all of the stock of the Clean Energy Businesses with the exception of two tax equity interests and one deferred project, Broken Bow II. Broken Bow II continued to be classified as held for sale as of March 31, 2024. See Note R.

Fair value is the amount at which an asset, liability or business could be bought or sold in a current transaction between willing parties and may be estimated using a number of techniques, or may be observable using quoted market prices. Con Edison used a market approach consisting of the contractual sales price adjusted for estimated working capital and other contractual purchase price adjustments to determine the fair value of the Clean Energy Businesses as of December 31, 2022, and subtracted estimated costs to sell from that calculated fair value. The resulting net fair value of the Clean Energy Businesses' assets exceeded the carrying value of the Clean Energy Businesses' assets through the sale date in March 2023, and accordingly no impairments were recorded.
The sale of the Clean Energy Businesses did not represent a strategic shift that had or would have had a major effect on Con Edison, and as such, the sale did not qualify for treatment as a discontinued operation.

For further information, see Note R.