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Principles Of Preparation
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Principles Of Preparation
Principles of Preparation
These condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto in the Annual Report of El Paso Electric Company on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 ("2017 Form 10-K"). Capitalized terms used in this report and not defined herein have the meaning ascribed to such terms in the 2017 Form 10-K. In the opinion of the Company’s management, the accompanying financial statements contain all adjustments necessary to present fairly the financial position of the Company at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017; the results of its operations and comprehensive operations for the three, six and twelve months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017; and its cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017. The results of operations and comprehensive operations for the three, six and twelve months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, and the cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full calendar year.
Pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC"), certain financial information has been condensed and certain footnote disclosures have been omitted. Such information and disclosures are normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP").
Reclassification. Certain amounts in the financial statements for 2017 have been reclassified to conform with the 2018 presentation. The Company implemented Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2017-07, Compensation - Retirement Benefits, and ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows, in the first quarter of 2018, retrospective to all periods presented in the Company's financial statements. See "New Accounting Standards Adopted" below for further details.
Use of Estimates. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The Company evaluates its estimates on an on-going basis, including those related to depreciation, unbilled revenue, income taxes, fuel costs, pension and other post-retirement obligations and asset retirement obligations ("AROs"). Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Revenues. The Company recognizes revenue associated with contracts with customers when performance obligations under the terms of the contract with the customer are satisfied. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the Company receives in exchange for transferring goods or providing services to the customer. Taxes collected concurrently with revenue producing activities are excluded from revenue. Unbilled revenues are recorded for estimated amounts of energy delivered in the period following the customer's last billing cycle to the end of the reporting period. Unbilled revenues are estimated based on monthly generation volumes and by applying an average revenue/kilowatt-hour ("kWh") to the number of estimated kWhs delivered but not billed. Accounts receivable included accrued unbilled revenues of $38.3 million at June 30, 2018 and $22.2 million at December 31, 2017. The Company presents revenues net of sales taxes in its statements of operations.
Depreciation. The Company routinely evaluates the depreciable service lives, cost of removal and salvage values of its property, plant and equipment. Depreciation is provided on a straight-line basis over the estimated remaining lives of the assets (ranging in average from 5 to 48 years). When property subject to composite depreciation is retired or otherwise disposed of in the normal course of business, its cost together with the cost of removal, less salvage is charged to accumulated depreciation. For other property dispositions, the applicable cost and accumulated depreciation is removed from the balance sheet accounts and a gain or loss is recognized.
New Accounting Standards Adopted
In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718) Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, to simplify the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards either as equity or liabilities, and classification on the statements of cash flows. The Company adopted the new standard effective January 1, 2017. The adoption of the new standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. The cumulative effect of the adoption of the new standard was to increase net operating loss carryforward deferred tax assets and retained earnings by $0.2 million on January 1, 2017.
In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), to provide a framework that replaces the existing revenue recognition guidance, and has since modified the standard with several ASUs. The standard provides that an entity should recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the new accounting standard using the modified retrospective method. There was no cumulative effect adjustment at the initial application of the new standard. In addition, comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods. The Company expects the ongoing impact of the new standard to be immaterial to net income. As required by the standard, revenues of $3.8 million related to reimbursed costs of energy efficiency programs approved by the Company's regulators are reported in year-to-date operating revenues from customers prospectively, as opposed to being offset with associated costs within operations and maintenance. Related expenses of an equal amount are reported in operations and maintenance expenses. See Note B, Revenues, for additional information.
In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments-Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Liabilities, to enhance the reporting model for financial instruments by addressing certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure. The Company adopted the new standard effective January 1, 2018. The adoption of ASU 2016-01 eliminates the requirements to classify investments in equity securities with readily determinable fair values into trading or available for sale and requires entities to measure equity investments at fair value and recognize any changes in fair value in the Statements of Operations. ASU 2016-01 requires a modified-retrospective approach and therefore comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods. Upon adoption of the new standard, the Company recorded a cumulative effect adjustment, net of income taxes, to increase retained earnings by $41.0 million with an offset to accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI"). In addition, the Company recorded net losses of $2.8 million related to equity securities still held at June 30, 2018. In March 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-04, Investments - Debt Securities (Topic 320) and Regulated Operations (Topic 980), which provides clarification to ASU 2016-01.
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, to reduce diversity in practice in how certain cash receipts and cash payments are classified in the statement of cash flows. The Company adopted the new standard effective January 1, 2018. ASU 2016-15 was applied using a retrospective transition method to each period presented. Accordingly, the Company presented in the Statement of Cash Flows insurance proceeds received for equipment of $5.4 million and $1.7 million, respectively, for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 as cash inflows from investing activities.
In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, Compensation-Retirement Benefits (Topic 715) Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost. ASU 2017-07 amends Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 715, Compensation - Retirement Benefits, to require companies to present the service cost component of net benefit cost in the income statement line items where compensation cost is reported. Companies will present all other components of net benefit cost separately from the line item(s) that includes the service cost and outside of any subtotal of operating income. In addition, only the service cost component will be eligible for capitalization in assets. The Company adopted the new standard effective January 1, 2018. The amendments in ASU 2017-07 were applied retrospectively for the income statement presentation of the service cost component and the other components of net benefit costs. The Company elected to apply the practical expedient and used the amounts disclosed in its pension and other postretirement benefit plan note for the 2017 comparative period as the estimation basis for applying the retrospective presentation requirements. See Note J, Employee Benefits, for additional information.
In March 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-05, Income Taxes (Topic 740) Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 ("SAB 118"), to add various SEC paragraphs for clarification due to the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("TCJA"). The Company adopted ASU 2018-05 upon issuance and implemented SAB 118 in December of 2017 in conjunction with the enactment of the TCJA.
New Accounting Standards to be Adopted in the Future
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and requiring qualitative and quantitative disclosures on leasing agreements. ASU 2016-02 maintains a distinction between finance leases and operating leases similar to the distinction under previous lease guidance for capital leases and operating leases. The impact of leases reported in the Company's operating results and statement of cash flows is expected to be similar to previous GAAP. ASU 2016-02 requires the recognition in the statement of financial position, by the lessee, of a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. How leases are recorded in regard to financial position represents a significant change from previous GAAP guidance. The lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election to not recognize lease assets and lease liabilities for short-term leases. Implementation of the standard will be required for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Adoption of the new lease accounting standard will require the Company to apply the new standard to the earliest period using a modified retrospective approach. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the new standard, which includes continuing to monitor activities of the FASB, including the impact of ASU 2018-01, Land Easement Practical expedient for Transition to Topic 842 and ASU 2018-11, Targeted Improvements. ASU 2018-11 allows entities to adopt the standard with a cumulative effect adjustment as of the beginning of the adoption year, while maintaining prior year comparative financial information and disclosures as reported. ASU 2018-01 provides an optional practical expedient to not evaluate existing or expired land easements under Topic 842, if those land easements were not previously accounted for as leases under ASC Topic 840. The Company currently anticipates that it will apply the practical expedient under ASU 2018-01 to its existing or expired land easements as part of its transition to Topic 842. The Company's evaluation process also includes evaluating the impact, if any, on changes to business processes, systems and controls to support recognition and disclosure under the new guidance; however, at this time the Company is unable to determine the impact this standard will have on the financial statements and related disclosures.
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326). ASU 2016-13 changes how companies measure and recognize credit impairment for many financial assets. The new current expected credit loss model will require companies to immediately recognize an estimate of credit losses expected to occur over the remaining life of the financial assets that are in the scope of the standard. The ASU also makes targeted amendments to the current impairment model for available-for-sale debt securities. ASU 2016-13 will be required for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019. ASU 2016-13 will be applied in a modified retrospective approach through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is implemented. The Company is currently assessing the future impact of ASU 2016-13.
In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220), as a result of concerns raised due to the TCJA. More specifically, because the remeasurement of deferred taxes due to the change in the federal corporate income tax rate is required to be included in income from continuing operations, the tax effects of items within AOCI (referred to as stranded tax effects) do not reflect the appropriate tax rate. ASU 2018-02 generally allows companies to reclassify stranded taxes from AOCI to retained earnings. The amount of the adjustment would be the difference between the historical federal corporate income tax rate of 35% and the newly enacted 21% federal corporate income tax rate. The provisions of ASU 2018-02 are effective for fiscal years and interim periods within that reporting period beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim periods for reporting periods for which financial statements have not been issued. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2018-02 and its impact on regulated utilities. At June 30, 2018, stranded taxes in AOCI are approximately $7.2 million.
Supplemental Cash Flow Disclosures (in thousands)
 
 
 
 
 
Six Months Ended
 
 
June 30,
 
 
2018
 
2017
Cash paid (received) for:
 
 
 
 
Interest on long-term debt and borrowings under the revolving credit facility
$
35,706

 
$
35,304

 
Income tax paid, net
1,636

 
2,251

Non-cash investing and financing activities:
 
 
 
 
Changes in accrued plant additions
(906
)
 
(9,105
)
 
Grants of restricted shares of common stock
1,030

 
1,171

 
Issuance of performance shares
1,499

 
932