Principles Of Preparation (Policy)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Use of Estimates, Policy

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 ("ARO"). Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Revenue Recognition, Policy

Operating Revenues. The Company accrues revenues for services rendered, including unbilled electric service 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 $35.1 million at June 30, 2019 and $21.6 million at December 31, 2018.

The Company’s Texas retail customers are billed under base rates and a fixed fuel factor approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas ("PUCT"). The Company’s New Mexico retail customers are billed under base rates and a fuel adjustment clause that is adjusted monthly, as approved by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission ("NMPRC"). The Company's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") sales for resale customers are billed under formula base rates and fuel factors and a fuel adjustment clause that is adjusted monthly. The Company’s recovery of fuel and purchased power expenses is subject to periodic reconciliations of actual fuel and purchased power expenses incurred to actual fuel revenues collected. The difference between fuel and purchased power expenses incurred and fuel revenues charged to customers is reflected as over/under-collection of fuel revenues, which is included in regulatory liabilities/assets - current in the balance sheets. See Part I, Item 1, Financial Statements, Note D of Notes to Financial Statements for further discussion.

Leases, Policy

Leases. The Company determines if an arrangement contains a lease and the classification of that lease at inception. Operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and operating lease liabilities represent the obligation to make payments under the lease. ROU assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the estimated present value of the minimum lease payments over the lease term. In determining lease terms, the Company considers any options to extend or terminate the lease that are reasonably certain of being exercised. As the Company’s leases do not include an implicit rate, the Company uses an estimated incremental borrowing rate, at lease commencement, to determine the present value of the future lease payments. In calculating the incremental borrowing rate, the Company takes into consideration recent debt issuances and other data for instruments with similar characteristics. The Company’s lease agreements do not contain residual value guarantees or restrictive covenants. For leases with lease and non-lease components, the Company has elected to account for the consideration as a single lease component. The Company has also elected not to record

leases with a term of 12 months or less on the balance sheets. The operating lease ROU assets are included as part of electric plant in service and lease liabilities are included as part of current and non-current liabilities in the Company’s balance sheets.

Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization, Policy

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, Policy

New Accounting Standards Adopted

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("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. Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASU 2016-02 using the modified retrospective method, applying the transition provisions to the beginning of the period of adoption rather than to the earliest comparative period presented, which continues to be reported in accordance with previous lease guidance, Accounting Standards Codification Topic 840. The Company adopted the package of practical expedients, which does not require the Company to reassess: (i) whether an arrangement contained a lease, (ii) lease classification for any expired or existing leases, and (iii) initial direct costs for any expired or existing leases. The Company also adopted the practical expedient related to land easements, which allowed carry forward accounting treatment for existing land easements. The most significant impact of adopting ASU 2016-02, as of January 1, 2019, was the recording of approximately $6.3 million of operating lease liabilities and related ROU assets with no cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings. The Company anticipates the ongoing impact of the new standard to be immaterial to net income and cash flows. See Part I, Item 1, Financial Statements, Note I of Notes to Financial Statements for further discussion.

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 federal law commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("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 accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI") (referred to as stranded tax effects) do not reflect the appropriate tax rate. ASU 2018-02 allows companies an election to reclassify stranded taxes from AOCI to retained earnings. The amount of the reclassification would be the difference between the historical federal corporate income tax rate of 35% and the newly enacted 21% federal corporate income tax rate, which approximates $7.2 million. The provisions of ASU 2018-02 are effective for fiscal years and interim periods within that reporting period beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted ASU 2018-02 on January 1, 2019, and has elected to not reclassify stranded taxes from AOCI to retained earnings.

New Accounting Standards to be Adopted in the Future

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 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 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 2019-04, Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and Topic 825, Financial Instruments and ASU 2019-05, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Targeted Transition Relief.