Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations

Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations

The Company records its ARO in accordance with the FASB guidance. This guidance affects the accounting for the decommissioning of Palo Verde and the method used to report the decommissioning obligation. The Company also complies with the FASB guidance for conditional ARO, which primarily affects the accounting for the disposal obligations of the Company’s fuel oil storage tanks, water wells, evaporative ponds and asbestos found at the Company’s gas-fired generating plants. The Company’s ARO are subject to various assumptions and determinations such as: (i) whether a legal obligation exists to remove assets; (ii) estimation of the fair value of the costs of removal; (iii) when final removal will occur; (iv) future changes in decommissioning cost escalation rates; and (v) the credit-adjusted interest rates to be utilized in discounting future liabilities. Changes that may arise over time with regard to these assumptions and determinations will change amounts recorded in the future as an expense for ARO. The Company records the increase in the ARO due to the passage of time as an operating expense (accretion expense). If the Company incurs or assumes any liability in retiring any asset at the end of its useful life without a legal obligation to do so, it will record such retirement costs as incurred.

The ARO liability for Palo Verde is based upon the estimated cost of decommissioning the plant from the 2016 Study. See Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note F of Notes to Financial Statements. The ARO liability is calculated by adjusting the estimated decommissioning costs for spent fuel storage and a profit margin and market-risk premium factor. The resulting costs are escalated over the remaining life of the plant and finally discounted using a credit-risk adjusted discount rate. As Palo Verde approaches the end of its estimated useful life, the difference between the ARO liability and future current cost estimates will narrow over time due to the accretion of the ARO liability. Because the DOE is obligated to assume responsibility for the permanent disposal of spent fuel, such costs have not been included in the ARO calculation. The Company maintains six external trust funds with an independent trustee that are legally restricted to settling its ARO at Palo Verde. The fair value of the funds at December 31, 2019 is $326.0 million.

The FASB guidance requires the Company to revise its previously recorded ARO for any changes in estimated cash flows including changes in estimated probabilities related to timing of settlements. Any changes that result in an upward revision to estimated cash flows shall be treated as a new liability. Any downward revisions to the estimated cash flows result in a reduction to the previously recorded ARO. In the second quarter of 2017, the Company implemented the results of the 2016 Study and revised its ARO related to Palo Verde to increase its estimated cash flows from the 2013 Study to the 2016 Study. See Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note F of Notes to Financial Statements. The assumptions used to calculate the increases to the Palo Verde ARO liability are as follows:



	Escalation Rate		Credit-Risk Adjusted Discount Rate
Original ARO liability	3.60	%	9.50	%
Incremental ARO liability (2010)	3.60	%	6.20	%
Incremental ARO liability (2016)	3.25	%	4.34	%

An analysis of the activity of the Company’s total ARO liability from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019, including the effects of each year’s estimate revisions, is presented below (in thousands).



	2019			2018
ARO liability at beginning of year	$	101,108		$	93,029
Liabilities settled	(118		)	(272		)
Accretion expense	9,115			8,351
ARO liability at end of year	$	110,105		$	101,108

The Company has transmission and distribution lines which are operated under various land rights agreements. Upon the expiration of any non-perpetual land rights agreement, the Company may have a legal obligation to remove the lines; however, the Company has assessed the likelihood of this occurring as remote. The majority of these agreements are perpetual or include renewal options that the Company routinely exercises. The amount of cost of removal collected in rates for non-legal liabilities has not been material.