Investments in affiliates that are not controlled by Duke Energy, but over which it has significant influence, are accounted for using the equity method.

The following table presents Duke Energy’s investments in unconsolidated affiliates accounted for under the equity method, as well as the respective equity in earnings, by segment.



	Years Ended December 31,
	2019					2018					2017
			Equity in					Equity in					Equity in
(in millions)	Investments		earnings			Investments		earnings			Investments		earnings
Electric Utilities and Infrastructure	$	122	$	9		$	97	$	6		$	89	$	5
Gas Utilities and Infrastructure	1,388		114			1,003		27			763		62
Commercial Renewables	314		(4		)	201		(1		)	190		(5		)
Other	112		43			108		51			133		57
Total	$	1,936	$	162		$	1,409	$	83		$	1,175	$	119

During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, Duke Energy received distributions from equity investments of $55 million, $108 million and $13 million, respectively, which are included in Other assets within Cash Flows from Operating Activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, Duke Energy received distributions from equity investments of $11 million, $137 million and $281 million, respectively, which are included in Return of investment capital within Cash Flows from Investing Activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, Piedmont received distributions from equity investments of $1 million, $1 million and $4 million, respectively, which are included in Other assets within Cash Flows from Operating Activities and $4 million, $3 million and $2 million, respectively, which are included within Cash Flows from Investing Activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Duke Energy owns a 50% interest in DATC and in Pioneer, which build, own and operate electric transmission facilities in North America.

The table below outlines Duke Energy's ownership interests in natural gas pipeline companies and natural gas storage facilities.



			Investment Amount (in millions)
	Ownership		December 31,		December 31,
Entity Name	Interest		2019		2018
Pipeline Investments
ACP	47	%	$	1,179	$	797
Sabal Trail	7.5	%	121		112		^(c)
Constitution	24	%	—		25
Cardinal^(a)	21.49	%	9		10
Storage Facilities
Pine Needle^(a)	45	%	28		13
Hardy Storage^(a)	50	%	51		46
Total Investments^(b)			$	1,388	$	1,003

In October 2017, Duke Energy entered into a guarantee agreement to support its share of the ACP revolving credit facility. See Note 8 for additional information. As a result of the financing, ACP returned capital of $265 million to Duke Energy.

During 2018 and 2019, ACP received several adverse court rulings as described in Note 4. As a result, Duke Energy evaluated this investment for impairment and determined that fair value approximated carrying value and therefore no impairment was necessary.

DS Cornerstone, LLC, which owns wind farm projects in the U.S. was part of a sale of minority interest in a certain portion of renewable assets to John Hancock in 2019. See Note 2 for more information on the sale. Prior to the sale, Duke Energy had a 50% interest in DS Cornerstone, LLC. After the sale, Duke Energy has a 26% interest in the investment.

In 2019, Duke Energy acquired a majority ownership in a portfolio of distributed fuel cell projects from Bloom Energy Corporation. Duke Energy is not the primary beneficiary of the assets within the portfolio and does not consolidate the assets in the portfolio.

Duke Energy recorded OTTIs of the Constitution investment within Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates on Duke Energy's Consolidated Statements of Operations of $25 million and $55 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, and 2018, respectively. The current year charge resulted in the full write-down of Duke Energy's investment in Constitution. The impairments were primarily due to the continued delay in resolving project uncertainty through the courts and regulatory bodies, as well as recent pricing concerns between the customers and owners. For additional information on the Constitution investment, see Note 4.

Duke Energy owns a 17.5% indirect interest in NMC, which owns and operates a methanol and MTBE business in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Duke Energy's economic ownership interest decreased from 25% to 17.5% with the successful startup of NMC's polyacetal production facility in 2017. Duke Energy retains 25% of the board representation and voting rights of NMC.