The Registrants are subject to certain claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. In addition, the Registrants’ business activities are subject to extensive governmental regulation related to public health and the environment. The ultimate outcome of such pending or potential litigation against the Registrants cannot be predicted. Management accrues contingent liabilities only when management concludes that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred at the date of the financial statements and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. When management determines that it is not probable, but rather reasonably possible that a liability has been incurred at the date of the financial statements, management discloses such contingencies and the possible loss or range of loss if such estimate can be made. Any estimated range is based on currently available information and involves elements of judgment and significant uncertainties. Any estimated range of possible loss may not represent the maximum possible loss exposure. Circumstances change over time and actual results may vary significantly from estimates.

For current proceedings not specifically discussed below, management does not anticipate that the liabilities, if any, arising from such proceedings would have a material effect on the financial statements. The Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies note within the 2019 Annual Report should be read in conjunction with this report.

An uncommitted facility gives the issuer of the facility the right to accept or decline each request made under the facility. AEP issues letters of credit on behalf of subsidiaries under six uncommitted facilities totaling $405 million. The Registrants’ maximum future payments for letters of credit issued under the uncommitted facilities as of June 30, 2020 were as follows:

The Registrants enter into certain types of contracts which require indemnifications. Typically these contracts include, but are not limited to, sale agreements, lease agreements, purchase agreements and financing agreements. Generally, these agreements may include, but are not limited to, indemnifications around certain tax, contractual and environmental matters. With respect to sale agreements, exposure generally does not exceed the sale price. As of June 30, 2020, there were no material liabilities recorded for any indemnifications.

AEPSC conducts power purchase-and-sale activity on behalf of APCo, I&M, KPCo and WPCo, who are jointly and severally liable for activity conducted on their behalf. AEPSC also conducts power purchase-and-sale activity on behalf of PSO and SWEPCo, who are jointly and severally liable for activity conducted on their behalf.

The Registrants lease certain equipment under master lease agreements. Under the lease agreements, the lessor is guaranteed a residual value up to a stated percentage of the equipment cost at the end of the lease term. If the actual fair value of the leased equipment is below the guaranteed residual value at the end of the lease term, the Registrants are committed to pay the difference between the actual fair value and the residual value guarantee. Historically, at the end of the lease term the fair value has been in excess of the amount guaranteed. As of June 30, 2020, the maximum potential loss by the Registrants for these lease agreements assuming the fair value of the equipment is zero at the end of the lease term was as follows:

AEGCo and I&M entered into a sale-and-leaseback transaction in 1989 with Wilmington Trust Company (Owner Trustee), an unrelated, unconsolidated trustee for Rockport Plant, Unit 2 (the Plant). The Owner Trustee was capitalized with equity from six owner participants with no relationship to AEP or any of its subsidiaries and debt from a syndicate of banks and securities in a private placement to certain institutional investors.

The Owner Trustee owns the Plant and leases equal portions to AEGCo and I&M. The lease is accounted for as an operating lease. The lease term is for 33 years and at the end of the lease term, AEGCo and I&M have the option to renew the lease at a rate that approximates fair value. The option to renew was not included in the measurement of the lease obligation as of June 30, 2020 as the execution of the option was not reasonably certain. AEP, AEGCo and I&M have no ownership interest in the Owner Trustee and do not guarantee its debt.

In 2015, AEP sold its commercial barge transportation subsidiary, AEPRO, to a nonaffiliated party. Certain boat and barge leases acquired by the nonaffiliated party are subject to an AEP guarantee in favor of the respective lessors, ensuring future payments under such leases with maturities up to 2027. As of June 30, 2020, the maximum potential amount of future payments required under the guaranteed leases was $52 million. Under the terms of certain of the arrangements, upon the lessors exercising their rights after an event of default by the nonaffiliated party, AEP is entitled to enter into new lease arrangements as a lessee that would have substantially the same terms as the existing leases. Alternatively, for the arrangements with one of the lessors, upon an event of default by the nonaffiliated party and the lessor exercising its rights, payment to the lessor would allow AEP to step into the lessor’s rights as well as obtaining title to the assets. Under either situation, AEP would have the ability to utilize the assets in the normal course of barging operations. AEP would also have the right to sell the acquired assets for which it obtained title. As of June 30, 2020, AEP’s boat and barge lease guarantee liability was $4 million, of which $1 million was recorded in Other Current Liabilities and $3 million was recorded in Deferred Credits and Other Noncurrent Liabilities on AEP’s balance sheet.

In February 2020, the nonaffiliated party filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The party entered into a restructuring support agreement and has announced it expects to continue their operations as normal. In March 2020, the bankruptcy court approved the party’s recapitalization plan. In April 2020, the nonaffiliated party emerged from bankruptcy. Management has determined that it is reasonably possible that enforcement of AEP’s liability for future payments under these leases will be exercised within the next twelve months. In such an event, if AEP is unable to sell or incorporate any of the acquired assets into its fleet operations, it could reduce future net income and cash flows and impact financial condition.

By-products from the generation of electricity include materials such as ash, slag, sludge, low-level radioactive waste and SNF. Coal combustion by-products, which constitute the overwhelming percentage of these materials, are typically treated and deposited in captive disposal facilities or are beneficially utilized. In addition, the generation plants and transmission and distribution facilities have used asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls and other hazardous and non-hazardous materials. The Registrants currently incur costs to dispose of these substances safely. For remediation processes not specifically discussed, management does not anticipate that the liabilities, if any, arising from such remediation processes would have a material effect on the financial statements.

In March 2020, Virginia’s Governor signed House Bill 443 (HB 443), effective July 2020, requiring APCo to close certain ash disposal units at the retired Glen Lyn Station by removal of all coal combustion material. As a result, in June 2020, APCo recorded a $199 million revision to increase estimated Glen Lyn Station ash disposal ARO liabilities. The closure is required to be completed within 15 years from the start of the excavation process. HB 443 provides for the recovery of all costs associated with closure by removal through the Virginia environmental rate adjustment clause (E-RAC). APCo may begin recovering these costs through the E-RAC beginning July 1, 2022. APCo is permitted to record carrying costs on the unrecovered balance of closure costs at a weighted average cost of capital approved by the Virginia SCC. HB 443 also allows any closure costs allocated to non-Virginia jurisdictional customers, but not collected from such non-Virginia jurisdictional customers, to be recovered from Virginia jurisdictional customers through the E-RAC.

I&M owns and operates the Cook Plant under licenses granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I&M has a significant future financial commitment to dispose of SNF and to safely decommission and decontaminate the plant. The licenses to operate the two nuclear units at the Cook Plant expire in 2034 and 2037. The operation of a nuclear facility also involves special risks, potential liabilities and specific regulatory and safety requirements. By agreement, I&M is partially liable, together with all other electric utility companies that own nuclear generation units, for a nuclear power plant incident at any nuclear plant in the U.S. Should a nuclear incident occur at any nuclear power plant in the U.S., the resultant liability could be substantial.

In 2013, the Wilmington Trust Company filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against AEGCo and I&M alleging that it would be unlawfully burdened by the terms of the modified NSR consent decree after the Rockport Plant, Unit 2 lease expiration in December 2022. The terms of the consent decree allow the installation of environmental emission control equipment, repowering, refueling or retirement of the unit. The plaintiffs seek a judgment declaring that the defendants breached the lease, must satisfy obligations related to installation of emission control equipment and indemnify the plaintiffs. The New York court granted a motion to transfer this case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

AEGCo and I&M sought and were granted dismissal by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio of certain of the plaintiffs’ claims, including claims for compensatory damages, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and indemnification of costs. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the surviving claims that AEGCo and I&M failed to exercise prudent utility practices with prejudice, and the court issued a final judgment. The plaintiffs subsequently filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

In 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion and judgment affirming the district court’s dismissal of the owners’ breach of good faith and fair dealing claim as duplicative of the breach of contract claims, reversing the district court’s dismissal of the breach of contract claims and remanding the case for further proceedings.

Thereafter, AEP filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in the original NSR litigation, seeking to modify the consent decree. The district court granted the owners’ unopposed motion to stay the lease litigation to afford time for resolution of AEP’s motion to modify the consent decree. The consent decree was modified based on an agreement among the parties in July 2019. The district court’s stay expired in February 2020, but the court later extended the stay through August 13, 2020. See “Modification of the New Source Review Litigation Consent Decree” section of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for additional information.

Management will continue to defend against the claims. Given that the district court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims seeking compensatory relief as premature, and that plaintiffs have yet to present a methodology for determining or any analysis supporting any alleged damages, management cannot determine a range of potential losses that is reasonably possible of occurring.

In July 2019, Midwest Energy Emissions Corporation and MES Inc. (collectively, the plaintiffs) filed a patent infringement complaint against various parties, including AEP Texas, AGR, Cardinal Operating Company and SWEPCo (collectively, the AEP Defendants). The complaint alleges that the AEP Defendants infringed two patents owned by the plaintiffs by using specific processes for mercury control at certain coal-fired generating stations. The complaint seeks injunctive relief and damages. Management will continue to defend against the claims. Management is unable to determine a range of potential losses that is reasonably possible of occurring.

The American Electric Power System Retirement Plan (the Plan) has received a letter written on behalf of four participants (the Claimants) making a claim for additional plan benefits and purporting to advance such claims on behalf of a class. When the Plan’s benefit formula was changed in the year 2000, AEP provided a special provision for employees hired before January 1, 2001, allowing them to continue benefit accruals under the then benefit formula for a full 10 years alongside of the new cash balance benefit formula then being implemented. Employees who were hired on or after January 1, 2001 accrued benefits only under the new cash balance benefit formula. The Claimants have asserted claims that (a) the Plan violates the requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) intended to preclude back-loading the accrual of benefits to the end of a participant’s career; (b) the Plan violates the age discrimination prohibitions of ERISA and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA); and (c) the company failed to provide required notice regarding the changes to the Plan. AEP has responded to the Claimants providing a reasoned explanation for why each of their claims have been denied. The denial of those claims were appealed to the AEP System Retirement Plan Appeal Committee and the Committee upheld the denial of claims. Management will continue to defend against the claims. Management is unable to determine a range of potential losses that are reasonably possible of occurring.