Operations and Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the Consolidated Balance Sheet that aggregate to the amounts presented in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash	September 30, 2023	December 31, 2022	September 30, 2022	December 31, 2021
Millions
Cash and Cash Equivalents	$125.5	$36.4	$42.1	$45.1
Restricted Cash included in Prepayments and Other	3.3	1.5	4.2	0.3
Restricted Cash included in Other Non-Current Assets	2.4	2.3	2.3	2.3
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash on the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows	$131.2	$40.2	$48.6	$47.7

Inventories – Net

Inventories in our ALLETE Clean Energy segment and Corporate and Other businesses are carried at an average cost, first-in, first-out or specific identification basis.

Inventories – Net	September 30, 2023	December 31, 2022
Millions
Fuel (a)	$33.0	$33.4
Materials and Supplies	115.4	75.1
Renewable Energy Facilities Under Development (b)	31.9	347.4
Total Inventories – Net	$180.3	$455.9

(a)    Fuel consists primarily of coal inventory at Minnesota Power.

(b)    Renewable Energy Facilities Under Development as of September 30, 2023, consists primarily of project costs related to renewable energy development projects at New Energy. As of December 31, 2022, it consisted primarily of project costs related to ALLETE Clean Energy’s Northern Wind and Red Barn wind projects sold in the first quarter of 2023 and second quarter of 2023, respectively. (See Other Current Liabilities.)

Other Non-Current Assets

Other Non-Current Assets	September 30, 2023	December 31, 2022
Millions
Contract Assets (a)	$19.1	$21.0
Operating Lease Right-of-use Assets	11.6	12.7
Finance Lease Right-of-use Assets	2.1	—
ALLETE Properties	19.4	19.1
Restricted Cash	2.4	2.3
Other Postretirement Benefit Plans	60.2	58.8
Other	101.5	90.4
Total Other Non-Current Assets	$216.3	$204.3

(a)    Contract Assets consist of payments made to customers as an incentive to execute or extend service agreements. The contract payments are being amortized over the term of the respective agreements as a reduction to revenue.

Other Current Liabilities

Other Current Liabilities	September 30, 2023	December 31, 2022
Millions
Customer Deposits (a)	$6.0	$150.7
PSAs	6.0	6.1
Provision for Interim Rate Refund	39.4	18.4
Manufactured Gas Plant (b)	3.4	14.7
Operating Lease Liabilities	3.0	3.2
Finance Lease Liabilities	0.4	—
Other	52.3	57.9
Total Other Current Liabilities	$110.5	$251.0

(a) Customer Deposits as of December 31, 2022, primarily related to deposits received by ALLETE Clean Energy for the Northern Wind and Red Barn wind projects sold in the first quarter of 2023 and second quarter of 2023, respectively. (See Inventories – Net.)

(b) The manufactured gas plant represents the current liability for remediation of a former manufactured gas plant site located in Superior, Wisconsin, and formerly operated by SWL&P.

Other Non-Current Liabilities

Other Non-Current Liabilities	September 30, 2023	December 31, 2022
Millions
Asset Retirement Obligation (a)	$200.8	$200.4
PSAs	22.4	26.9
Operating Lease Liabilities	8.5	9.3
Finance Lease Liabilities	1.7	—
Other	30.4	32.4
Total Other Non-Current Liabilities	$263.8	$269.0

(a)The asset retirement obligation is primarily related to our Regulated Operations and is funded through customer rates over the life of the related assets. Additionally, BNI Energy funds its obligation through its cost-plus coal supply agreements for which BNI Energy has recorded a receivable of $32.4 million in Other Non-Current Assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2023 ($32.4 million as of December 31, 2022).

Other Income

	Quarter Ended		Nine Months Ended
	September 30,		September 30,
Other Income	2023	2022	2023	2022
Millions
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plan Non-Service Credits (a)	$1.8	$1.9	$5.5	$7.2
Interest and Investment Income (b)	6.6	(0.4)	8.7	(1.3)
AFUDC - Equity	1.1	0.7	2.5	2.4
PSA Liability (c)	—	—	—	10.2
Gain on Arbitration Award (d)	58.4	—	58.4	—
Other	0.8	0.1	0.2	(2.1)
Total Other Income	$68.7	$2.3	$75.3	$16.4

(a)These are components of net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit cost other than service cost. (See Note 9. Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans.)

(b)Interest and Investment Income for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2023, reflects $5.1 million of interest income related to interest awarded as part of an arbitration ruling involving a subsidiary of ALLETE Clean Energy. (See Note 6. Commitments, Guarantees, and Contingencies.)

(c)The gain on removal of the PSA liability for the Northern Wind project upon decommissioning of the legacy wind energy facility assets, which was more than offset by a reserve for an anticipated loss on the sale of the Northern Wind project that was recorded in Cost of Sales - Non-Utility on the Consolidated Statement of Income.

(d)This reflects a gain recognized for the favorable outcome of an arbitration ruling involving a subsidiary of ALLETE Clean Energy. (See Note 6. Commitments, Guarantees, and Contingencies.)

Supplemental Statement of Cash Flows Information

Supplemental Statement of Cash Flows Information.

Nine Months Ended September 30,	2023	2022
Millions
Cash Paid for Interest – Net of Amounts Capitalized	$64.8	$60.5
Cash Paid for Income Taxes – Net	$14.1	$1.1
Noncash Investing and Financing Activities
Increase in Accounts Payable for Capital Additions to Property, Plant and Equipment	$11.8	$2.4
Reclassification of Property, Plant and Equipment to Inventory (a)	—	$99.8
Capitalized Asset Retirement Costs	$2.4	$9.0
AFUDC–Equity	$2.5	$2.4

(a)The decommissioning of the legacy Northern Wind assets resulted in a reclassification from Property, Plant and Equipment – Net to Inventories – Net in the second quarter of 2022 as they were repowered and subsequently sold to a subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc.