XML 42 R33.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.8
Credit Risk
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Risks and Uncertainties [Abstract]  
Credit Risk
CREDIT RISK
Credit risk is the risk of financial loss if counterparties fail to perform their contractual obligations. In order to minimize overall credit risk, credit policies are maintained, including the evaluation of counterparty financial condition, collateral requirements and the use of standardized agreements that facilitate the netting of cash flows associated with a single counterparty. In addition, counterparties may make available collateral, including letters of credit or cash held as margin deposits, as a result of exceeding agreed-upon credit limits, or may be required to prepay the transaction.
Dominion and Virginia Power maintain a provision for credit losses based on factors surrounding the credit risk of their customers, historical trends and other information. Management believes, based on credit policies and the December 31, 2013 provision for credit losses, that it is unlikely that a material adverse effect on financial position, results of operations or cash flows would occur as a result of counterparty nonperformance.
GENERAL
DOMINION
As a diversified energy company, Dominion transacts primarily with major companies in the energy industry and with commercial and residential energy consumers. These transactions principally occur in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the U.S. Dominion does not believe that this geographic concentration contributes significantly to its overall exposure to credit risk. In addition, as a result of its large and diverse customer base, Dominion is not exposed to a significant concentration of credit risk for receivables arising from electric and gas utility operations.
Dominion's exposure to credit risk is concentrated primarily within its energy marketing and price risk management activities, as Dominion transacts with a smaller, less diverse group of counterparties and transactions may involve large notional volumes and potentially volatile commodity prices. Energy marketing and price risk management activities include trading of energy-related commodities, marketing of merchant generation output, structured transactions and the use of financial contracts for enterprise-wide hedging purposes. Gross credit exposure for each counterparty is calculated as outstanding receivables plus any unrealized on- or off-balance sheet exposure, taking into account contractual netting rights. Gross credit exposure is calculated prior to the application of any collateral. At December 31, 2013, Dominion's credit exposure totaled $263 million. Of this amount, investment grade counterparties, including those internally rated, represented 63%. No counterparty exposure exceeded 6% of Dominion's total exposure.
VIRGINIA POWER
Virginia Power sells electricity and provides distribution and transmission services to customers in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Management believes that this geographic concentration risk is mitigated by the diversity of Virginia Power's customer base, which includes residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as rural electric cooperatives and municipalities. Credit risk associated with trade accounts receivable from energy consumers is limited due to the large number of customers. Virginia Power's exposure to potential concentrations of credit risk results primarily from sales to wholesale customers. Virginia Power's gross credit exposure for each counterparty is calculated as outstanding receivables plus any unrealized on- or off-balance sheet exposure, taking into account contractual netting rights. Gross credit exposure is calculated prior to the application of collateral. At December 31, 2013, Virginia Power's exposure to potential concentrations of credit risk was not considered material.
CREDIT-RELATED CONTINGENT PROVISIONS
The majority of Dominion's derivative instruments contain credit-related contingent provisions. These provisions require Dominion to provide collateral upon the occurrence of specific events, primarily a credit downgrade. If the credit-related contingent features underlying these instruments that are in a liability position and not fully collateralized with cash were fully triggered as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, Dominion would have been required to post an additional $146 million and $110 million, respectively, of collateral to its counterparties. The collateral that would be required to be posted includes the impacts of any offsetting asset positions and any amounts already posted for derivatives, non-derivative contracts and derivatives elected under the normal purchases and normal sales exception, per contractual terms. Dominion had posted $76 million in collateral at December 31, 2013 and $4 million in collateral at December 31, 2012, related to derivatives with credit-related contingent provisions that are in a liability position and not fully collateralized with cash. The collateral posted includes any amounts paid related to non-derivative contracts and derivatives elected under the normal purchases and normal sales exception, per contractual terms. The aggregate fair value of all derivative instruments with credit-related contingent provisions that are in a liability position and not fully collateralized with cash as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 was $169 million and $163 million, respectively, which does not include the impact of any offsetting asset positions. Credit-related contingent provisions for Virginia Power were not material as of December 31, 2013 and 2012. See Note 7 for further information about derivative instruments.