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Variable Interest Entities
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Variable Interest Entities
(17) VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

PHI is required to consolidate a VIE in accordance with FASB ASC 810 if PHI or a subsidiary is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is typically the entity with both the power to direct activities most significantly impacting economic performance of the VIE and the obligation to absorb losses or receive benefits of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. PHI performs a qualitative analysis to determine whether a variable interest provides a controlling financial interest in any of the VIEs in which PHI or its subsidiaries have an interest. Set forth below are the relationships with respect to which PHI conducted a VIE analysis as of December 31, 2015:

DPL Renewable Energy Transactions

DPL is subject to Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (RPS) in the state of Delaware that require it to obtain renewable energy credits (RECs) for energy delivered to its customers. DPL’s costs associated with obtaining RECs to fulfill its RPS obligations are recoverable from its customers by law. As of December 31, 2015, DPL is a party to three land-based wind PPAs in the aggregate amount of 128 MWs, one solar PPA with a 10 MW facility, and a PPA with the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DSEU) to purchase solar renewable energy credits (SRECs). Each of the facilities associated with these PPAs is operational, except for the facilities associated with the PPA with the DSEU, which are expected to be operational within one year. DPL is obligated to purchase energy and RECs in amounts generated and delivered by the wind facilities and SRECs from the solar facility and the DSEU, up to certain amounts (as set forth below) at rates that are primarily fixed under the respective agreements. PHI and DPL have concluded that while VIEs exist under these contracts, consolidation is not required under FASB ASC 810 as DPL is not the primary beneficiary. DPL has not provided financial or other support under these arrangements that it was not previously contractually required to provide during the periods presented, and DPL does not have any intention to provide such additional support.

Because DPL has no equity or debt interest in these renewable energy transactions, the maximum exposure to loss relates primarily to any above-market costs incurred for power, RECs or SRECs. Due to unpredictability in the amount of MWs ultimately purchased under the agreements for purchased renewable energy, RECs and SRECs, PHI and DPL are unable to quantify the maximum exposure to loss, however, the power purchase, REC and SREC costs are recoverable from DPL’s customers through regulated rates.

Wind PPAs

DPL is obligated to purchase energy and RECs from one of the wind facilities through 2024 in amounts not to exceed 50 MWs, from the second wind facility through 2031 in amounts not to exceed 40 MWs, and from the third wind facility through 2031 in amounts not to exceed 38 MWs. DPL’s aggregate purchases under the three wind PPAs totaled $29 million, $31 million and $30 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Solar PPAs

The term of the PPA with the solar facility is through 2030 and DPL is obligated to purchase SRECs in an amount up to 70 percent of the energy output at a fixed price. The DSEU may enter into 20-year contracts with solar facilities to purchase SRECs for resale to DPL. Under the PPA with the DSEU, at December 31, 2015 and 2014, DPL was obligated to purchase SRECs in amounts not to exceed 28 MWs and 19 MWs, respectively, at annually determined auction rates. DPL’s purchases under these solar PPAs totaled $6 million, $6 million and $3 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

 

Fuel Cell Facilities

On October 18, 2011, the DPSC approved a tariff submitted by DPL in accordance with the requirements of the RPS specific to fuel cell facilities totaling 30 MWs to be constructed by a qualified fuel cell provider. The tariff and the RPS establish that DPL acts solely as an agent to collect payments in advance from its distribution customers and remit them to the qualified fuel cell provider for each megawatt hour (MWh) of energy produced by the fuel cell facilities through 2033. The RPS provides for a reduction in DPL’s REC requirements based upon the actual energy output of the facilities. PHI and DPL have concluded that while a VIE exists as a result of this relationship, consolidation is not required under FASB ASC 810 as DPL is not the primary beneficiary. For the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, 227,113 and 222,948 MWhs, respectively, were produced from fuel cell facilities placed in service under the tariff. DPL billed $37 million, $36 million and $23 million to distribution customers for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

ACE Power Purchase Agreements

ACE is a party to three PPAs with unaffiliated NUGs totaling 459 MWs. One of the agreements ends in 2016 and the other two end in 2024. PHI and ACE have no equity or debt invested in these entities. In performing its VIE analysis, PHI has been unable to obtain sufficient information to determine whether these three entities were variable interest entities or if ACE was the primary beneficiary. As a result, PHI has applied the scope exemption from the consolidation guidance.

Because ACE has no equity or debt invested in the NUGs, the maximum exposure to loss relates primarily to any above-market costs incurred for power. Due to unpredictability in the pricing for purchased energy under the PPAs, PHI and ACE are unable to quantify the maximum exposure to loss. The power purchase costs are recoverable from ACE’s customers through regulated rates. Purchase activities with the NUGs, including excess power purchases not covered by the PPAs, for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, were approximately $208 million, $233 million and $221 million, respectively, of which approximately $198 million, $208 million and $206 million, respectively, consisted of power purchases under the PPAs.

ACE Funding

In 2001, ACE established ACE Funding solely for the purpose of securitizing authorized portions of ACE’s recoverable stranded costs through the issuance and sale of Transition Bonds. The proceeds of the sale of each series of Transition Bonds were transferred to ACE in exchange for the transfer by ACE to ACE Funding of the right to collect a non-bypassable Transition Bond Charge (representing revenue ACE receives, and pays to ACE Funding, to fund the principal and interest payments on Transition Bonds and related taxes, expenses and fees) from ACE customers pursuant to bondable stranded costs rate orders issued by the NJBPU in an amount sufficient to fund the principal and interest payments on the Transition Bonds and related taxes, expenses and fees (Bondable Transition Property). The assets of ACE Funding, including the Bondable Transition Property, and the Transition Bond Charges collected from ACE’s customers, are not available to creditors of ACE. The holders of Transition Bonds have recourse only to the assets of ACE Funding. ACE owns 100 percent of the equity of ACE Funding, and PHI and ACE consolidate ACE Funding in their consolidated financial statements as ACE is the primary beneficiary of ACE Funding under the variable interest entity consolidation guidance.

Delmarva Power & Light Co/De [Member]  
Variable Interest Entities
(17) VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

DPL is required to consolidate a VIE in accordance with FASB ASC 810 if DPL is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is typically the entity with both the power to direct activities most significantly impacting economic performance of the VIE and the obligation to absorb losses or receive benefits of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. DPL performed a qualitative analysis to determine whether a variable interest provided a controlling financial interest in any of the VIEs in which DPL has an interest at December 31, 2015, as described below.

DPL is subject to Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (RPS) in the state of Delaware that require it to obtain renewable energy credits (RECs) for energy delivered to its customers. DPL’s costs associated with obtaining RECs to fulfill its RPS obligations are recoverable from its customers by law. As of December 31, 2015, DPL is a party to three land-based wind PPAs in the aggregate amount of 128 MWs, one solar power PPA with a 10 MW facility, and a PPA with the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DSEU) to purchase solar renewable energy credits (SRECs). Each of the facilities associated with these PPAs is operational, except for the facilities associated with the PPA with the DSEU, which are expected to be operational within one year. DPL is obligated to purchase energy and RECs in amounts generated and delivered by the wind facilities and SRECs from the solar facility and the DSEU, up to certain amounts (as set forth below) at rates that are primarily fixed under the respective agreements. DPL has concluded that while VIEs exist under these contracts, consolidation is not required under FASB ASC 810 as DPL is not the primary beneficiary. DPL has not provided financial or other support under these arrangements that it was not previously contractually required to provide during the periods presented, and DPL does not have any intention to provide such additional support.

 

Because DPL has no equity or debt interest in these renewable energy transactions, the maximum exposure to loss relates primarily to any above-market costs incurred for power, RECs or SRECs. Due to unpredictability in the amount of MWs ultimately purchased under the agreements for purchased renewable energy, RECs and SRECs, DPL is unable to quantify the maximum exposure to loss, however, the power purchase, REC and SREC costs are recoverable from DPL’s customers through regulated rates.

Wind PPAs

DPL is obligated to purchase energy and RECs from one of the wind facilities through 2024 in amounts not to exceed 50 MWs, from the second wind facility through 2031 in amounts not to exceed 40 MWs, and from the third wind facility through 2031 in amounts not to exceed 38 MWs. DPL’s aggregate purchases under the three wind PPAs totaled $29 million, $31 million and $30 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Solar PPAs

The term of the PPA with the solar facility is through 2030 and DPL is obligated to purchase SRECs in an amount up to 70 percent of the energy output at a fixed price. The DSEU may enter into 20-year contracts with solar facilities to purchase SRECs for resale to DPL. Under the PPA with DSEU, at December 31, 2015 and 2014, DPL was obligated to purchase SRECs in amounts not to exceed 28 MWs and 19 MWs, respectively, at annually determined auction rates. DPL’s purchases under these solar agreements totaled $6 million, $6 million and $3 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Fuel Cell Facilities

On October 18, 2011, the DPSC approved a tariff submitted by DPL in accordance with the requirements of the RPS specific to fuel cell facilities totaling 30 MWs to be constructed by a qualified fuel cell provider. The tariff and the RPS establish that DPL acts solely as an agent to collect payments in advance from its distribution customers and remit them to the qualified fuel cell provider for each megawatt hour (MWh) of energy produced by the fuel cell facilities through 2033. The RPS provides for a reduction in DPL’s REC requirements based upon the actual energy output of the facilities. DPL has concluded that while a VIE exists as a result of this relationship, consolidation is not required under FASB ASC 810 as DPL is not the primary beneficiary. For the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, 227,113 and 222,948 MWhs, respectively, were produced from fuel cell facilities placed in service under the tariff. DPL billed $37 million, $36 million and $23 million to distribution customers for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

 

ACE

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The management of Atlantic City Electric Company (ACE) is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and Rule 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Management of ACE assessed ACE’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2015 based on criteria established in the Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on its assessment, the management of ACE concluded that ACE’s internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2015.

 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholder and Board of Directors of

Atlantic City Electric Company

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements of Atlantic City Electric Company (a wholly owned subsidiary of Pepco Holdings, Inc.) listed in the accompanying index appearing under Item 15(a)(1) present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Atlantic City Electric Company and its subsidiary at December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2015 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In addition, in our opinion, the financial statement schedule of Atlantic City Electric Company listed in the index appearing under Item 15(a)(2) presents fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth therein when read in conjunction with the related consolidated financial statements. These financial statements and financial statement schedule are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and financial statement schedule based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Atlantic City Electric Co [Member]  
Variable Interest Entities
(16) VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

ACE is required to consolidate a VIE in accordance with FASB ASC 810 if ACE or a subsidiary is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is typically the entity with both the power to direct activities most significantly impacting economic performance of the VIE and the obligation to absorb losses or receive benefits of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. ACE performed a qualitative analysis to determine whether a variable interest provided a controlling financial interest in any of the VIE’s in which ACE has an interest at December 31, 2015, as described below.

Power Purchase Agreements

ACE is a party to three PPAs with unaffiliated NUGs totaling 459 megawatts. One of the agreements ends in 2016 and the other two end in 2024. ACE has no equity or debt invested in these entities. In performing its VIE analysis, ACE has been unable to obtain sufficient information to determine whether these three entities were variable interest entities or if ACE was the primary beneficiary. As a result, ACE has applied the scope exemption from the consolidation guidance.

Because ACE has no equity or debt invested in the NUGs, the maximum exposure to loss relates primarily to any above-market costs incurred for power. Due to unpredictability in the pricing for purchased energy under the PPAs, ACE is unable to quantify the maximum exposure to loss. The power purchase costs are recoverable from ACE’s customers through regulated rates. Purchase activities with the NUGs, including excess power purchases not covered by the PPAs, for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, were approximately $208 million, $233 million and $221 million, respectively, of which approximately $198 million, $208 million and $206 million, respectively, consisted of power purchases under the PPAs.

ACE Funding

In 2001, ACE established ACE Funding solely for the purpose of securitizing authorized portions of ACE’s recoverable stranded costs through the issuance and sale of Transition Bonds. The proceeds of the sale of each series of Transition Bonds were transferred to ACE in exchange for the transfer by ACE to ACE Funding of the right to collect a non-bypassable Transition Bond Charge (which is revenue ACE receives, and pays to ACE Funding, to fund the principal and interest payments on Transition Bonds and related taxes, expenses and fees) from ACE customers pursuant to bondable stranded costs rate orders issued by the NJBPU in an amount sufficient to fund the principal and interest payments on the Transition Bonds and related taxes, expenses and fees (Bondable Transition Property). The assets of ACE Funding, including the Bondable Transition Property, and the Transition Bond Charges collected from ACE’s customers, are not available to creditors of ACE. The holders of Transition Bonds have recourse only to the assets of ACE Funding. ACE owns 100 percent of the equity of ACE Funding, and PHI and ACE consolidate ACE Funding in their consolidated financial statements as ACE is the primary beneficiary of ACE Funding under the variable interest entity consolidation guidance.