New Accounting Standards (All Registrants)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]

Description of New Accounting Pronouncements Not yet Adopted [Text Block]

New Accounting Standards (All Registrants)

New Accounting Standards Issued and Not Yet Adopted: The following new authoritative accounting guidance issued by the FASB has not yet been adopted and reflected by the Registrants in their consolidated financial statements. Unless otherwise indicated, the Registrants are currently assessing the impacts such guidance may have (which could be material) on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures, as well as the potential to early adopt where applicable. The Registrants have assessed other FASB issuances of new standards which are not listed below given the current expectation such standards will not significantly impact the Registrants' financial reporting.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Issued May 2014 and subsequently amended to address implementation questions): Changes the criteria for recognizing revenue from a contract with a customer. The new revenue recognition guidance, including subsequent amendments, is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after December 15, 2017, with the option to early adopt the standard for annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2016. Exelon has not early adopted this standard.

The new standard replaces existing guidance on revenue recognition, including most industry specific guidance, with a five step model for recognizing and measuring revenue from contracts with customers. The objective of the new standard is to provide a single, comprehensive revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers to improve comparability within industries, across industries, and across capital markets. The underlying principle is that an entity will recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. The guidance also requires a number of disclosures regarding the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and the related cash flows. The guidance can be applied retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented (full retrospective method) or retrospectively with a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings for initial application of the guidance at the date of initial adoption (modified retrospective method).

The Registrants have assessed the revenue recognition standard and are executing a detailed implementation plan in preparation for adoption on January 1, 2018. The Registrants have also actively participated in the AICPA Power and Utilities Industry Task Force (Industry Task Force) process to identify implementation issues and support the development of related implementation guidance. In coordination with the Industry Task Force, the Registrants have reached conclusions on the following key accounting issues:

• The Utility Registrants’ tariff sale contracts, including those with lower credit quality customers, are generally deemed to be probable of collection under the guidance and, thus, the timing of revenue recognition will continue to be concurrent with the delivery of electricity or natural gas, consistent with current practice;

• Consistent with current industry practice, revenues recognized from sales of bundled energy commodities (i.e., contracts involving the delivery of multiple energy commodities such as electricity, capacity, ancillary services, etc.) are generally expected to be recognized upon delivery to the customer in an amount based on the invoice price given that it corresponds directly with the value of the commodities transferred to the customer; and

• Contributions in aid of construction are outside of the scope of the standard and, therefore, will continue to be accounted for as a reduction to Property, Plant, and Equipment.

The Registrants have also completed the following key activities in their implementation plan:

• Evaluated existing contracts and revenue streams for potential changes in revenue recognition under the new guidance.  Based on these assessments, the Registrants have identified the following items that will be accounted for differently under the new revenue guidance as compared to current guidance:

• Costs to acquire certain contracts (e.g., sales commissions associated with retail power contracts) will be deferred and amortized ratably over the term of the contract rather than being expensed as incurred; and

• Variable consideration within certain contracts (e.g., performance bonuses) will be estimated and recognized as revenue over the term of the contract rather than being recognized when realized

Notwithstanding these identified changes, Exelon does not expect the new guidance will have a material impact on the amount and timing of revenue recognition;

• Currently expect to apply the new guidance using the full retrospective method; and

• Generation expects to disclose disaggregated revenue by operating segment and further differentiation by major products (i.e., electric power and gas) and the Utility Registrants expect to disclose disaggregated revenue by major customer class (i.e., residential and commercial & industrial) separately for electric and gas in the Combined Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost (Issued March 2017): The new standard will require significant changes to the accounting and presentation of pension and OPEB costs at the plan sponsor (i.e., Exelon) level. This guidance requires plan sponsors to report the service cost and other non-service cost components of net periodic pension cost and net periodic OPEB cost (together, net benefit cost) separately. Under current GAAP, net benefit cost is recorded as part of income from operations and the components are disclosed in the Retirement Benefits footnote. Service cost will be presented as part of income from operations and the other non-service cost components will be classified outside of income from operations on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income. Additionally, service cost is the only component eligible for capitalization (whereas under current GAAP, all components of net benefit cost are eligible for capitalization).

Generation, ComEd, PECO, BGE, BSC, PHI, Pepco, DPL, ACE and PHISCO participate in Exelon’s single employer pension and OPEB plans and apply multi-employer accounting. Multi-employer accounting is not impacted by this standard, so Exelon's subsidiary financial statements will not change. On Exelon’s consolidated financial statements, non-service cost components of pension and OPEB cost capitalizable under a regulatory framework will be reported as regulatory assets (currently, they are capitalizable under pension and OPEB accounting guidance and reported as PP&E). These regulatory assets will be amortized outside of operating income.

The standard is effective January 1, 2018 and requires retrospective application for the presentation of the service cost component and the other non-service cost components of net benefit cost and prospective application for the capitalization of only the service cost component of net benefit cost. Exelon will not early adopt this standard.

Leases (Issued February 2016): Increases transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The guidance requires lessees to recognize both the right-of-use assets and lease liabilities in the balance sheet for most leases, whereas today only financing type lease liabilities (capital leases) are recognized in the balance sheet. This is expected to require significant changes to systems, processes and procedures in order to recognize and measure leases recorded on the balance sheet that are currently classified as operating leases. In addition, the definition of a lease has been revised in regards to when an arrangement conveys the right to control the use of the identified asset under the arrangement which may result in changes to the classification of an arrangement as a lease. The recognition, measurement, and presentation of expenses and cash flows arising from a lease by a lessee have not significantly changed from current GAAP. The accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from that applied under current GAAP. The standard is effective January 1, 2019. Early adoption is permitted, however the Registrants do not expect to early adopt the standard. Lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. Refer to Note 24 — Commitments and Contingencies of the Combined Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Exelon 2016 Form 10-K for additional information regarding operating leases.

Impairment of Financial Instruments (Issued June 2016):Provides for a new Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) impairment model for specified financial instruments including loans, trade receivables, debt securities classified as held-to-maturity investments and net investments in leases recognized by a lessor. Under the new guidance, on initial recognition and at each reporting period, an entity is required to recognize an allowance that reflects the entity’s current estimate of credit losses expected to be incurred over the life of the financial instrument. The standard does not make changes to the existing impairment models for non-financial assets such as fixed assets, intangibles and goodwill. The standard will be effective January 1, 2020 (with early adoption as of January 1, 2019 permitted) and, for most debt instruments, requires a modified retrospective transition approach through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption.

Derivatives and Hedging (Issued September 2017): Allows more financial and nonfinancial hedging strategies to be eligible for hedge accounting.  The amendments are intended to more closely align hedge accounting with companies’ risk management strategies, simplify the application of hedge accounting, and increase transparency as to the scope and results of hedging programs.  There are also amendments related to effectiveness testing and disclosure requirements.  The guidance is effective January 1, 2019 and early adoption is permitted with a modified retrospective transition approach. The Registrants are currently assessing this standard but do not currently expect a significant impact given the limited activity for which the Registrants elect hedge accounting and because the Registrants do not anticipate increasing their use of hedge accounting as a result of this standard.

Goodwill Impairment (Issued January 2017): Simplifies the accounting for goodwill impairment by removing Step 2 of the current test, which requires calculation of a hypothetical purchase price allocation. Under the revised guidance, goodwill impairment will be measured as the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill (currently Step 1 of the two step impairment test). Entities will continue to have the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine if a quantitative impairment test is necessary. Exelon, Generation, ComEd, PHI, and DPL have goodwill as of September 30, 2017. This updated guidance is not currently expected to impact the Registrants’ financial reporting. The standard is effective January 1, 2020, with early adoption permitted, and must be applied on a prospective basis.

Clarifying the Definition of a Business (Issued January 2017): Clarifies the definition of a business with the objective of addressing whether acquisitions (or dispositions) should be accounted for as acquisitions/dispositions of assets or as acquisitions/dispositions of businesses. If substantially all the fair value of the assets acquired/disposed of is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets, the set of transferred assets and activities is not a business. If the fair value of the assets acquired/disposed of is not concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets, then an entity must evaluate whether an input and a substantive process exist, which together significantly contribute to the ability to produce outputs. The standard also revises the definition of outputs to focus on goods and services to customers. The standard will likely result in more acquisitions being accounted for as asset acquisitions. The standard is effective January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted, and must be applied on a prospective basis. 

Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory (Issued October 2016): Requires entities to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs (current GAAP prohibits the recognition of current and deferred income taxes for an intra-entity asset transfer until the asset has been sold to an outside party). The standard is effective January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. The guidance requires a modified retrospective transition approach through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption.

Statement of Cash Flows: Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments (Issued August 2016) and Restricted Cash (Issued November 2016): In 2016, the FASB issued two standards impacting the Statement of Cash Flows. The first adds or clarifies guidance on the classification of certain cash receipts and payments on the statement of cash flows as follows: debt prepayment or extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon bonds, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies and bank-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, beneficial interest in securitization transactions, and the application of the predominance principle to separately identifiable cash flows. The second states that amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows (instead of being presented as cash flow activities). The Registrants will adopt both standards on January 1, 2018 on a retrospective basis. Adoption of the second standard will result in a change in presentation of restricted cash on the face of the Statement of Cash Flows; otherwise the Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on the Registrants’ Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures.

Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities (Issued January 2016): (i) Requires all investments in equity securities, including other ownership interests such as partnerships, unincorporated joint ventures and limited liability companies, to be carried at fair value through net income, (ii) requires an incremental recognition and disclosure requirement related to the presentation of fair value changes of financial liabilities for which the fair value option has been elected, (iii) amends several disclosure requirements, including the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate fair value or a description of the changes in the methods and assumptions used to estimate fair value, and (iv) requires disclosure of the fair value of financial assets and liabilities measured at amortized cost at the amount that would be received to sell the asset or paid to transfer the liability. The standard is effective January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. The guidance requires a modified retrospective transition approach with a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings for initial application of the guidance at the date of adoption. The Registrants will not early adopt this standard. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on the Registrants' Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, and Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Valuation Techniques Used to Determine Fair Value

The following describes the valuation techniques used to measure the fair value of the assets and liabilities shown in the tables above.

Cash Equivalents (Exelon, Generation, ComEd, PECO, BGE, PHI, Pepco, DPL and ACE). The Registrants’ cash equivalents include investments with original maturities of three months or less when purchased. The cash equivalents shown in the fair value tables are comprised of investments in mutual and money market funds. The fair values of the shares of these funds are based on observable market prices and, therefore, have been categorized in Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy.

Preferred Stock Derivative (PHI). In connection with entering into the PHI Merger Agreement, PHI entered into a Subscription Agreement with Exelon dated April 29, 2014, pursuant to which PHI issued to Exelon shares of Preferred stock. The Preferred stock contained embedded features requiring separate accounting consideration to reflect the potential value to PHI that any issued and outstanding Preferred stock could be called and redeemed at a nominal par value upon a termination of the merger agreement under certain circumstances due to the failure to obtain required regulatory approvals. The embedded call and redemption features on the shares of the Preferred stock in the event of such a termination were separately accounted for as derivatives. These Preferred stock derivatives were valued quarterly using quantitative and qualitative factors, including management’s assessment of the likelihood of a Regulatory Termination and therefore, were categorized in Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy. As a result of the PHI Merger, the PHI Preferred stock derivative was reduced to zero as of March 23, 2016. The write-off was charged to Other, net on the PHI Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income.

Nuclear Decommissioning Trust Fund Investments and Pledged Assets for Zion Station Decommissioning (Exelon and Generation). The trust fund investments have been established to satisfy Generation’s and CENG's nuclear decommissioning obligations as required by the NRC. The NDT funds hold debt and equity securities directly and indirectly through commingled funds and mutual funds, which are included in Equities and Fixed Income. Generation’s and CENG's NDT fund investments policies outline investment guidelines for the trusts and limit the trust funds’ exposures to investments in highly illiquid markets and other alternative investments. Investments with maturities of three months or less when purchased, including certain short-term fixed income securities are considered cash equivalents and included in the recurring fair value measurements hierarchy as Level 1 or Level 2.

With respect to individually held equity securities, the trustees obtain prices from pricing services, whose prices are generally obtained from direct feeds from market exchanges, which Generation is able to independently corroborate. The fair values of equity securities held directly by the trust funds which are based on quoted prices in active markets are categorized in Level 1. Certain equity securities have been categorized as Level 2 because they are based on evaluated prices that reflect observable market information, such as actual trade information or similar securities. Equity securities held individually are primarily traded on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ-Global Select Market, which contain only actively traded securities due to the volume trading requirements imposed by these exchanges.

For fixed income securities, multiple prices from pricing services are obtained whenever possible, which enables cross-provider validations in addition to checks for unusual daily movements. A primary price source is identified based on asset type, class or issue for each security. With respect to individually held fixed income securities, the trustees monitor prices supplied by pricing services and may use a supplemental price source or change the primary price source of a given security if the portfolio managers challenge an assigned price and the trustees determine that another price source is considered to be preferable. Generation has obtained an understanding of how these prices are derived, including the nature and observability of the inputs used in deriving such prices. Additionally, Generation selectively corroborates the fair values of securities by comparison to other market-based price sources. U.S. Treasury securities are categorized as Level 1 because they trade in a highly liquid and transparent market. The fair values of fixed income securities, excluding U.S. Treasury securities, are based on evaluated prices that reflect observable market information, such as actual trade information or similar securities, adjusted for observable differences and are categorized in Level 2. The fair values of private placement fixed income securities, which are included in Corporate debt, are determined using a third party valuation that contains significant unobservable inputs and are categorized in Level 3.

Equity and fixed income commingled funds and mutual funds are maintained by investment companies and hold certain investments in accordance with a stated set of fund objectives such as holding short-term fixed income securities or tracking the performance of certain equity indices by purchasing equity securities to replicate the capitalization and characteristics of the indices. The values of some of these funds are publicly quoted. For mutual funds which are publicly quoted, the funds are valued based on quoted prices in active markets and have been categorized as Level 1. For commingled funds and mutual funds, which are not publicly quoted, the funds are valued using NAV as a practical expedient for fair value, which is primarily derived from the quoted prices in active markets on the underlying securities, and are not classified within the fair value hierarchy. These investments typically can be redeemed monthly with 30 or less days of notice and without further restrictions.

Derivative instruments consisting primarily of futures and interest rate swaps to manage risk are recorded at fair value. Over the counter derivatives are valued daily based on quoted prices in active markets and trade in open markets, and have been categorized as Level 1. Derivative instruments other than over the counter derivatives are valued based on external price data of comparable securities and have been categorized as Level 2.

Middle market lending are investments in loans or managed funds which lend to private companies. Generation elected the fair value option for its investments in certain limited partnerships that invest in middle market lending managed funds. The fair value of these loans is determined using a combination of valuation models including cost models, market models and income models. Investments in loans are categorized as Level 3 because the fair value of these securities is based largely on inputs that are unobservable and utilize complex valuation models. Managed funds are valued using NAV or its equivalent as a practical expedient, and therefore, are not classified within the fair value hierarchy. Investments in middle market lending typically cannot be redeemed until maturity of the term loan.

Private equity and real estate investments include those in limited partnerships that invest in operating companies and real estate holding companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange, such as, leveraged buyouts, growth capital, venture capital, distressed investments, investments in natural resources, and direct investments in pools of real estate properties. The fair value of private equity and real estate investments is determined using NAV or its equivalent as a practical expedient, and therefore, are not classified within the fair value hierarchy. These investments typically cannot be redeemed and are generally liquidated over a period of 8 to 10 years from the initial investment date. Private equity and real estate valuations are reported by the fund manager and are based on the valuation of the underlying investments, which include inputs such as cost, operating results, discounted future cash flows, market based comparable data, and independent appraisals from sources with professional qualifications. These valuation inputs are unobservable.

As of September 30, 2017, Generation has outstanding commitments to invest in fixed income, middle market lending, private equity and real estate investments of approximately $75 million, $285 million,$240 million, and$95 million, respectively. These commitments will be funded by Generation’s existing nuclear decommissioning trust funds.

Concentrations of Credit Risk. Generation evaluated its NDT portfolios for the existence of significant concentrations of credit risk as of September 30, 2017. Types of concentrations that were evaluated include, but are not limited to, investment concentrations in a single entity, type of industry, foreign country, and individual fund. As of September 30, 2017, there were no significant concentrations (generally defined as greater than 10 percent) of risk in Generation's NDT assets.

See Note 13 — Nuclear Decommissioning for further discussion on the NDT fund investments.

Rabbi Trust Investments (Exelon, Generation, PECO, BGE, PHI, Pepco, DPL and ACE). The Rabbi trusts were established to hold assets related to deferred compensation plans existing for certain active and retired members of Exelon’s executive management and directors. The Rabbi trusts assets are included in investments in the Registrants’ Consolidated Balance Sheets and consist primarily of money market funds, mutual funds, fixed income securities and life insurance policies. The mutual funds are maintained by investment companies and hold certain investments in accordance with a stated set of fund objectives, which are consistent with Exelon’s overall investment strategy. Money market funds and mutual funds are publicly quoted and have been categorized as Level 1 given the clear observability of the prices. The fair values of fixed income securities are based on evaluated prices that reflect observable market information, such as actual trade information or similar securities, adjusted for observable differences and are categorized in Level 2. The life insurance policies are valued using the cash surrender value of the policies, net of loans against those policies, which is provided by a third-party. Certain life insurance policies, which consist primarily of mutual funds that are priced based on observable market data, have been categorized as Level 2 because the life insurance policies can be liquidated at the reporting date for the value of the underlying assets. Life insurance policies that are valued using unobservable inputs have been categorized as Level 3.

Mark-to-Market Derivatives (Exelon, Generation, ComEd, PHI and DPL).Derivative contracts are traded in both exchange-based and non-exchange-based markets. Exchange-based derivatives that are valued using unadjusted quoted prices in active markets are categorized in Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy. Certain derivatives’ pricing is verified using indicative price quotations available through brokers or over-the-counter, on-line exchanges and are categorized in Level 2. These price quotations reflect the average of the bid-ask, mid-point prices and are obtained from sources that the Registrants believe provide the most liquid market for the commodity. The price quotations are reviewed and corroborated to ensure the prices are observable and representative of an orderly transaction between market participants. This includes consideration of actual transaction volumes, market delivery points, bid-ask spreads and contract duration. The remainder of derivative contracts are valued using the Black model, an industry standard option valuation model. The Black model takes into account inputs such as contract terms, including maturity, and market parameters, including assumptions of the future prices of energy, interest rates, volatility, credit worthiness and credit spread. For derivatives that trade in liquid markets, such as generic forwards, swaps and options, model inputs are generally observable. Such instruments are categorized in Level 2. The Registrants’ derivatives are predominantly at liquid trading points. For derivatives that trade in less liquid markets with limited pricing information model inputs generally would include both observable and unobservable inputs. These valuations may include an estimated basis adjustment from an illiquid trading point to a liquid trading point for which active price quotations are available. Such instruments are categorized in Level 3.

Exelon may utilize fixed-to-floating interest rate swaps, which are typically designated as fair value hedges, as a means to achieve its targeted level of variable-rate debt as a percent of total debt. In addition, the Registrants may utilize interest rate derivatives to lock in interest rate levels in anticipation of future financings. These interest rate derivatives are typically designated as cash flow hedges. Exelon determines the current fair value by calculating the net present value of expected payments and receipts under the swap agreement, based on and discounted by the market's expectation of future interest rates. Additional inputs to the net present value calculation may include the contract terms, counterparty credit risk and other market parameters. As these inputs are based on observable data and valuations of similar instruments, the interest rate swaps are categorized in Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy. See Note 10 - Derivative Financial Instruments for further discussion on mark-to-market derivatives.

Deferred Compensation Obligations (Exelon, Generation, ComEd, PECO, BGE, PHI, Pepco, DPL and ACE). The Registrants’ deferred compensation plans allow participants to defer certain cash compensation into a notional investment account. The Registrants include such plans in other current and noncurrent liabilities in their Consolidated Balance Sheets. The value of the Registrants’ deferred compensation obligations is based on the market value of the participants’ notional investment accounts. The underlying notional investments are comprised primarily of equities, mutual funds, commingled funds, and fixed income securities which are based on directly and indirectly observable market prices. Since the deferred compensation obligations themselves are not exchanged in an active market, they are categorized as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.

The value of certain employment agreement obligations (which are included with the Deferred Compensation Obligation in the tables above) are based on a known and certain stream of payments to be made over time and are categorized as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy.