Contingencies and Commitments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Guarantees, Letters of Credit and Commitments — In connection with certain project financings, acquisitions and dispositions, power purchases and other agreements, the Parent Company has expressly undertaken limited obligations and commitments, most of which will only be effective or will be terminated upon the occurrence of future events. In the normal course of business, the Parent Company has entered into various agreements, mainly guarantees and letters of credit, to provide financial or performance assurance to third parties on behalf of AES businesses. These agreements are entered into primarily to support or enhance the creditworthiness otherwise achieved by a business on a stand-alone basis, thereby facilitating the availability of sufficient credit to accomplish their intended business purposes. Most of the contingent obligations relate to future performance commitments which the Company or its businesses expect to fulfill within the normal course of business. The expiration dates of these guarantees vary from less than one year to more than 15 years.

The following table summarizes the Parent Company’s contingent contractual obligations as of March 31, 2020. Amounts presented in the following table represent the Parent Company’s current undiscounted exposure to guarantees and the range of maximum undiscounted potential exposure. The maximum exposure is not reduced by the amounts, if any, that could be recovered under the recourse or collateralization provisions in the guarantees.



Contingent Contractual Obligations	Amount (in millions)		Number of Agreements	Maximum Exposure Range for Each Agreement (in millions)
Guarantees and commitments	$	906	43	$0 — 157
Letters of credit under the unsecured credit facility	343		14	$1 — 296
Letters of credit under the senior secured credit facility	14		23	$0 — 4
Asset sale related indemnities ⁽¹⁾	12		1	$12
Total	$	1,275	81

_____________________________


⁽¹⁾	Excludes normal and customary representations and warranties in agreements for the sale of assets (including ownership in associated legal entities) where the associated risk is considered to be nominal.

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company paid letter of credit fees ranging from 1% to 3% per annum on the outstanding amounts of letters of credit.

Contingencies

Environmental — The Company periodically reviews its obligations as they relate to compliance with environmental laws, including site restoration and remediation. For each of the periods ended March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the Company recognized liabilities of $4 million for projected environmental remediation costs. Due to the uncertainties associated with environmental assessment and remediation activities, future costs of compliance or remediation could be higher or lower than the amount currently accrued. Moreover, where no liability has been recognized, it is reasonably possible that the Company may be required to incur remediation costs or make expenditures in amounts that could be material but could not be estimated as of March 31, 2020. In aggregate, the Company estimates the range of potential losses related to environmental matters, where estimable, to be up to $13 million. The amounts considered reasonably possible do not include amounts accrued as discussed above.

Litigation — The Company is involved in certain claims, suits and legal proceedings in the normal course of business. The Company accrues for litigation and claims when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. The Company has recognized aggregate liabilities for all claims of approximately $43 million and $55 million as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. These amounts are reported on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets within Accrued and other liabilities and Other noncurrent liabilities. A significant portion of these accrued liabilities relate to regulatory matters and commercial disputes in international jurisdictions. There can be no assurance that these accrued liabilities will be adequate to cover all existing and future claims or that we will have the liquidity to pay such claims as they arise.

Where no accrued liability has been recognized, it is reasonably possible that some matters could be decided unfavorably to the Company and could require the Company to pay damages or make expenditures in amounts that could be material but could not be estimated as of March 31, 2020. The material contingencies where a loss is reasonably possible primarily include disputes with offtakers, suppliers and EPC contractors; alleged breaches of contract; alleged violation of laws and regulations; income tax and non-income tax matters with tax authorities; and regulatory matters. In aggregate, the Company estimates the range of potential losses, where estimable, related to these reasonably possible material contingencies to be between $260 million and $689 million. The amounts considered reasonably possible do not include the amounts accrued, as discussed above. These material contingencies do not include income tax-related contingencies which are considered part of our uncertain tax positions.