Financial Statement Presentation New Accounting Standards (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Accounting Standards Update and Change in Accounting Principle [Table Text Block]

New Accounting Pronouncements Adopted in 2020 — The following table provides a brief description of recent accounting pronouncements that had an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Accounting pronouncements not listed below were assessed and determined to be either not applicable or did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

New Accounting Standards Adopted
ASU Number and Name	Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on the financial statements upon adoption
2016-02, 2018-01, 2018-10, 2018-11, 2018-20, 2019-01, Leases (Topic 842)	ASC 842 was adopted by sPower on January 1, 2020. sPower was not required to adopt ASC 842 using the public adoption date, as sPower is an equity method investee that meets the definition of a public business entity only by virtue of the inclusion of its summarized financial information in the Company’s SEC filings.	January 1, 2020	The adoption of this standard resulted in a $4 million decrease to accumulated deficit attributable to the AES Corporation stockholders’ equity.
2016-13, 2018-19, 2019-04, 2019-05, 2019-10, 2019-11, 2020-02, 2020-03, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments	See discussion of the ASU below.	January 1, 2020	See impact upon adoption of the standard below.

ASC 326 — Financial Instruments — Credit Losses

On January 1, 2020, the Company adopted ASC 326 Financial Instruments — Credit Losses and its subsequent corresponding updates (“ASC 326”). The new standard updates the impairment model for financial assets measured at amortized cost, known as the Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”) model. For trade and other receivables, held-to-maturity debt securities, loans, and other instruments, entities are required to use a new

forward-looking "expected loss" model that generally results in the earlier recognition of an allowance for credit losses. For available-for-sale debt securities with unrealized losses, entities measure credit losses as it was done under previous GAAP, except that unrealized losses due to credit-related factors are now recognized as an allowance on the balance sheet with a corresponding adjustment to earnings in the income statement.

The Company applied the modified retrospective method of adoption for ASC 326. Under this transition method, the Company applied the transition provisions starting at the date of adoption. The cumulative effect of the adoption of ASC 326 on our January 1, 2020 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet was as follows (in millions):

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet	Balance at December 31, 2019			Adjustments Due to ASC 326			Balance at January 1, 2020
Assets
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $20	$	1,479		$	—		$	1,479
Other current assets (1)	802			(2		)	800
Deferred income taxes	156			9			165
Loan receivable, net of allowance of $32	1,351			(32		)	1,319
Other noncurrent assets (2)	1,635			(30		)	1,605
Liabilities and Equity
Accumulated deficit	$	(692	)	$	(39	)	$	(731	)
Noncontrolling interests	2,233			(16		)	2,217

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⁽¹⁾  Other current assets include the short-term portion of the Mong Duong loan receivable.

⁽²⁾  Other noncurrent assets include Argentina financing receivables.

Mong Duong — The Mong Duong II power plant in Vietnam is the primary driver of changes in credit reserves under the new standard. This plant is operated under a build, operate, and transfer (“BOT”) contract and will be transferred to the Vietnamese government after the completion of a 25-year PPA. A loan receivable was recognized in 2018 upon the adoption of ASC 606 in order to account for the future expected payments for the construction performance obligation portion of the BOT contract. As the payments for the construction performance obligation occur over a 25-year term, a significant financing element was determined to exist which is accounted for under the effective interest rate method. Historically, the Company has not incurred any losses on this arrangement, of which no directly comparable assets exist in the market. In order to determine expected credit losses under ASC 326 arising from this $1.4 billion loan receivable as of January 1, 2020, the Company considered average historical default and recovery rates on similarly rated sovereign bonds, which formed an initial basis for developing a probability of default, net of expected recoveries, to be applied as a key credit quality indicator for this arrangement. A resulting estimated loss rate of 2.4% was applied to the weighted-average remaining life of the loan receivable, after adjustments for certain asset-specific characteristics, including the Company’s status as a large foreign direct investor in Vietnam, Mong Duong’s status as critical energy infrastructure in Vietnam, and cash flows from the operations of the plant, which are under the Company’s control until the end of the BOT contract. As a result of this analysis, the Company recognized an opening CECL reserve of $34 million as an adjustment to Accumulated deficit and Noncontrolling interests as of January 1, 2020.

Argentina — Exposure to CAMMESA, the administrator of the wholesale energy market in Argentina, is the driver of credit reserves in Argentina. As discussed in Note 7 of the Company’s 2019 Form 10-K, the Company has credit exposures through the FONINVEMEM Agreements, other agreements related to resolutions passed by the Argentine government in which AES Argentina will receive compensation for investments in new generation plants and technologies, as well as regular accounts receivable balances. The timing of collections depends on corresponding agreements and collectability of these receivables are assessed on an ongoing basis.

Collection of the principal and interest on these receivables is subject to various business risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the continued operation of power plants which generate cash for payments of these receivables, regulatory changes that could impact the timing and amount of collections, and economic conditions in Argentina. The Company monitors these risks, including the credit ratings of the Argentine government, on a quarterly basis to assess the collectability of these receivables. Historically, the Company has not incurred any credit-related losses on these receivables. In order to determine expected credit losses under ASC 326, the Company considered historical default probabilities utilizing similarly rated sovereign bonds and historic recovery rates for Argentine government bond defaults. This information formed an initial basis for developing a probability of default, net of expected recoveries, to be applied as a key credit quality indicator across the underlying financing receivables. A resulting estimated weighted average loss rate of 41.2% was applied to the remaining balance of these receivables, after adjustments for certain asset-specific characteristics, including AES Argentina’s role in providing critical energy infrastructure to Argentina, our history of collections on these receivables, and the average term that the receivables are expected to be outstanding. As a result of this analysis, the Company recognized an opening CECL reserve of $29 million as an adjustment to Accumulated deficit as of January 1, 2020.

Other financial assets — Application of ASC 326 to the Company’s $1.5 billion of trade accounts receivable and $326 million of available-for-sale debt securities at January 1, 2020 did not result in any material adjustments, primarily due to the short-term duration and high turnover of these financial assets. Additionally, a large portion of our trade accounts receivables and amounts reserved for doubtful accounts under legacy GAAP arise from arrangements accounted for as an operating lease under ASC 842, which are excluded from the scope of ASC 326.

As discussed in Note 7 of the Company’s 2019 Form 10-K, AES Gener recorded $33 million of noncurrent receivables pertaining to revenues recognized on regulated energy contracts that were impacted by the Stabilization Fund created by the Chilean government in October 2019. It is expected that these noncurrent receivables will be collected prior to December 31, 2027. However, given the investment grade rating of Chile and the history of zero credit losses for regulated customers, management determined that no incremental CECL reserves were required to be recognized as of January 1, 2020.

The following table represents the rollforward of the allowance for credit losses from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 (in millions):

Rollforward of CECL Reserves by Portfolio Segment	Reserve at January 1, 2020		Current Period Provision		Write-offs charged against allowance			Recoveries Collected			Foreign Exchange			Reserve at June 30, 2020
Accounts Receivable (1)	$	4	$	10	$	(7	)	$	5		$	—		$	12
Mong Duong Loan Receivable	34		—		—			(1		)	—			33
Argentina Receivables	29		2		—			(1		)	(4		)	26
Other	1		—		—			—			—			1
Total CECL Reserves	$	68	$	12	$	(7	)	$	3		$	(4	)	$	72

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Excludes operating lease receivable allowances and contractual dispute allowances of $16 million and $6 million as of January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020, respectively. Those reserves are not in scope under ASC 326.

Schedule of Prospective Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncements [Table Text Block]

New Accounting Pronouncements Issued But Not Yet Effective — The following table provides a brief description of recent accounting pronouncements that could have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements once adopted. Accounting pronouncements not listed below were assessed and determined to be either not applicable or are expected to have no material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

New Accounting Standards Issued But Not Yet Effective
ASU Number and Name	Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on the financial statements upon adoption
2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting	The standard provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions that reference to LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued by reference rate reform. This standard is effective for a limited period of time (March 12, 2020 - December 21, 2022).	Effective for all entities as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.
2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting For Income Taxes	The standard removes certain exceptions for recognizing deferred taxes for investments, performing intra-period allocation and calculating income taxes in interim periods. It also adds guidance to reduce complexity in certain areas, including recognizing deferred taxes for tax goodwill and allocating taxes to members of a consolidated group. Transition Method: various	January 1, 2021. Early adoption is permitted.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.