Summary of Significant Accounting Policies: (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies:

Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation

Nature of Operations: American States Water Company (“AWR”) is the parent company of Golden State Water Company (“GSWC”) and American States Utility Services, Inc. (“ASUS”) (and its subsidiaries, Fort Bliss Water Services Company (“FBWS”), Terrapin Utility Services, Inc. (“TUS”), Old Dominion Utility Services, Inc. (“ODUS”), Palmetto State Utility Services, Inc. (“PSUS”) and Old North Utility Services, Inc. (“ONUS”)).  The subsidiaries of ASUS may be collectively referred to herein as the “Military Utility Privatization Subsidiaries.” AWR was also the parent company of Chaparral City Water Company (“CCWC”) until the sale of CCWC on May 31, 2011.

GSWC is a public utility engaged principally in the purchase, production, distribution and sale of water in California serving approximately 255,000 customers. GSWC also distributes electricity in several San Bernardino Mountain communities in California serving approximately 23,000 customers. The California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) regulates GSWC’s water and electric businesses, including properties, rates, services, facilities and other matters, and transactions by GSWC with its affiliates.  AWR’s assets and operating income are primarily those of GSWC.

ASUS performs water and wastewater services, including the operation, maintenance, renewal and replacement of water and/or wastewater systems on a contract basis. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, ASUS operates and maintains the water and/or wastewater systems at various military bases pursuant to 50-year firm, fixed-price contracts, which are subject to periodic price redeterminations and modifications for changes in circumstances, and changes in laws and regulations. There is no direct regulatory oversight by the CPUC over AWR or the operation, rates or services provided by ASUS or any of its wholly owned subsidiaries.

Basis of Presentation: The consolidated financial statements and notes thereto are being presented in a combined report being filed by two separate Registrants: AWR and GSWC. References in this report to “Registrant” are to AWR and GSWC, collectively, unless otherwise specified.  Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the 2012 financial statement presentation.

The consolidated financial statements of AWR include the accounts of AWR and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly owned. These financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated in the AWR consolidated financial statements. The operational results of CCWC for the periods presented are reported in discontinued operations, net of transaction costs.

The consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared by Registrant, without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).  The December 31, 2011 condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. The preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal, recurring items and estimates necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim periods, have been made. It is suggested that these consolidated financial statements be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 filed with the SEC.

GSWC's Related Party Transactions:

GSWC’s Related Party Transactions: GSWC and ASUS provide and receive various services to and from their parent, AWR.  Any transactions between GSWC and AWR or ASUS are governed by the CPUC’s affiliate transaction rules.  In addition, AWR has a $100.0 million syndicated credit facility. AWR borrows under this facility and provides funds to its subsidiaries, including GSWC, in support of their operations. Any amounts owed to AWR for borrowings under this facility are included in inter-company payables on GSWC’s balance sheet. The interest rate charged to GSWC and other affiliates is sufficient to cover AWR’s interest cost under the credit facility. GSWC also allocates certain corporate office administrative and general costs to its affiliate, ASUS, using allocation factors mandated by the CPUC.  Through May 31, 2011, GSWC also allocated costs to CCWC.

Long-Term Debt:

Long-Term Debt:  On October 1, 2012, GSWC redeemed its $8,000,000, 7.55% Medium-Term Notes, Series B.  The Notes, which were due 2025, were redeemed at a price of 101.133% of the outstanding principal amount of the Notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest through October 1, 2012, for a total redemption price of $8.3 million.

Sales and Use Taxes:

Sales and Use Taxes:  GSWC bills certain sales and use taxes levied by state or local governments to its customers. Included in these sales and use taxes are franchise fees, which GSWC pays to various municipalities (based on ordinances adopted by these municipalities) in order to use public right of way for utility purposes. GSWC bills these franchise fees to its customers based on a CPUC-authorized rate. These franchise fees, which are required to be paid regardless of GSWC’s ability to collect from the customer, are accounted for on a gross basis. GSWC’s franchise fees billed to customers and recorded as operating revenue were approximately $966,000 and $942,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and $2,600,000 and $2,423,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively. When GSWC acts as an agent, and the tax is not required to be remitted if it is not collected from the customer, the taxes are accounted for on a net basis.

Depending on the state in which the operations are conducted, ASUS and its subsidiaries are also subject to certain state non-income tax assessments generally computed on a “gross receipts” or “gross revenues” basis.  These non-income tax assessments are required to be paid regardless of whether the subsidiary is reimbursed by the U.S. government for these assessments under its 50-year contracts with the U.S. government.  The non-income tax assessments are accounted for on a gross basis and totaled $222,000 and $168,000 during the three months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and $563,000 and $533,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements:

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements:  The following accounting standards did not or are not expected to have any impact on Registrant’s consolidated financial statements:

Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2011-05”). Under ASU 2011-05, an entity has the option to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. Under both options, an entity will be required to present each component of net income along with total net income, each component of other comprehensive income along with a total for other comprehensive income, and a total amount for comprehensive income.  ASU 2011-05 is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2011 and did not have a material impact on Registrant’s consolidated financial statements.

Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-08, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment (“ASU 2011-08”). Under ASU 2011-08, an entity has the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If, after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, an entity determines it is not more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, performing the two-step impairment test is not required. The guidance does not change how an entity measures a goodwill impairment loss, and is therefore not expected to affect the information reported to users of an entity’s financial statements.  The adoption of this update is not expected to have a significant impact on its results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

In December 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-11, Balance Sheet (Topic 210): Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities (“ASU 2011-11”). The ASU 2011-11 amendments require companies to disclose information about offsetting and related arrangements to enable users of its financial statements to understand the effect of those arrangements on its financial position. ASU 2011-11 is required to be applied retrospectively for all prior periods presented and is effective for annual periods for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2013, and interim periods within those annual fiscal years. Registrant does not expect adoption of this standard to have a material impact on its consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

Other accounting standards that have been issued by the FASB or other standards-setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on Registrant’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.