New Accounting Pronouncements (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

New Accounting Pronouncements (All Registrants)

Exelon has identified the following new accounting standards that have been recently adopted.

Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities that Calculate Net Asset Value per Share

In May 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that removes the requirement to categorize within the fair value hierarchy all investments for which fair value is measured using the net asset value per share practical expedient. Investments measured at net asset value per share using the practical expedient will be presented as a reconciling item between the fair value hierarchy disclosure and the investment line item on the Balance Sheet. The guidance also simplified the disclosure requirements for investments valued using the practical expedient. The guidance is effective for the Registrants for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. The Registrants adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2016, and applied the guidance retrospectively to all prior periods presented. The adoption of this guidance had no impact on the Registrants’ Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income and Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. See Note 8 - Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities for the disclosure impacts.

Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement

In April 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that clarifies the circumstances under which a cloud computing customer would account for the arrangement as a license of internal-use software. A cloud computing arrangement would include a software license if (1) the customer has a contractual right to take possession of the software at any time during the hosting period without significant penalty and (2) it is feasible for the customer to either operate the software on its own hardware or contract with another party unrelated to the vendor to host the software. If the arrangement does not contain a software license, it would be accounted for as a service contract. The Registrants prospectively adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2016. The adoption of this guidance had no impact on the Registrants' Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures.

Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis

In February 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that amends the consolidation analysis for variable interest entities (VIEs) as well as voting interest entities. The new guidance primarily (1) changes the VIE assessment of limited partnerships, (2) amends the effect that fees paid to a decision maker or service provider have on the VIE analysis, (3) amends how variable interests held by a reporting entity’s related parties and de facto agents impact its consolidation conclusion, (4) clarifies how to determine whether equity holders (as a group) have power over an entity, and (5) provides a scope exception for registered and similar unregistered money market funds. The guidance became effective for the Registrants January 1, 2016. The Registrants adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2016. The Registrants have evaluated the standard and have not identified any changes to consolidation conclusions as a result of the new guidance, but have identified additional entities that are now considered VIEs. See Note 3 - Variable Interest Entities for the disclosure impacts.

The following issued accounting standards are not yet required to be reflected in the consolidated financial statements of the Registrants.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that changes the criteria for recognizing revenue from a contract with a customer. 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 are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures as well as the transition method that they will use to adopt the guidance. Exelon is considering the impacts of the new guidance on its ability to recognize revenue for certain contracts where collectability is in question, its accounting for contributions in aid of construction, bundled sales contracts and contracts with pricing provisions that may require it to recognize revenue at prices other than the contract price (e.g., straight line or estimated future market prices). In addition, the Registrants will be required to capitalize costs to acquire new contracts, whereas Exelon currently expenses those costs as incurred. The guidance 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. The Registrants do not plan to early adopt the standard.In March 2016, the FASB issued a final amendment to clarify the implementation guidance for principal versus agent considerations and in April 2016 issued a final amendment to clarify the guidance related to identifying performance obligations and the accounting for licenses of intellectual property. The Registrants do not expect significant impacts based on these updates. In May 2016, the FASB issued a final amendment regarding narrow scope improvements and practical expedients. The Registrants are currently assessing the impact of this update.

Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance to increase 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 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 with early adoption permitted. Lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have 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 the guidance.

Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory

In October 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which instructs entities to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs (compared to current GAAP which 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 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017 with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied on a modified retrospective basis through a cumulative-effect adjustment directly to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption. The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have 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 the guidance.

Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments

In August 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance intended to add or clarify guidance on the classification of certain cash receipts and payments on the statement of cash flows. The new guidance addresses cash flows related to the following: 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 standard is effective January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The guidance must be applied on a retrospective basis. The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have on their Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Impairment of Financial Instruments

In June 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that adds an impairment model to U.S. GAAP called the Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) model for financial instruments within the scope of the guidance, which includes loans, trade receivables, debt securities classified as held-to-maturity and net investments in leases recognized by a lessor. Under the new guidance, on initial recognition and at each reporting period, an entity would be 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. An entity must consider all available relevant information when estimating expected credit losses. Historical charge-off rates may be used as a starting point for determining expected credit losses; however, the entity must also evaluate how conditions that existed during the historical charge-off period may differ from its current expectations and accordingly revise its estimate of expected credit losses. 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. The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures.

Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting

In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance intended to simplify various aspects to how share-based payment awards to employees are accounted for and presented in the financial statements. The new guidance eliminates additional paid-in capital pools and requires excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies to be recorded in the Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted if all provisions are adopted within the same period. The guidance is required to be applied on either a prospective, modified retrospective, or retrospective basis depending on the provisions applied. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures. The Registrants are currently assessing the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Simplifying the Transition to the Equity Method of Accounting

In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance eliminating the requirement to retroactively adopt the equity method of accounting as a result of an increase in the level ownership or degree of influence of an existing investment. The guidance now requires an investor to add the cost of acquiring the additional interest in the investee to the current basis of the investor's previously held interest and adopt the equity method of accounting as of the date the investment becomes qualified for the equity method of accounting. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures. The Registrants are currently assessing the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Effect of Derivative Contract Novations on Existing Hedge Accounting Relationships

In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which clarifies that a change in the counterparty of a derivative contract does not, in and of itself, require dedesignation of that hedge accounting relationship as long as all of the other hedge accounting criteria are met. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. Entities have the option to adopt this standard on a prospective basis to new derivative contract novations or on a modified retrospective basis. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures. The Registrants are currently assessing the transition method and the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Contingent Put and Call Options in Debt Instruments

In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which simplifies the embedded derivative analysis for debt instruments containing contingent call or put options by removing the requirement to assess whether a contingent event is related to interest rates or credit risks. The guidance clarifies that a contingent put or call option embedded in a debt instrument would be evaluated for possible separate accounting as a derivative instrument without regard to the nature of the exercise contingency. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied on a modified retrospective basis to all existing and future debt instruments. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures and are currently assessing the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities

In January 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which (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 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017 with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied retrospectively with a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings for initial application of the guidance at the date of adoption (modified retrospective method). The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have 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 the guidance.

Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory

In July 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that requires inventory to be measured at the lower of cost or net realizable value. The new guidance defines net realizable value as the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. This definition is consistent with existing authoritative guidance. Current guidance requires inventory to be measured at the lower of cost or market where market could be replacement cost, net realizable value or net realizable value less an approximately normal profit margin. The guidance is effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied prospectively. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures. The Registrants are currently assessing the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Exelon has identified the following new accounting standards that have been recently adopted.

Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities that Calculate Net Asset Value per Share

In May 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that removes the requirement to categorize within the fair value hierarchy all investments for which fair value is measured using the net asset value per share practical expedient. Investments measured at net asset value per share using the practical expedient will be presented as a reconciling item between the fair value hierarchy disclosure and the investment line item on the Balance Sheet. The guidance also simplified the disclosure requirements for investments valued using the practical expedient. The guidance is effective for the Registrants for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. The Registrants adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2016, and applied the guidance retrospectively to all prior periods presented. The adoption of this guidance had no impact on the Registrants’ Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income and Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. See Note 8 - Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities for the disclosure impacts.

Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement

In April 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that clarifies the circumstances under which a cloud computing customer would account for the arrangement as a license of internal-use software. A cloud computing arrangement would include a software license if (1) the customer has a contractual right to take possession of the software at any time during the hosting period without significant penalty and (2) it is feasible for the customer to either operate the software on its own hardware or contract with another party unrelated to the vendor to host the software. If the arrangement does not contain a software license, it would be accounted for as a service contract. The Registrants prospectively adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2016. The adoption of this guidance had no impact on the Registrants' Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures.

Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis

In February 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that amends the consolidation analysis for variable interest entities (VIEs) as well as voting interest entities. The new guidance primarily (1) changes the VIE assessment of limited partnerships, (2) amends the effect that fees paid to a decision maker or service provider have on the VIE analysis, (3) amends how variable interests held by a reporting entity’s related parties and de facto agents impact its consolidation conclusion, (4) clarifies how to determine whether equity holders (as a group) have power over an entity, and (5) provides a scope exception for registered and similar unregistered money market funds. The guidance became effective for the Registrants January 1, 2016. The Registrants adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2016. The Registrants have evaluated the standard and have not identified any changes to consolidation conclusions as a result of the new guidance, but have identified additional entities that are now considered VIEs. See Note 3 - Variable Interest Entities for the disclosure impacts.

The following issued accounting standards are not yet required to be reflected in the consolidated financial statements of the Registrants.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that changes the criteria for recognizing revenue from a contract with a customer. 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 are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures as well as the transition method that they will use to adopt the guidance. Exelon is considering the impacts of the new guidance on its ability to recognize revenue for certain contracts where collectability is in question, its accounting for contributions in aid of construction, bundled sales contracts and contracts with pricing provisions that may require it to recognize revenue at prices other than the contract price (e.g., straight line or estimated future market prices). In addition, the Registrants will be required to capitalize costs to acquire new contracts, whereas Exelon currently expenses those costs as incurred. The guidance 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. The Registrants do not plan to early adopt the standard.In March 2016, the FASB issued a final amendment to clarify the implementation guidance for principal versus agent considerations and in April 2016 issued a final amendment to clarify the guidance related to identifying performance obligations and the accounting for licenses of intellectual property. The Registrants do not expect significant impacts based on these updates. In May 2016, the FASB issued a final amendment regarding narrow scope improvements and practical expedients. The Registrants are currently assessing the impact of this update.

Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance to increase 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 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 with early adoption permitted. Lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have 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 the guidance.

Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory

In October 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which instructs entities to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs (compared to current GAAP which 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 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017 with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied on a modified retrospective basis through a cumulative-effect adjustment directly to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption. The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have 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 the guidance.

Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments

In August 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance intended to add or clarify guidance on the classification of certain cash receipts and payments on the statement of cash flows. The new guidance addresses cash flows related to the following: 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 standard is effective January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The guidance must be applied on a retrospective basis. The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have on their Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Impairment of Financial Instruments

In June 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that adds an impairment model to U.S. GAAP called the Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) model for financial instruments within the scope of the guidance, which includes loans, trade receivables, debt securities classified as held-to-maturity and net investments in leases recognized by a lessor. Under the new guidance, on initial recognition and at each reporting period, an entity would be 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. An entity must consider all available relevant information when estimating expected credit losses. Historical charge-off rates may be used as a starting point for determining expected credit losses; however, the entity must also evaluate how conditions that existed during the historical charge-off period may differ from its current expectations and accordingly revise its estimate of expected credit losses. 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. The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures.

Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting

In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance intended to simplify various aspects to how share-based payment awards to employees are accounted for and presented in the financial statements. The new guidance eliminates additional paid-in capital pools and requires excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies to be recorded in the Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted if all provisions are adopted within the same period. The guidance is required to be applied on either a prospective, modified retrospective, or retrospective basis depending on the provisions applied. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures. The Registrants are currently assessing the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Simplifying the Transition to the Equity Method of Accounting

In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance eliminating the requirement to retroactively adopt the equity method of accounting as a result of an increase in the level ownership or degree of influence of an existing investment. The guidance now requires an investor to add the cost of acquiring the additional interest in the investee to the current basis of the investor's previously held interest and adopt the equity method of accounting as of the date the investment becomes qualified for the equity method of accounting. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures. The Registrants are currently assessing the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Effect of Derivative Contract Novations on Existing Hedge Accounting Relationships

In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which clarifies that a change in the counterparty of a derivative contract does not, in and of itself, require dedesignation of that hedge accounting relationship as long as all of the other hedge accounting criteria are met. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. Entities have the option to adopt this standard on a prospective basis to new derivative contract novations or on a modified retrospective basis. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures. The Registrants are currently assessing the transition method and the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Contingent Put and Call Options in Debt Instruments

In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which simplifies the embedded derivative analysis for debt instruments containing contingent call or put options by removing the requirement to assess whether a contingent event is related to interest rates or credit risks. The guidance clarifies that a contingent put or call option embedded in a debt instrument would be evaluated for possible separate accounting as a derivative instrument without regard to the nature of the exercise contingency. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied on a modified retrospective basis to all existing and future debt instruments. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures and are currently assessing the potential to early adopt the guidance.

Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities

In January 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which (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 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017 with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied retrospectively with a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings for initial application of the guidance at the date of adoption (modified retrospective method). The Registrants are currently assessing the impacts this guidance may have 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 the guidance.

Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory

In July 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance that requires inventory to be measured at the lower of cost or net realizable value. The new guidance defines net realizable value as the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. This definition is consistent with existing authoritative guidance. Current guidance requires inventory to be measured at the lower of cost or market where market could be replacement cost, net realizable value or net realizable value less an approximately normal profit margin. The guidance is effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied prospectively. The Registrants do not expect that this guidance will have a significant impact on their Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and disclosures. The Registrants are currently assessing the potential to early adopt the guidance.