From time to time, TEC enters into futures, forwards, swaps and option contracts for the following purposes:

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To limit the exposure to price fluctuations for physical purchases and sales of natural gas in the course of normal operations, and

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To optimize the utilization of Tampa Electric’s physical natural gas storage capacity and PGS’s firm transportation capacity on interstate pipelines.

TEC uses derivatives only to reduce normal operating and market risks, not for speculative purposes. TEC’s primary objective in using derivative instruments for regulated operations is to reduce the impact of market price volatility on customers and to optimize the utilization of its physical natural gas storage capacity and firm transportation capacity on interstate pipelines.

The risk management policies adopted by TEC provide a framework through which management monitors various risk exposures. Daily and periodic reporting of positions and other relevant metrics are performed by a centralized risk management group, which is independent of all operating companies.

On November 6, 2017, the FPSC approved an amended and restated settlement agreement filed by Tampa Electric, which includes a provision for a moratorium on hedging of natural gas purchases ending on December 31, 2022 (see Note 3). TEC was hedging its exposure to the variability in future cash flows until November 30, 2018 for financial natural gas contracts. TEC had $1 million of derivative liabilities related to natural gas storage and transportation optimization as of September 30, 2019 and zero derivative assets and liabilities on its Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2018.

TEC applies the accounting standards for derivative instruments and hedging activities. These standards require companies to recognize derivatives as either assets or liabilities in the financial statements and to measure those instruments at fair value. TEC also applies the accounting standards for regulated operations to financial instruments used to hedge the purchase of natural gas and optimize natural gas storage and firm transportation capacity for its regulated companies. These standards, in accordance with the FPSC, permit the changes in fair value of natural gas derivatives to be recorded as regulatory assets or liabilities reflecting the impact of these activities on the fuel recovery clause. As a result, these changes are not recorded in OCI or net income.

TEC’s physical contracts qualify for the NPNS exception to derivative accounting rules, provided they meet certain criteria. Generally, NPNS applies if TEC deems the counterparty creditworthy, if the counterparty owns or controls resources within the proximity to allow for physical delivery of the commodity, if TEC intends to receive physical delivery and if the transaction is reasonable in relation to TEC’s business needs. As of September 30, 2019, all of TEC’s physical contracts qualify for the NPNS exception, which has been elected.

TEC is exposed to credit risk by entering into derivative instruments with counterparties to limit its exposure to the commodity price fluctuations associated with natural gas and to optimize the value of natural gas storage capacity. Credit risk is the potential loss resulting from a counterparty’s nonperformance under an agreement. TEC manages credit risk with policies and procedures for, among other things, counterparty analysis, exposure measurement and exposure monitoring and mitigation.

It is possible that volatility in commodity prices or other circumstances could cause TEC to have material credit risk exposures with one or more counterparties. If such counterparties fail to perform their obligations under one or more agreements, TEC could suffer a material financial loss. However, as of September 30, 2019, counterparties with transaction amounts outstanding in TEC’s energy portfolio were rated investment grade by the major rating agencies, collateralized, or approved for credit based on their financial statements. TEC assesses credit risk internally for counterparties that are not rated.

TEC has entered into commodity master arrangements with its counterparties to mitigate credit exposure to those counterparties. TEC generally enters into standardized master arrangements in the electric and gas industry. TEC believes that entering into such agreements reduces the risk from default by creating contractual rights relating to creditworthiness, collateral and termination.

TEC has implemented procedures to monitor the creditworthiness of its counterparties and to consider nonperformance risk in determining the fair value of counterparty positions. Net liability positions generally do not require a nonperformance risk adjustment as TEC uses derivative transactions as hedges and has the ability and intent to perform under each of these contracts. In the instance of net asset positions, TEC considers general market conditions and the observable financial health and outlook of specific counterparties in evaluating the potential impact of nonperformance risk to derivative positions.

Certain TEC derivative instruments contain provisions that require TEC’s debt to maintain an investment grade credit rating from any or all of the major credit rating agencies. If debt ratings were to fall below investment grade, it could trigger these provisions, and the counterparties to the derivative instruments could demand immediate and ongoing full overnight collateralization on derivative instruments in net liability positions. TEC has no other contingent risk features associated with any derivative instruments.