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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation
 
The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and therefore do not contain all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP and the SEC for annual financial statements. Interim financial information includes the Company's accounts and those of its wholly and non-wholly owned subsidiaries. The non-wholly owned subsidiary was consolidated using the voting interest model as the Company owns a majority of the voting interests in the non-wholly owned subsidiary and includes the Company's accounts and those of its wholly and non-wholly owned subsidiaries. The interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 as filed with the SEC on February 24, 2022.
 
The preparation of the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements in accordance with GAAP 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 balance sheet dates and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses for the periods presented. These include, but are not limited to, estimates and assumptions used in determining the Company’s regulatory asset and liability balances based upon probability assessments of regulatory recovery, revenues earned but not yet billed, asset retirement obligations, allowance for credit losses, pension and other employee benefit plan liabilities, and income tax-related assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from these estimates.
 
In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring transactions that are necessary to provide a fair presentation of the results for the periods covered.
Due to the seasonal nature of the water business, the results for interim periods are not indicative of the results for a 12-month period. Revenue and income are generally higher in the warm, dry summer months when water usage and sales are greater. Revenue and income are generally lower in the winter months when cooler temperatures and rainfall curtail water usage and sales.
Revenue
Revenue from contracts with customers
The Company principally generates operating revenue from contracts with customers by providing regulated water and wastewater services at tariff-rates authorized by the Commissions in the states in which they operate and non-regulated water and wastewater services at rates authorized by contracts with government agencies. Revenue from contracts with customers reflects amounts billed for the volume of consumption at authorized per unit rates, for a service charge, and for other authorized charges.
The Company satisfies its performance obligation to provide water and wastewater services over time as services are rendered. The Company applies the invoice practical expedient and recognizes revenue from contracts with customers in the amount for which the Company has a right to invoice. The Company has a right to invoice for the volume of consumption, for the service charge, and for other authorized charges.
The measurement of sales to customers is generally based on the reading of their meters, which occurs on a systematic basis throughout the month. At the end of each month, the Company estimates consumption since the date of the last meter reading and a corresponding unbilled revenue is recognized. The estimate is based upon the number of unbilled days that month and the average daily customer billing rate from the previous month (which fluctuates based upon customer usage).
Contract terms are generally short-term and at will by customers and, as a result, no separate financing component is recognized for the Company's collections from customers, which generally require payment within 30 days of billing. The Company applies judgment, based principally on historical payment experience, in estimating its customers’ ability to pay.
Certain customers are not billed for volumetric consumption, but are instead billed a flat rate at the beginning of each monthly service period. The amount billed is initially deferred and subsequently recognized over the monthly service period, as the performance obligation is satisfied. The deferred revenue balance or contract liability, which is included in "accrued expenses and other liabilities" on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets, is inconsequential.
In the following tables, revenue from contracts with customers is disaggregated by class of customers for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021:
Three Months Ended September 30
20222021
Residential$140,585 $147,407 
Business44,031 43,450 
Multiple residential17,333 16,904 
Industrial8,086 7,347 
Public authorities13,441 14,126 
Other (a)14,792 9,118 
Total revenue from contracts with customers$238,268 $238,352 
Nine Months Ended September 30
20222021
Residential$348,965 $354,971 
Business115,472 106,902 
Multiple residential48,343 45,682 
Industrial20,174 19,409 
Public authorities31,310 30,886 
Other (a)31,596 39,487 
Total revenue from contracts with customers$595,860 $597,337 
(a) Other includes accrued unbilled revenue.
Regulatory balancing account revenue
The Company’s ability to recover revenue requirements authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in its triennial general rate case (GRC) is decoupled from the volume of the sales. Regulatory balancing account revenue is revenue related to rate mechanisms authorized in California by the CPUC, which allow the Company to recover the authorized revenue and are not considered contracts with customers. These mechanisms include the following:
The Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanism (WRAM) allows the Company to recognize the adopted level of volumetric revenues. The variance between adopted volumetric revenues and actual billed volumetric revenues for metered accounts is recorded as regulatory balancing account revenue.
Cost-recovery rates, such as the Modified Cost Balancing Account (MCBA), Conservation Expense Balancing Account (CEBA), Pension Cost Balancing Account (PCBA), and Health Cost Balancing Account (HCBA), generally provide for recovery of the adopted levels of expenses for purchased water, purchased power, pump taxes, water conservation program costs, pension, and health care. Variances between adopted and actual costs are recorded as regulatory balancing account revenue.
Each district's WRAM and MCBA regulatory assets and liabilities are allowed to be netted against one another. The Company recognizes regulatory balancing account revenues that have been authorized for rate recovery, are objectively determinable and probable of recovery, and are expected to be collected within 24 months. To the extent that regulatory balancing account revenue is estimated to be collectible beyond 24 months, recognition is deferred.
The CPUC issued a decision effective August 27, 2020 requiring that Class A companies submitting GRC filings after the effective date to be (i) precluded from proposing the use of a full decoupling WRAM in their next GRCs and (ii) allowed the use of Monterey-Style Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanisms (MWRAM). Incremental Cost Balancing Accounts (ICBA), which are authorized by statute, would replace the MCBA. The MWRAM tracks the difference between the revenue received for actual metered sales through the tiered volumetric rate and the revenue that would have been received with the same actual metered sales if a uniform rate would have been in effect. The ICBA tracks differences between the authorized per-unit prices of water production costs and actual per-unit prices of water production costs. Cal Water has complied with this decision in its recent 2021 GRC filing.
Non-regulated Revenue
Non-regulated Revenue
The following tables disaggregate the Company’s non-regulated revenue by source for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021:
Three Months Ended September 30
20222021
Operating and maintenance revenue$3,184 $4,110 
Other non-regulated revenue720 894 
Non-regulated revenue from contracts with customers3,904 5,004 
Lease revenue669 809 
Total non-regulated revenue$4,573 $5,813 
Nine Months Ended September 30
20222021
Operating and maintenance revenue$9,822 $12,122 
Other non-regulated revenue4,951 2,550 
Non-regulated revenue from contracts with customers14,773 14,672 
Lease revenue1,999 2,087 
Total non-regulated revenue$16,772 $16,759 
Operating and maintenance services are provided for non-regulated water and wastewater systems owned by private companies and municipalities. The Company negotiates formal agreements with the customers, under which they provide operating, maintenance and customer billing services related to the customers’ water system. The formal agreements outline the fee schedule for the services provided. The agreements typically call for a fee-per-service or a flat-rate amount per month. The Company satisfies its performance obligation of providing operating and maintenance services over time as services are rendered; as a result, the Company employs the invoice practical expedient and recognizes revenue in the amount that it has the right to invoice. Contract terms are generally short-term and, as a result, no separate financing component is recognized for its collections from customers, which generally require payment within 30 days of billing.
Other non-regulated revenue primarily relates to services for the design and installation of water mains and other water infrastructure for customers outside the regulated service areas and insurance program administration. During the first nine months of 2022, the Company recorded a gain of $2.7 million related to company owned life insurance.
Lease revenue Lease revenue is not considered revenue from contracts with customers and is recognized following operating lease standards. The Company is the lessor in operating lease agreements with telecommunications companies under which cellular phone antennas are placed on the Company's property.
Allowance for credit losses
Allowance for credit losses
The Company measures expected credit losses for Customer Receivables, Other Receivables, and Unbilled Revenue on an aggregated level. These receivables are generally trade receivables due in one year or less or expected to be billed and collected in one year or less. The expected credit losses for Other Receivables and Unbilled Revenue are inconsequential. Customer receivables include receivables for water and wastewater services provided to residential customers, business, industrial, public authorities, and other customers. The expected credit losses for business, industrial, public authorities, and other customers are inconsequential. The overall risks related to the Company’s receivables are low as water and wastewater services are seen as essential services. The estimate for the allowance for credit losses is based on a historical loss ratio, in conjunction with a qualitative assessment of elements that impact the collectability of receivables to determine if the allowance for credit losses should be further adjusted in accordance with the accounting guidance for credit losses. Management contemplates available current information such as changes in economic factors, regulatory matters, industry trends, payment options and programs available to customers, and the methods that the Company is able to utilize to ensure payment.
The Company reviewed its allowance for credit losses utilizing a quantitative assessment, which included trend analysis of customer billing and collection, aging by customer class, and unemployment rates since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2020. The Company also utilized a qualitative assessment, which considered the future collectability on customer outstanding balances, management's estimate of the cash recovery, and a general assessment of the economic conditions of the locations the Company serves due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The Company has resumed shutoffs for
non-payment in all of the Company's regulated utilities. The Company also received and applied funds to customer accounts from the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program (Program). The Program was created by the California Legislature, is administered by the State Water Resources Control Board and provided relief to community water and wastewater systems for unpaid bills – arrearages – related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accounting Standards Issued But Not Yet Adopted
Accounting Standards Issued But Not Yet Adopted
In October of 2021, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers. In a business combination, an acquirer generally recognizes assets acquired and liabilities assumed, including contract assets and contract liabilities, at their respective fair value on the acquisition date. ASU 2021-08 requires that in a business combination, an acquirer should recognize and measure contract assets acquired and contract liabilities assumed in a business combination in accordance with Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The guidance provides certain practical expedients for acquirers when recognizing and measuring acquired contract assets and contract liabilities from revenue contracts with customers in a business combination. The guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. ASU 2021-08 should be applied prospectively for acquisitions occurring on or after the effective date of the amendments, and early adoption is permitted. The Company will adopt the standard prospectively and does not expect that the guidance will have a material impact on the Company's financial statements and footnote disclosures upon adoption.