CREDIT LOSSES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Credit Loss [Abstract]

CREDIT LOSSES

CREDIT LOSSES

Our exposure to credit losses is related to our accounts receivable and unbilled revenue balances, which are generated from the sale of electricity and natural gas by our regulated utility operations. Our regulated utility operations are included in our utility segment. No accounts receivable and unbilled revenue balances were reported in the other segment at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020.

We evaluate the collectability of our accounts receivable and unbilled revenue balances considering a combination of factors. For some of our larger customers and also in circumstances where we become aware of a specific customer's inability to meet its financial obligations to us, we record a specific allowance for credit losses against amounts due in order to reduce the net recognized receivable to the amount we reasonably believe will be collected. For all other customers, we use the accounts receivable aging method to calculate an allowance for credit losses. Using this method, we classify accounts receivable into different aging buckets and calculate a reserve percentage for each aging bucket based upon historical loss rates. The calculated reserve percentages are updated on at least an annual basis, in order to ensure recent macroeconomic, political, and regulatory trends are captured in the calculation, to the extent possible. Risks identified that we do not believe are reflected in the calculated reserve percentages, are assessed on a quarterly basis to determine whether further adjustments are required.

We monitor our ongoing credit exposure through active review of counterparty accounts receivable balances against contract terms and due dates. Our activities include timely account reconciliation, dispute resolution and payment confirmation. To the extent possible, we work with customers with past due balances to negotiate payment plans, but will disconnect customers for non-payment as allowed by the PSCW, if necessary, and employ collection agencies and legal counsel to pursue recovery of defaulted receivables. For our larger customers, detailed credit review procedures may be performed in advance of any sales being made. We sometimes require letters of credit, parental guarantees, prepayments or other forms of credit assurance from our larger customers to mitigate credit risk. See Note 19, Regulatory Environment, for information on certain regulatory actions that were and/or are being taken for the purpose of ensuring that essential utility services are available to our customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have included a table below that shows our gross third-party receivable balances and related allowance for credit losses.

(in millions)	June 30, 2021			December 31, 2020
Accounts receivable and unbilled revenues	$	637.2		$	525.4
Allowance for credit losses	71.3			59.3
Accounts receivable and unbilled revenues, net (1)	$	565.9		$	466.1
Total accounts receivable, net – past due greater than 90 days (1)	$	39.6		$	56.3
Past due greater than 90 days – collection risk mitigated by regulatory mechanisms (1)	95.6		%	98.2		%

(1)Our exposure to credit losses for certain regulated utility customers is mitigated by a regulatory mechanism we have in place. Specifically, our residential tariffs include a mechanism for cost recovery or refund of uncollectible expense based on the difference between actual uncollectible write-offs and the amounts recovered in rates. As a result, at June 30, 2021, $219.9 million, or 38.9%, of our net accounts receivable and unbilled revenues balance had regulatory protections in place to mitigate the exposure to credit losses. In addition, we have received specific orders related to the deferral of certain costs (including credit losses) incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The additional protections related to our accounts receivable and unbilled revenue balances provided by these orders are subject to prudency reviews and are still being assessed. They are not reflected in the percentages in the above table or this note. See Note 19, Regulatory Environment, for more information on these orders.

A rollforward of the allowance for credit losses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 is included below:

	Three Months Ended
(in millions)	June 30, 2021		June 30, 2020
Balance at March 31	$	78.8	$	39.8
Provision for credit losses	4.4		6.8
Provision for credit losses deferred for future recovery or refund	(3.5)		3.7
Write-offs charged against the allowance	(10.7)		(10.7)
Recoveries of amounts previously written off	2.3		6.1
Balance at June 30	$	71.3	$	45.7

	Six Months Ended
(in millions)	June 30, 2021		June 30, 2020
Balance at December 31	$	59.3	$	38.1
Provision for credit losses	12.5		13.7
Provision for credit losses deferred for future recovery or refund	13.9		3.5
Write-offs charged against the allowance	(22.2)		(21.6)
Recoveries of amounts previously written off	7.8		12.0
Balance at June 30	$	71.3	$	45.7

The increase in the allowance for credit losses at June 30, 2021, compared to December 31, 2020, was driven by higher past due accounts receivable balances, primarily related to residential customers. This increase in accounts receivable balances in arrears related to the continued economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including continued high unemployment rates. However, as seen in the quarterly rollforward above, the allowance for credit losses began to decrease in the second quarter of 2021, which we believe is related to the start of normal collection practices. See Note 19, Regulatory Environment, for more information.

The increase in the allowance for credit losses from December 31, 2019 to June 30, 2020, was driven by an increase in past due accounts receivable balances. This is a trend we generally see over the winter moratorium months, when we are not allowed to disconnect customer service as a result of non-payment. In Wisconsin, the winter moratorium begins on November 1 and ends on April 15. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and related regulatory orders we received, we were also unable to disconnect any of our customers during the second quarter of 2020.