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Organization And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013
Organization And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies  
Organization And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies
Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Organization. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements presented herein contain the results of Regency Energy Partners LP and its subsidiaries (the “Partnership”), a Delaware limited partnership. The Partnership and its subsidiaries are engaged in the business of gathering and processing, compression, treating and transportation of natural gas and the transportation, fractionation and storage of NGLs. Regency GP LP is the Partnership’s general partner and Regency GP LLC (collectively the “General Partner”) is the managing general partner of the Partnership and the general partner of Regency GP LP.
SUGS Acquisition. On April 30, 2013, the Partnership and Regency Western acquired SUGS from Southern Union, a wholly owned subsidiary of Holdco, for $1.5 billion (the “SUGS Acquisition”). The Partnership financed the acquisition by issuing to Southern Union 31,372,419 Partnership common units and 6,274,483 recently created Class F common units. The Class F common units are not entitled to participate in the Partnership’s distributions for twenty-four months post-transaction closing. The remaining $600 million, less $107 million of closing adjustments, was paid in cash. In addition, ETE has agreed to forgo IDR payments on the Partnership common units issued with this transaction for twenty-four months post-transaction closing and to suspend a $10 million annual management fee paid by the Partnership for two years post-transaction close.
The common units and Class F common units related to the SUGS Acquisition were issued in a private placement conducted in accordance with the exemption from registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended under Section 4(2) thereof. The Class F common units will convert into common units on a one-for-one basis in May 2015.
The cash portion of the SUGS Acquisition was funded from the proceeds of senior notes issued by the Partnership on April 30, 2013 in a private placement. PEPL Holdings provided a guarantee of collection with respect to the payment of the principal amounts of the senior notes issued by the Partnership.
The Partnership accounted for the acquisition in a manner similar to the pooling of interest method of accounting as it was a transaction between commonly controlled entities. Under this method of accounting, the Partnership reflected historical balance sheet data for the Partnership and SUGS instead of reflecting the fair market value of SUGS assets and liabilities from the date of acquisition forward. The Partnership retrospectively adjusted its financial statements to include the balances and operations of SUGS from March 26, 2012 (the date upon which common control began). The SUGS Acquisition does not impact historical earnings per unit as pre-acquisition earnings were allocated to predecessor equity.
The following table presents the revenues and net income for the previously separate entities and the combined amounts presented herein:
 
Three Months Ended June 30,
 
Six Months Ended June 30,
 
   2013 (1)
 
2012
 
   2013 (1)
 
2012
Revenues:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Partnership
$
562

 
$
312

 
$
911

 
$
670

     SUGS
77

 
199

 
268

 
216

     Combined
$
639

 
$
511

 
$
1,179

 
$
886

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Partnership
$
20

 
$
29

 
$
15

 
$
58

     SUGS
(9
)
 
(1
)
 
(33
)
 
(15
)
     Combined
$
11

 
$
28

 
$
(18
)
 
$
43


(1) 
The SUGS Acquisition closed on April 30, 2013. Therefore, amounts attributable to SUGS only include one month and four months of activity for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2013, respectively.


Basis of Presentation. The unaudited financial information included in this Form 10-Q has been prepared on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements included in the Partnership’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. In the opinion of the Partnership’s management, such financial information reflects all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position and the results of operations for such interim periods in accordance with GAAP. All inter-company items and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in annual consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Use of Estimates. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP, which includes the use of estimates and assumptions made by management that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities that exist at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements. Although these estimates are based on management’s available knowledge of current and expected future events, actual results could be different from those estimates.
Derivative Financial Instruments. Derivative transactions related to SUGS are recognized in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet at their fair value. On the date the derivative contract is entered into, SUGS designates the derivative as (i) a hedge of the fair value of a recognized asset or liability or of an unrecognized firm commitment (a fair value hedge); (ii) a hedge of a forecasted transaction or the variability of cash flows to be received or paid in conjunction with a recognized asset or liability (a cash flow hedge); or (iii) an instrument that is held for trading or non-hedging purposes (a trading or economic hedging instrument). For derivatives treated as a fair value hedge, the effective portion of changes in fair value is recorded as an adjustment to the hedged item. For derivatives treated as a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of changes in fair value is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the consolidated balance sheet until the related hedge items impact earnings. Any ineffective portion of a cash flow hedge is reported in current period earnings. For derivatives treated as trading or economic hedging instruments, changes in fair value are reported in current-period earnings. Fair value is determined based upon quoted market prices and pricing models using assumptions that market participants would use. All outstanding SUGS derivative transactions as of April 30, 2013 were terminated on April 30, 2013.
Asset Retirement Obligations. Legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets are recorded at fair value at the time the obligations are incurred, if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. Present value techniques are used which reflect assumptions such as removal and remediation costs, inflation,  and profit margins that third parties would demand to settle the amount of the future obligation. The Partnership does not include a market risk premium for unforeseeable circumstances in its fair value estimates because such a premium cannot be reliably estimated. Upon initial recognition of the liability, costs are capitalized as a part of the long-lived asset and allocated to expense over the useful life of the related asset. The liability is accreted to its present value each period with accretion being recorded to operating expense with a corresponding increase in the carrying amount of the liability. The ARO assets and liabilities as of June 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012 were $5 million.
Environmental. The Partnership's operations are subject to federal, state and local laws and rules and regulations regarding water quality, hazardous and solid waste management, air quality control and other environmental matters. These laws, rules and regulations require the Partnership to conduct its operations in a specified manner and to obtain and comply with a wide variety of environmental registrations, licenses, permits, inspections and other approvals. Failure to comply with applicable environmental laws, rules and regulations may expose the Partnership to significant fines, penalties and/or interruptions in its operations. The Partnership's environmental policies and procedures are designed to achieve compliance with such applicable laws and regulations. These evolving laws and regulations and claims for damages to property, employees, other persons and the environment resulting from current or past operations may result in significant expenditures and liabilities in the future.

Income Taxes. The Partnership is generally not subject to income taxes, except as discussed below, because its income is taxed directly to its partners. The Partnership is subject to the gross margins tax enacted by the state of Texas. The Partnership has two wholly-owned subsidiaries that are subject to income tax and provides for deferred income taxes using the asset and liability method. Accordingly, deferred taxes are recorded for differences between the tax and book basis that will reverse in future periods. The Partnership’s deferred tax liabilities of $20 million and $23 million as of June 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively, relate to the difference between the book and tax basis of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets and is included in other long-term liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Partnership follows the guidance for uncertainties in income taxes where a liability for an unrecognized tax benefit is recorded for a tax position that does not meet the “more likely than not” criteria. The Partnership has not recorded any uncertain tax positions meeting the more likely than not criteria as of June 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012. The Partnership recognized current federal income tax expense of less than $1 million in the six months ended June 30, 2013 and June 30, 2012. The Partnership also recognized deferred income tax benefit of $3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2013 and less than $1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2012.

Although the SUGS operations were included in the Southern Union consolidated federal income tax return prior to the SUGS Acquisition, following their acquisition by the Partnership, their operations are now treated as a partnership. Therefore, other than one wholly-owned subsidiary, the historical operations exclude income taxes for all periods presented.

Effective with the Partnership’s acquisition of SUGS on April 30, 2013, SUGS is generally no longer subject to federal income taxes and subject only to gross margins tax in the state of Texas. Substantially all previously recorded current and deferred tax liabilities were settled with Southern Union, along with all other intercompany receivables and payables at the date of acquisition.