Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Property, Plant and Equipment [Table Text Block]

A summary of property, plant and equipment for continuing operations by classification as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 is provided in the following table:


	As of December 31,
(in thousands)	2020		2019
Property, plant and equipment
Regulated Energy
Natural gas distribution - Delmarva Peninsula and Florida	$	782,329	$	705,095
Natural gas transmission - Delmarva Peninsula, Pennsylvania and Florida	667,538		608,727
Electric distribution	127,710		127,651
Unregulated Energy
Propane operations – Mid-Atlantic and Florida	151,258		141,945
Natural gas transmission and supply – Ohio	87,962		73,658
Electricity and steam generation	36,521		35,436
Mobile CNG and pipeline solutions	24,905		14,014

Other	30,769		40,006
Total property, plant and equipment	1,908,992		1,746,532
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(368,743)		(336,876)
Plus: Construction work in progress	60,929		54,141
Net property, plant and equipment	$	1,601,178	$	1,463,797

Annual Depreciation Rates Table [Table Text Block]

Depreciation and Accretion Included in Operations Expenses

We compute depreciation expense for our regulated operations by applying composite, annual rates, as approved by the respective regulatory bodies. The following table shows the average depreciation rates used for regulated operations during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:


	2020	2019	2018
Natural gas distribution – Delmarva Peninsula	2.5%	2.5%	2.5%
Natural gas distribution – Florida	2.5%	2.6%	2.9%
Natural gas transmission – Delmarva Peninsula	2.7%	2.6%	2.7%
Natural gas transmission – Florida	2.3%	2.4%	2.3%
Electric distribution	2.9%	3.4%	3.4%

Estimated Useful Life Of Assets Table [Table Text Block]

For our unregulated operations, we compute depreciation expense on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives of the assets:


Asset Description			Useful Life
Propane distribution mains			10-37 years
Propane bulk plants and tanks			10-40 years
Propane equipment, meters and meter installations			5-33 years
Measuring and regulating station equipment			5-37 years
Natural gas pipelines			45 years
Natural gas right of ways			Perpetual
CHP plant			30 years
Natural gas processing equipment			20-25 years
Office furniture and equipment			3-10 years
Transportation equipment			4-20 years
Structures and improvements			5-45 years
Other			Various