Leases

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Most of the leases the Company enters into are for equipment, buildings, easements and vehicles as part of their ongoing operations. The Company also leases certain equipment to third parties through its utility and construction services businesses. The Company determines if an arrangement contains a lease at inception of a contract and accounts for all leases in accordance with ASC 842 - Leases.

The recognition of leases requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the lease classification and the assets and liabilities recorded. The accuracy of lease assets and liabilities reported on the Consolidated Financial Statements depends on, among other things, management's estimates of interest rates used to discount the lease assets and liabilities to their present value, as well as the lease terms based on the unique facts and circumstances of each lease.

Lessee accounting

The leases the Company has entered into as part of its ongoing operations are considered operating leases and are recognized on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as operating lease right-of-use assets, current operating lease liabilities and noncurrent liabilities - operating lease liabilities. The corresponding lease costs are included in operation and maintenance expense on the Consolidated Statements of Income.

Generally, the leases for vehicles and equipment have a term of five years or less and buildings and easements have a longer term of up to 35 years or more. To date, the Company does not have any residual value guarantee amounts probable of being owed to a lessor, financing leases or material agreements with related parties.

The following tables provide information on the Company's operating leases at and for the years ended December 31:


	2023		2022		2021
	(In thousands)
Lease costs:
Short-term lease cost	$	101,610	$	104,447	$	79,433
Operating lease cost	29,257		27,016		24,708
Variable lease cost	1,891		1,641		1,431
	$	132,758	$	133,104	$	105,572


	2023			2022			2021
	(Dollars in thousands)
Weighted average remaining lease term	3.20 years			3.17 years			3.27 years
Weighted average discount rate	4.92		%	4.04		%	3.48		%
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities	$	29,678		$	26,572		$	21,575

The reconciliation of future undiscounted cash flows to operating lease liabilities presented on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2023, was as follows:


	(In thousands)
2024	$	25,916
2025	17,573
2026	11,143
2027	6,555
2028	3,805
Thereafter	25,724
Total	90,716
Less discount	16,187
Total operating lease liabilities	$	74,529

Leases

Lessor accounting

The Company leases certain equipment to third parties through its utility and construction services businesses, which are considered short-term operating leases with terms of less than 12 months. The Company recognized revenue from operating leases of $46.0 million, $47.9 million and $50.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. At December 31, 2023, the Company had $9.4 million of lease receivables with a majority due within 12 months or less.