Leases (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Leases

OG&E evaluates all contracts under Topic 842 to determine if the contract is or contains a lease and to determine classification as an operating or finance lease. If a lease is identified, OG&E recognizes a right-of-use asset and a lease liability in its Balance Sheets. OG&E recognizes and measures a lease liability when it concludes the contract contains an identified asset that OG&E controls through having the right to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits and the right to direct the use of the identified asset. The liability is equal to the present value of lease payments, and the asset is based on the liability, subject to adjustment, such as for initial direct costs. Further, OG&E utilizes an incremental borrowing rate for purposes of measuring lease liabilities, if the discount rate is not implicit in the lease. To calculate the incremental borrowing rate, OG&E starts with a current pricing report for OG&E's senior unsecured notes, which indicates rates for periods reflective of the lease term, and adjusts for the effects of collateral to arrive at the secured incremental borrowing rate. As permitted by Topic 842, OG&E made an accounting policy election to not apply the balance sheet recognition requirements to short-term leases and to not separate lease components from nonlease components when recognizing and measuring lease liabilities. For income statement purposes, OG&E records operating lease expense on a straight-line basis.

Based on its evaluation of all contracts under Topic 842, as described above, OG&E concluded it has operating lease obligations for railcar leases and wind farm land leases.

Operating Leases

OG&E Railcar Lease Agreement

Effective February 1, 2019, OG&E renewed a railcar lease agreement for 780 rotary gondola railcars to transport coal from Wyoming to OG&E's coal-fired generation units. Rental payments are charged to fuel expense and are recovered through OG&E's fuel adjustment clauses. On February 1, 2024, OG&E has the option to either purchase the railcars at a stipulated fair market value or renew the lease. If OG&E chooses not to purchase the railcars or renew the lease agreement and the actual fair value of the railcars is less than the stipulated fair market value, OG&E would be responsible for the difference in those values up to a maximum of $6.8 million.

OG&E Wind Farm Land Lease Agreements

OG&E has operating leases related to land for Centennial, OU Spirit and Crossroads wind farms with terms of 25 to 30 years. The Centennial lease has rent escalations which increase annually based on the Consumer Price Index. While lease liabilities are not remeasured as a result of changes to the Consumer Price Index, changes to the Consumer Price Index are treated as variable

lease payments and recognized in the period in which the obligation for those payments was incurred. The OU Spirit and Crossroads leases have rent escalations which increase after five and 10 years. Although the leases are cancellable, OG&E is required to make annual lease payments as long as the wind turbines are located on the land. OG&E does not expect to terminate the leases until the wind turbines reach the end of their useful life.

Financial Statement Information and Maturity Analysis of Lease Liabilities

Operating lease cost was $1.3 million and $3.8 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. Payments for operating lease obligations were $4.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.

The following table presents amounts recognized for operating leases in OG&E's 2019 Condensed Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet and supplemental information related to those amounts recognized, as well as a maturity analysis of OG&E's operating lease liabilities.



	Nine Months Ended
(In millions)	September 30, 2019
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
Operating cash flows for operating leases	$	4.3
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities	$	10.7

(Dollars in millions)	September 30, 2019
Right-of-use assets at period end (A)	$	40.4
Operating lease liabilities at period end (B)	$	45.2
Operating lease weighted-average remaining lease term (in years)	13.6
Operating lease weighted-average discount rate	3.9		%



Future minimum operating lease payments as of: (In millions)	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018 (C)(D)
2019	$	0.6	$	21.1
2020	5.3		2.9
2021	5.2		2.9
2022	5.2		2.9
2023	5.2		2.9
Thereafter	37.8		37.6
Total future minimum lease payments	59.3		$	70.3
Less: Imputed interest	14.1
Present value of net minimum lease payments	$	45.2


(A)	Included in Property, Plant and Equipment in the 2019 Condensed Balance Sheet.


(B)	Included in Other Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities in the 2019 Condensed Balance Sheet.


(C)	Amounts included for comparability and accounted for in accordance with ASC 840, "Leases."

(D)

At the end of the railcar lease term, which was February 1, 2019, OG&E had the option to either purchase the railcars at a stipulated fair market value or renew the lease. OG&E renewed the lease effective February 1, 2019. If OG&E chose not to purchase the railcars or renew the lease agreement and the actual fair value of the railcars was less than the stipulated fair market value, OG&E would have been responsible for the difference in those values up to a maximum of $16.2 million.