Risk Management (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

RISK MANAGEMENT

Price Risk Management

PGE participates in the wholesale marketplace to balance its supply of power, which consists of its own generation combined with wholesale market transactions, to meet the needs of its retail customers, manage risk, and administer its existing long-term wholesale contracts. Wholesale market transactions include purchases and sales of both power and fuel resulting from economic dispatch decisions for Company-owned generation resources. As a result of this ongoing business activity, PGE is exposed to commodity price risk and foreign currency exchange rate risk, from which changes in prices and/or rates may affect the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

PGE utilizes derivative instruments to manage its exposure to commodity price risk and foreign exchange rate risk to reduce volatility in NVPC for its retail customers. Such derivative instruments, recorded at fair value on the condensed consolidated balance sheets, may include forward, futures, swaps, and option contracts for electricity,

natural gas, and foreign currency, with changes in fair value recorded in the condensed consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income. In accordance with the ratemaking and cost recovery processes authorized by the OPUC, the Company recognizes a regulatory asset or liability to defer the gains and losses from derivative activity until settlement of the associated derivative instrument. PGE may designate certain derivative instruments as cash flow hedges or may use derivative instruments as economic hedges. The Company does not engage in trading activities for non-retail purposes.

PGE’s Assets and Liabilities from price risk management activities consist of the following (in millions):



	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
Current assets:
Commodity contracts:
Electricity	$	6	$	11
Natural gas	8		7
Total current derivative assets⁽¹⁾	14		18
Noncurrent assets:
Commodity contracts:
Electricity	1		1
Natural gas	3		1
Total noncurrent derivative assets⁽¹⁾	4		2
Total derivative assets⁽²⁾	$	18	$	20
Current liabilities:
Commodity contracts:
Electricity	$	12	$	16
Natural gas	14		35
Total current derivative liabilities	26		51
Noncurrent liabilities:
Commodity contracts:
Electricity	92		78
Natural gas	8		23
Total noncurrent derivative liabilities	100		101
Total derivative liabilities⁽²⁾	$	126	$	152

(1) Total current derivative assets is included in Other current assets, and Total noncurrent derivative assets is included in Other noncurrent assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

(2) As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, no derivative assets or liabilities were designated as hedging instruments.

PGE’s net volumes related to its Assets and Liabilities from price risk management activities resulting from its derivative transactions, which are expected to deliver or settle at various dates through 2035, were as follows (in millions):



	September 30, 2019			December 31, 2018
Commodity contracts:
Electricity	6		MWhs	5		MWhs
Natural gas	140		Decatherms	123		Decatherms
Foreign currency	$	21	Canadian	$	18	Canadian

PGE has elected to report positive and negative exposures resulting from derivative instruments pursuant to agreements that meet the definition of a master netting arrangement gross on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. In the case of default on, or termination of, any contract under the master netting arrangements, such agreements provide for the net settlement of all related contractual obligations with a given counterparty through a single payment. These types of transactions may include non-derivative instruments, derivatives qualifying for scope exceptions, receivables and payables arising from settled positions, and other forms of non-cash collateral, such as letters of credit. As of September 30, 2019, and December 31, 2018, gross amounts included as Price risk management liabilities subject to master netting agreements were $2 million and $88 million, respectively, for which PGE posted no collateral as of September 30, 2019 and $11 million as of December 31, 2018, which consisted entirely of letters of credit. As of September 30, 2019, of the gross amounts recognized, none was for electricity and $2 million was for natural gas compared to $84 million for electricity and $4 million for natural gas recognized as of December 31, 2018.

Net realized and unrealized losses (gains) on derivative transactions not designated as hedging instruments are classified in Purchased power and fuel in the condensed consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income and were as follows (in millions):



	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2019			2018			2019			2018
Commodity contracts:
Electricity	$	36		$	(3	)	$	18		$	(5	)
Natural Gas	(9		)	(3		)	(13		)	11
Foreign currency exchange	—			—			—			1

Net unrealized and certain net realized losses (gains) presented in the table above are offset within the condensed consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income by the effects of regulatory accounting. Of the net amounts recognized in Net income for the three-month periods ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, net losses of $24 million and net gains of $8 million, respectively, have been offset. Net losses of $5 million and net gains of $2 million have been offset for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Assuming no changes in market prices and interest rates, the following table indicates the year in which the net unrealized loss (gain) recorded as of September 30, 2019 related to PGE’s derivative activities would become realized as a result of the settlement of the underlying derivative instrument (in millions):



	2019			2020		2021		2022		2023		Thereafter		Total
Commodity contracts:
Electricity	$	(3	)	$	11	$	9	$	7	$	7	$	66	$	97
Natural gas	2			5		4		—		—		—		11
Net unrealized loss	$	(1	)	$	16	$	13	$	7	$	7	$	66	$	108

PGE’s secured and unsecured debt is currently rated at investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) and S&P Global Ratings (S&P). Should Moody’s or S&P reduce their rating on the Company’s unsecured debt to below investment grade, PGE could be subject to requests by certain wholesale counterparties to post additional performance assurance collateral, in the form of cash or letters of credit, based on total portfolio positions with each of those counterparties. Certain other counterparties would have the right to terminate their agreements with the Company.

The aggregate fair value of derivative instruments with credit-risk-related contingent features that were in a liability position as of September 30, 2019 was $118 million, for which PGE has posted $21 million in collateral, consisting entirely of letters of credit. If the credit-risk-related contingent features underlying these agreements were triggered at September 30, 2019, the cash requirement to either post as collateral or settle the instruments immediately would have been $109 million. As of September 30, 2019, PGE had no cash collateral posted for derivative instruments with no credit-risk-related contingent features. Cash collateral for derivative instruments is classified as Margin deposits included in Other current assets on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet.

Counterparties representing 10% or more of assets and liabilities from price risk management activities were as follows:



	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
Assets from price risk management activities:
Counterparty A	35	%	42	%
Counterparty B	—		15
Counterparty C	17		5
Counterparty D	11		9
	63	%	71	%
Liabilities from price risk management activities:
Counterparty E	76	%	56	%

See Note 4, Fair Value of Financial Instruments, for additional information concerning the determination of fair value for the Company’s Assets and Liabilities from price risk management activities.

Interest Rate Risk

In 2018 PGE entered into interest rate swap lock agreements to hedge a portion of its interest rate risk associated with anticipated issuances of fixed-rate, long-term debt securities. These derivatives were designated as cash flow hedges, protecting against the risk of changes in future interest payments resulting from changes in benchmark U.S. Treasury rates between the date of hedge inception and the date of the debt issuance.

As of December 31, 2018, the fair value of the interest rate swaps was a $4 million liability, which was recorded in Liabilities from price risk management activities - current on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. The swaps settled at a $5 million loss in January 2019, which has been recorded in Regulatory assets - noncurrent on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of September 30, 2019, the Company had no outstanding interest rate swaps.