Regulatory Assets and Liabilities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Regulatory Assets and Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]

Regulatory Assets Included on the Consolidated Balance Sheets

SCE's regulatory assets included on the consolidated balance sheets are:

	December 31,
(in millions)	2019		2018
Current:
Regulatory balancing and memorandum accounts	$	798	$	814
Power contracts1	189		305
Other	22		14
Total current	1,009		1,133
Long-term:
Deferred income taxes, net of liabilities	4,026		3,589
Pension and other postretirement benefits	87		271
Power contracts1	434		700
Unamortized investments, net of accumulated amortization2	119		118
Unamortized loss on reacquired debt	142		153
Regulatory balancing and memorandum accounts	981		360
Environmental remediation	237		134
Other	62		55
Total long-term	6,088		5,380
Total regulatory assets	$	7,097	$	6,513

Regulatory Liabilities Included on the Consolidated Balance Sheets

SCE's regulatory liabilities included on the consolidated balance sheets are:

	December 31,
(in millions)	2019		2018
Current:
Regulatory balancing and memorandum accounts	$	883	$	1,080
Energy derivatives	80		158
2018 GRC1	—		274
Other	9		20
Total current	972		1,532
Long-term:
Costs of removal	2,674		2,769
Re-measurement of deferred taxes	2,424		2,776
Recoveries in excess of ARO liabilities	1,569		1,130
Regulatory balancing and memorandum accounts	1,261		1,344
Other postretirement benefits	416		185
Other1	41		125
Total long-term	8,385		8,329
Total regulatory liabilities	$	9,357	$	9,861

¹ During 2018, SCE recorded CPUC revenue based on the 2017 authorized revenue requirement adjusted for the July 2017 cost of capital decision and Tax Reform pending the outcome of the 2018 GRC. SCE recorded regulatory liabilities primarily associated with these adjustments. In May 2019, these regulatory liabilities were reversed due to the adoption of 2018 GRC final decision. For further information, see Note 1.

Schedule of Regulatory Balancing Accounts

The following table summarizes the significant components of regulatory balancing and memorandum accounts included in the above tables of regulatory assets and liabilities:

	December 31,
(in millions)	2019			2018
Asset (liability)
Energy resource recovery account1	$	(23	)	$	815
Portfolio allocation balancing account1	537			—
New system generation balancing account1	85			(74		)
Public purpose programs and energy efficiency programs	(1,235		)	(1,200		)
Base revenue requirement balancing account	(328		)	(628		)
Tax accounting memorandum account and pole loading balancing account	17			28
DOE litigation memorandum account	(35		)	(69		)
Greenhouse gas auction revenue and low carbon fuel standard revenue	(196		)	(81		)
FERC balancing accounts	(127		)	(180		)
Wildfire-related memorandum accounts2	868			272
Other	72			(133		)
Liability	$	(365	)	$	(1,250	)

¹ SCE's cost-recovery mechanism for its fuel and purchased power-related costs is facilitated in three main balancing accounts, the Energy Resource Recovery Account ("ERRA"), the Portfolio Allocation Balancing Account ("PABA") and the New System Generation Balancing Account ("NSGBA"). In May 2019, the CPUC approved a PABA to determine and pro-ratably recover from responsible bundled service and departing load customers the "above-market" costs of all generation resources that are eligible for cost recovery. The ERRA and PABA balancing accounts are subject to a trigger mechanism that allows SCE to request an expeditious rate change if the sum of the ERRA balance and the bundled service customers' pro-rata share of the PABA balance either exceeds 5% of SCE's prior year generation rate revenue or exceeds 4% of SCE's prior year generation rate revenue and SCE does not expect the overcollection or undercollection to fall below 4% within 120 days. For 2020, the 4% and 5% trigger amounts are approximately $200 million and $250 million, respectively. SCE will begin recovering the combined ERRA, PABA and NSGBA undercollection from customers in rates beginning in April 2020, which will be fully recovered in April 2021.

²  

The wildfire-related memorandum accounts regulatory assets represent wildfire-related costs that are probable of future recovery from customers, subject to a reasonableness review. The Fire Hazard Prevention Memorandum Account ("FHPMA") is used to track costs related to fire safety and to implement fire prevention corrective action measures in extreme and very high fire threat areas. The Catastrophic Event Memorandum Account ("CEMA") is used to track costs related to restoring service and damage repair, upon declaration of disasters by state or federal authorities. During 2018, the CPUC approved the establishment of the Wildfire Expense Memorandum Account ("WEMA") to track incremental wildfire insurance costs and uninsured wildfire-related financing, legal and claims costs. In March 2019, the CPUC approved a fire risk mitigation memorandum account to track costs related to the reduction of fire risk that are incremental to the amount in SCE's any other revenue requirement. In June 2019, the CPUC approved a wildfire mitigation plan memorandum account to track costs incurred to implement SCE's Wildfire Mitigation Plan that are not currently reflected in SCE's revenue requirements.