Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Nature of Operations: American States Water Company (“AWR”) is the parent company of Golden State Water Company (“GSWC”) and American States Utility Services, Inc. (“ASUS”) (and its subsidiaries, Fort Bliss Water Services Company (“FBWS”), Terrapin Utility Services, Inc. (“TUS”), Old Dominion Utility Services, Inc. (“ODUS”), Palmetto State Utility Services, Inc. (“PSUS”), Old North Utility Services, Inc. (“ONUS”), Emerald Coast Utility Services, Inc. ("ECUS"), and Fort Riley Utility Services, Inc. ("FRUS")).  The subsidiaries of ASUS are collectively referred to as the “Military Utility Privatization Subsidiaries.” AWR, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, serves over one million people in nine states.

 GSWC is a public utility engaged principally in the purchase, production, distribution and sale of water in California serving approximately 261,000 customer connections. GSWC also distributes electricity in several San Bernardino County mountain communities in California serving approximately 24,000 customer connections through its Bear Valley Electric Service (“BVES”) division. The California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) regulates GSWC’s water and electric businesses in matters including properties, rates, services, facilities, and transactions by GSWC with its affiliates. GSWC filed applications with the CPUC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") in December 2018 and July 2019, respectively, to transfer the assets and liabilities of the BVES division of GSWC to Bear Valley Electric Service, Inc., a newly created separate legal entity that will be a stand-alone subsidiary of AWR.  The FERC and CPUC approved GSWC's application for reorganization in October and December of 2019, respectively.  On April 30, 2020, the FERC also approved Bear Valley Electric Service, Inc.'s application for market-based rate authority with an accompanying tariff. The reorganization plan is pending the completion of certain closing procedures to effectuate the transfer of assets and liabilities. When completed, the reorganization plan is not expected to result in a substantive change to AWR's operations and business segments.

ASUS, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, operates, maintains and performs construction activities (including renewal and replacement capital work) on water and/or wastewater systems at various U.S. military bases pursuant to 50-year firm fixed-price contracts. These contracts are subject to annual economic price adjustments and modifications for changes in circumstances, changes in laws and regulations and additions to the contract value for new construction of facilities at the military bases.

There is no direct regulatory oversight by the CPUC over AWR or the operations, rates or services provided by ASUS or any of its wholly owned subsidiaries.

 Basis of Presentation: The consolidated financial statements and notes thereto are presented in a combined report filed by two separate Registrants: AWR and GSWC. References in this report to “Registrant” are to AWR and GSWC, collectively, unless otherwise specified. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified on the statements of cash flows to conform to current year presentation. AWR owns all of the outstanding common shares of GSWC and ASUS and, upon completion of the reorganization plan, will own all the common shares of Bear Valley Electric Service, Inc. ASUS owns all of the outstanding common stock of the Military Utility Privatization Subsidiaries. The consolidated financial statements of AWR include the accounts of AWR and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly owned. These financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). Intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in the AWR consolidated financial statements.

 The consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared by Registrant, without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).  The December 31, 2019 condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. The preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the opinion of management, all adjustments consisting of normal, recurring items and estimates necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim periods have been made. It is suggested that these consolidated financial statements be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC.

 Related Party Transactions: GSWC and ASUS provide and/or receive various support services to and from their parent, AWR, and among themselves. GSWC also allocates certain corporate office administrative and general costs to its affiliate, ASUS, using allocation factors approved by the CPUC. GSWC allocated corporate office administrative and general costs to ASUS of approximately $1.4 million and $1.1 million during the three month periods ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

AWR borrows under a credit facility, which expires in May 2023, and provides funds to its subsidiaries, GSWC and ASUS, in support of their operations.  The interest rate charged to GSWC and ASUS is sufficient to cover AWR’s interest expense under the credit facility. In March 2020, AWR amended the credit facility to temporarily increase the borrowing capacity by $35.0 million to $260.0 million until December 31, 2020, at which point the commitment will be reduced to $200.0 million. As of March 31, 2020, there was $232.0 million outstanding under this facility, of which $32.0 million has been reflected as a current liability on the consolidated balance sheet of AWR. Management intends to obtain additional financing during 2020 by issuing long-term debt at GSWC. GSWC intends to use the proceeds from any new long-term debt to reduce its intercompany borrowings and to partially fund capital expenditures. AWR intends to use any financing proceeds from GSWC to pay down the amounts outstanding under its credit facility. Furthermore, on April 24, 2020, the newly created entity, Bear Valley Electric Service, Inc., entered into a commitment letter with a bank that agreed to establish a $50.0 million revolving credit facility effective in June 2020 for a period of three years, subject to the execution and delivery of a definitive revolving credit agreement. Borrowings made under this facility will support the electric business operations and capital expenditures.

The CPUC requires GSWC to completely pay down all intercompany borrowings from AWR within a 24-month period. In November 2018, GSWC paid down its intercompany borrowings owed to AWR. The next 24-month period in which GSWC is required to completely pay down its intercompany borrowings ends in November 2020. As a result, GSWC’s intercompany borrowings of $182.4 million as of March 31, 2020 have been classified as a current liability on GSWC’s balance sheet.

COVID-19 Impact: Recently, the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. GSWC continues to operate as its water and electric utility services are deemed essential services. GSWC's response to the COVID-19 outbreak continues to rapidly evolve and has included: (i) suspending through April 2021 service disconnections for nonpayments pursuant to CPUC orders, which will remain in effect over other existing requirements governing disconnections; (ii) waiving reconnection or facilities fees for affected customers and suspending deposit requirements for affected customers who must reconnect to the system; (iii) the temporary closing of customer service offices; (iv) increasing the number of employees telecommuting; and (v) delaying some capital improvement projects at its water utility services business. The effects of the continuing pandemic on the Company are still developing, but among other things, it has caused significant negative impacts on financial markets. This has resulted in significant fluctuations in the fair value of plan assets in the Company's pension and other retirement plans, which are likely to continue. Furthermore, due to expected future credit losses on utility customer bills, GSWC has increased its allowance for doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2020 and expects to increase intercompany borrowings as well as borrowings from outside sources due to the potential associated decrease in liquidity. Thus far, the COVID-19 pandemic has not had a material impact on ASUS's operations, as the water and wastewater services performed on the military bases are deemed essential services.

The extent to which COVID-19 may materially impact GSWC’s results is uncertain but will depend on future developments, which cannot be predicted at this time. However, the CPUC has authorized GSWC to track incremental costs, including bad debt expense in excess of what is included in GSWC's revenue requirement, incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in a Catastrophic Event Memorandum Account ("CEMA") to be filed with the CPUC for future recovery.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements:

Accounting Pronouncements Adopted in 2020 - In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, and issued further guidance in November 2018 and May 2019, related to the impairment of financial instruments, effective January 1, 2020. The new guidance provides an impairment model, known as the current expected credit loss model, which is based on expected credit losses rather than incurred losses over the remaining life of most financial assets measured at amortized cost, including trade and other receivables. Registrant has increased its allowance for doubtful accounts for utility customer accounts receivable by $393,000 due to the Company's current estimate of the expected associated economic impact of the COVID pandemic (see Note 10).

Accounting Pronouncements to be Adopted in Future Periods

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14-Compensation-Retirement Benefits-Defined Benefit Plans-General (Subtopic 715-20): Disclosure Framework-Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans. This ASU removes disclosures to pension plans and other retirement plans that no longer are considered cost beneficial, clarifies the specific disclosure requirements and adds disclosure requirements deemed relevant. This ASU is effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2020 and will be applied by Registrant on a retrospective basis to all periods presented. Registrant is still evaluating the ASU and has not yet determined the effect on the Company's financial statements and disclosures.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740) - Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. The amendments in this update simplify the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions and clarifying certain requirements regarding franchise taxes, goodwill, consolidated tax expenses, and annual effective tax rate calculations. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. Early adoption is permitted. Registrant is evaluating the impact of this ASU on its financial statements.