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GENERAL INFORMATION (Policies) | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Consolidation | As used in these notes, the term "financial statements" refers to the condensed consolidated financial statements. This includes the income statements, statements of comprehensive income, balance sheets, statements of cash flows, and statements of equity, unless otherwise noted. In this report, when we refer to "the Company," "us," "we," "our," or "ours," we are referring to WEC Energy Group and all of its subsidiaries. On our financial statements, we consolidate our majority-owned subsidiaries and reflect noncontrolling interests for the portion of entities that we do not own as a component of consolidated equity separate from the equity attributable to our shareholders. The noncontrolling interests that we reported as equity on our balance sheets related to the minority interests at Bishop Hill III, Coyote Ridge, and Upstream held by third parties.
Basis of accounting | We have prepared the unaudited interim financial statements presented in this Form 10-Q pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC and GAAP. Accordingly, these financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for annual financial statements. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and footnotes in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. Financial results for an interim period may not give a true indication of results for the year. In particular, the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020, are not necessarily indicative of expected results for 2020 due to seasonal variations and other factors, including the potential effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. In management's opinion, we have included all adjustments, normal and recurring in nature, necessary for a fair presentation of our financial results.
Credit losses | Effective January 1, 2020, we adopted FASB ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, using the modified retrospective transition method. This ASU amends the impairment model to utilize an expected loss methodology in place of the incurred loss methodology for financial instruments, including trade receivables. The amendment requires entities to consider a broader range of information to estimate expected credit losses, which may result in earlier recognition of loss. The cumulative effect of adopting this standard was not significant to our financial statements. Our exposure to credit losses is related to our accounts receivable and unbilled revenue balances, which are primarily generated from the sale of electricity and natural gas by our regulated utility operations. Credit losses associated with our utility operations are analyzed at the reportable segment level as we believe contract terms, political and economic risks, and the regulatory environment are similar at this level as our reportable segments are generally based on the geographic location of the underlying utility operations. We have an accounts receivable and unbilled revenue balance associated with our non-utility energy infrastructure segment, related to the sale of electricity from our majority-owned wind generating facilities through agreements with several large high credit quality counterparties. At the corporate and other segment, the accounts receivable and unbilled revenue balance is related to the remaining PDL residential solar business. We evaluate the collectability of our accounts receivable and unbilled revenue balances considering a combination of factors. For some of our larger customers and also in circumstances where we become aware of a specific customer's inability to meet its financial obligations to us, we record a specific allowance for credit losses against amounts due in order to reduce the net recognized receivable to the amount we reasonably believe will be collected. For all other customers, we use the accounts receivable aging method to calculate an allowance for credit losses. Using this method, we classify accounts receivable into different aging buckets and calculate a reserve percentage for each aging bucket based upon historical loss rates. The calculated reserve percentages are updated on at least an annual basis, in order to ensure recent macroeconomic, political, and regulatory trends are captured in the calculation, to the extent possible. Risks identified that we do not believe are reflected in the calculated reserve percentages, are assessed on a quarterly basis to determine whether further adjustments are required. At March 31, 2020, we recorded a $2.7 million increase to our allowance for credit losses specific to the economic risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to evolve. We will continue to monitor the economic impacts of COVID-19 and the resulting effect that these impacts may have on the ability of our customers to pay their energy bills. We monitor our ongoing credit exposure through active review of counterparty accounts receivable balances against contract terms and due dates. Our activities include timely account reconciliation, dispute resolution and payment confirmation. To the extent possible, we work with customers with past due balances to negotiate payment plans, but will disconnect customers for non-payment as allowed by our regulators if necessary, and employ collection agencies and legal counsel to pursue recovery of defaulted receivables. For our larger customers, detailed credit review procedures may be performed in advance of any sales being made. We sometimes require letters of credit, parental guarantees, prepayments or other forms of credit assurance from our larger customers to mitigate credit risk.
Fair value measurement | Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). Fair value accounting rules provide a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are defined as follows: Level 1 – Quoted prices are available in active markets for identical assets or liabilities as of the reporting date. Active markets are those in which transactions for the asset or liability occur in sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. Level 2 – Pricing inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly, but are not quoted prices included within Level 1. Level 2 includes those financial instruments that are valued using external inputs within models or other valuation methods. Level 3 – Pricing inputs include significant inputs that are generally less observable from objective sources. These inputs may be used with internally developed methods that result in management's best estimate of fair value. Level 3 instruments include those that may be more structured or otherwise tailored to customers' needs. Assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. We use a mid-market pricing convention (the mid-point price between bid and ask prices) as a practical measure for valuing certain derivative assets and liabilities. We primarily use a market approach for recurring fair value measurements and attempt to use valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. When possible, we base the valuations of our derivative assets and liabilities on quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets. These valuations are classified in Level 1. The valuations of certain contracts not classified as Level 1 may be based on quoted market prices received from counterparties and/or observable inputs for similar instruments. Transactions valued using these inputs are classified in Level 2. Certain derivatives are categorized in Level 3 due to the significance of unobservable or internally-developed inputs.
Derivative instruments | We use derivatives as part of our risk management program to manage the risks associated with the price volatility of interest rates, purchased power, generation, and natural gas costs for the benefit of our customers and shareholders. Our approach is non-speculative and designed to mitigate risk. Regulated hedging programs are approved by our state regulators. We record derivative instruments on our balance sheets as an asset or liability measured at fair value unless they qualify for the normal purchases and sales exception and are so designated. We continually assess our contracts designated as normal and will discontinue the treatment of these contracts as normal if the required criteria are no longer met. Changes in the derivative's fair value are recognized currently in earnings unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met or we receive regulatory treatment for the derivative. For most energy-related physical and financial contracts in our regulated operations that qualify as derivatives, our regulators allow the effects of fair value accounting to be offset to regulatory assets and liabilities.
New accounting pronouncements | Cloud Computing In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract. The standard allows entities who are customers in hosting arrangements that are service contracts to apply the existing internal-use software guidance to determine which implementation costs to capitalize as an asset related to the service contract and which costs to expense. The guidance specifies classification for capitalizing implementation costs and related amortization expense within the financial statements and requires additional disclosures. The adoption of ASU 2018-15, effective January 1, 2020, did not have a significant impact on our financial statements and related disclosures. Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14, Disclosure Framework: Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans. The pronouncement modifies the disclosure requirements for defined benefit pension and OPEB plans. The guidance removes disclosures that are no longer considered cost beneficial, clarifies the specific requirements of disclosures and adds disclosure requirements identified as relevant. The modifications affect annual period disclosures and must be applied on a retrospective basis to all periods presented. The guidance will be effective for annual reporting periods ending after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the effects of this pronouncement on the notes to our financial statements. Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. The new standard removes certain exceptions for performing intraperiod allocation and calculating income taxes in interim periods and also adds guidance to reduce complexity in certain areas, including recognizing deferred taxes for tax goodwill and allocating taxes to members of a consolidated group. The guidance will be effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2020. We will adopt the new standard effective January 1, 2021, and do not expect the adoption to have a material impact on our financial statements and related disclosures. Reference Rate Reform In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting, which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The amendments apply only to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. The amendments are effective for all entities as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. We are currently evaluating the impact this guidance may have on our financial statements and related disclosures.
Other non-utility revenues |
Disaggregation of Operating Revenues |
Revenue Recognition | As part of the construction of the We Power electric generating units, we capitalized interest during construction, which is included in property, plant, and equipment. As allowed by the PSCW, we collected these carrying costs from WE's utility customers during construction. The equity portion of these carrying costs was recorded as deferred revenue, and we continually amortize the deferred carrying costs to revenues over the life of the related lease term that We Power has with WE.

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