Regulatory Matters

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Regulatory Assets and Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]

COVID-19 Regulatory Filings

In response to COVID-19, we received approvals or directives from the regulatory commissions in the states in which we operate. The ongoing impacts of these approvals or directives are described in the table below:


Jurisdiction	Moratorium in Place?	Regulatory Asset balance as of June 30, 2021 (in millions)		Deferred COVID-19 Costs
Columbia of Ohio	No	$	2.1	Incremental operation and maintenance expenses
NIPSCO	No	$	6.2	Incremental bad debt expense and the costs to implement the requirements of the COVID-19 related order
Columbia of Pennsylvania	No	$	7.1	Incremental bad debt expense incurred since March 13, 2020 above levels currently in rates
Columbia of Virginia	Yes	$	1.2	Incremental incurred costs (including incremental bad debt expense), subject to an earnings test review
Columbia of Maryland	Yes	$	0.9	Incremental costs (including incremental bad debt expense) incurred to ensure that customers have essential utility service during the state of emergency in Maryland. Such incremental costs must be offset by any benefit received in connection with the pandemic

The Pennsylvania PUC adopted an order on March 11, 2021, and subsequently reaffirmed their stance in a June 23, 2021 order, which lifted its prior pandemic-related moratorium on service terminations for non-payments of utility bills beginning April 1, 2021. Pursuant to that order, Pennsylvania utilities are required to offer payment plans on billing arrearages, with the length of such payment plans depending on customers' income levels. The longest such payment plan would be a maximum of five years for residential customers with incomes below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level.

For Columbia of Virginia, the currently effective legislative and regulatory directives related to the COVID-19 pandemic require utilities to offer payment plans between 6 and 24 months, and suspend service disconnections and late payment fees for customers. According to state law, these directives remain in place until the Governor determines that the economic and public health conditions have improved such that the prohibition does not need to be in place, or until at least 60 days after such declared state of emergency ends, whichever is sooner. The state of emergency ended June 30, 2021.

In conjunction with the order issued by the PSC of Maryland on June 15, 2021, all termination moratoriums will be lifted the later of November 1, 2021 or 30 days after the Maryland Relief Act funds have been applied to customer accounts. Columbia of Maryland received approximately $0.8 million of assistance to be applied to customer accounts and is currently in the process of applying these funds to customer accounts in accordance with the terms of the order. Normal collections procedures are expected to resume by November 1, 2021.