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Variable Interest Entities | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Variable Interest Entities |
Variable Interest Entities | 31. VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES The Company performs ongoing analysis to assess whether it holds any Variable Interest Entities (“VIE”) or whether any reconsideration events have arisen with respect to existing VIEs. To identify potential VIEs, management reviews contracts under leases, long-term purchase power agreements, tolling contracts and jointly-owned facilities. VIEs of which the Company is deemed the primary beneficiary must be consolidated. The primary b eneficiary of a VIE has both the power to direct the activities of the entity that most significantly impact its economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of the entity that could potentially be significant to the entity. In circumstances wh ere Emera has an investment in a VIE but is not deemed the primary beneficiary, the VIE is accounted for using the equity method. Emera holds a variable interest in NSPML, a VIE for which it was determined that Emera is not the primary beneficiary since i t does not have the controllin g financial interest of NSPML. W hen the critical milestones were achieved, Nalcor Energy was deemed the primary beneficiary of the asset for financial reporting purposes as i t ha s authority over the majority of the direct acti vities that are expected to most significantly impact the economic per formance of the Maritime Link. Thus, Emera began recording the Maritime Link as an equity investment. BLPC has established a Self-Insurance Fund (“SIF”), primarily for the purpose of b uilding a fund to cover risk against damage and consequential loss to certain generating, transmission and distribution systems. ECI holds a variable interest in the SIF for which it was determined that ECI was the primary beneficiary and, accordingly, the SI F must be consolidated by ECI. In its determination that ECI controls the SIF, management considered that, in substance, the activities of the SIF are being conducted on behalf of ECI’s subsidiary BLPC and BLPC, alone, obtains the benefits from the SIF’s operations. Additionally, because ECI, through BLPC, has rights to all the benefits of the SIF, it is also exposed to the risks related to the activities of the SIF. A ny withdrawal of SIF fund assets by the Company would be subject to existing regulations. Emera’s consolidated VIE in the SIF is recorded as “Other long-term assets”, “Restricted cash” and “Regulatory liabilities” on th e Consolidated Balance Sheets. Amount s included in restricted cash represent the cash portion of funds required to be set aside for the BLPC SIF. The Company has identified certain long-term purchase power agreements that meet the definition of variable interests as the Company has to purcha se all or a majority of the electricity generation at a fixed price. However, it was determined that the Company was not the primary beneficiary since it lacked the power to direct the activities of the entity, including the ability to operate the generati ng facilities and make management decisions. The following table provides information about Emera’s portion of material unconsolidated VIEs:
As at |  | December 31, 2019 |  | December 31, 2018
|  |  | Maximum |  |  | Maximum
millions of Canadian dollars |  | Total assets | exposure to loss |  | Total assets | exposure to loss
Unconsolidated VIEs in which Emera has variable interests |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
NSPML (equity accounted) | $ | 554 | $ | 23 | $ | 545 | $ | 51

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- Definition The entire disclosure for a variable interest entity (VIE), including but not limited to, judgments and assumptions in determining whether to consolidate and in identifying the primary beneficiary, gain (loss) recognized on the initial consolidation of the VIE, terms of arrangements, amounts and classification of the VIE's assets and liabilities, and the entity's maximum exposure to loss. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2197479 + Details
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- References No definition available. + Details
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