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Financial Statement Presentation | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2012
FINANCIAL STATEMENT PRESENTATION | 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENT PRESENTATION The prior period condensed consolidated financial statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (“Form 10-Q”) have been reclassified to reflect the businesses held for sale and discontinued operations as discussed in Note 15—Discontinued Operations and Held for Sale Businesses. Consolidation In this Quarterly Report the terms “AES”, “the Company”, “us” or “we” refer to the consolidated entity including its subsidiaries and affiliates. The terms “The AES Corporation”, “the Parent” or “the Parent Company” refer only to the publicly-held holding company, The AES Corporation, excluding its subsidiaries and affiliates. Furthermore, variable interest entities (“VIEs”) in which the Company has a variable interest have been consolidated where the Company is the primary beneficiary. Investments in which the Company has the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. Interim Financial Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and footnotes have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), as contained in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codificatio n, for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for annual fiscal reporting periods. In the opinion of management, the interim financial information includes all adjustments of a normal recurring nature necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations, financial position, changes in equity and cash flows. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2012. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited and should be read in con junction with the 2011 audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, which are included in the 2011 Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 24, 2012 (the “2011 Form 10-K”). New Accounting Policies Adopted ASU No. 2011-4, Fair Value Measurements (Topic 820), “Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRS” In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-4, which among other requirements, prohibits the use of the block discount factor for all fair value level hierarchies; permits an entity to measure the fair value of its financial instruments on a net basis when the related market risks are managed on a net basis; states the highest and best use concept is no longer relevant in the measurement of financial assets and liabilities; clarifies that a reporting entity should disclose quantitative information about the unobservable inputs used in Level 3 measurements and that the application of premiums and discounts is related to the unit of account for the asset or liability being measured at fair value; and requires expanded disclosures to describe the valuation process used for Level 3 measurements and the sensitivity of Level 3 measurements to changes in unobservable inputs. In addition, entities are required to disclose the hierarchy level for items which are not measured at fair value in the statement of financial position, but for which fair value is required to be disclosed. AES adopted ASU No. 2011-4 on January 1, 2012. The adoption did not have a material impact on the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Revenue Recognition— Due to t he Company's acquisition of DPL Inc. (“DPL”) in November 2011, including DPL's competitive retail supply business, we have modified our definition of regulated and non-regulated revenue as follows: revenue is classified as regulated on the condensed consolidated statements of operations where the price is determined or set by a regulator, including alternative forms of price regulation such as a price range, price cap or earnings tests. Typically, revenue of utility businesses meets the above criteria and would be classified as regulated revenue. Revenue that is not subject to rate regulation or is not determined by a regulator is classified as non-regulated revenue. Typically, revenue of generation businesses would be classified as non-regulated revenue.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the general note to the financial statements for the reporting entity which may include, descriptions of the basis of presentation, business description, significant accounting policies, consolidations, reclassifications, new pronouncements not yet adopted and changes in accounting principles. + References No definition available. + Details
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