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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Nature of Operations: American States Water Company (“AWR”) is the parent company of Golden State Water Company (“GSWC”), Bear Valley Electric Service Inc. ("BVESI"), and American States Utility Services, Inc. (“ASUS”) (and its wholly owned 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")). AWR and its subsidiaries may be collectively referred to as “Registrant” or “the Company.” The subsidiaries of ASUS are collectively referred to as the “Military Utility Privatization Subsidiaries.” On July 1, 2020, GSWC completed the transfer of the electric utility assets and liabilities from its electric division to BVESI, a separate legal entity and wholly owned subsidiary of AWR (Note 20). This reorganization did not result in any substantive changes to AWR's operations and business segments. AWR, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, serves over one million people in nine states. GSWC and BVESI are both California public utilities, with GSWC engaged in the purchase, production, distribution and sale of water throughout California serving approximately 261,800 customers, while BVESI distributes electricity in several San Bernardino County mountain communities in California serving approximately 24,500 customers. The California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) regulates GSWC’s and BVESI's businesses in matters including properties, rates, services, facilities, and transactions between GSWC, BVESI, and their affiliates. ASUS, through its Military Utility Privatization 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 the Military Utility Privatization 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. AWR owns all of the outstanding Common Shares of GSWC, BVESI and ASUS. ASUS owns all of the outstanding common shares of the Military Utility Privatization Subsidiaries. The consolidated financial statements of AWR include the accounts of AWR and its subsidiaries. These financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in the AWR consolidated financial statements. Related-Party Transactions: GSWC, BVESI 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 affiliates using allocation factors approved by the CPUC. During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, GSWC allocated to ASUS approximately $4.9 million, $4.7 million and $4.2 million, respectively, of corporate office administrative and general costs. During the year ended December 31, 2020, GSWC allocated corporate office administrative and general costs to BVESI of approximately $1.3 million. Furthermore, AWR borrows under a credit facility, which expires in May 2023, and provides funds to 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. The CPUC requires GSWC to pay down all intercompany borrowings from AWR within a 24-month period, which was required by November 2020. In October 2020, the Board of Directors authorized AWR to invest equity in GSWC to enable the subsidiary to pay down all its intercompany borrowings. During the fourth quarter of 2020, AWR invested $60 million of equity in GSWC and received five shares of GSWC common stock. The majority of the proceeds from this stock issuance were used by GSWC to pay down its intercompany borrowings from AWR, satisfying the CPUC’s requirement. As a result, GSWC had no intercompany borrowings from AWR as of December 31, 2020. In October 2020, AWR issued an interest bearing promissory note to GSWC, which expires in May 2023. Under the terms of the note, AWR may borrow from GSWC amounts up to $30 million for working capital purposes. AWR agrees to pay any unpaid principal amounts outstanding under this note, plus accrued interest. In November 2020, AWR borrowed $6 million from GSWC under the terms of the note, which was subsequently repaid in December. As of December 31, 2020, there were no amounts outstanding under this note. COVID-19 Impact: GSWC, BVESI, and ASUS have continued their operations given that their water, wastewater, and electric utility services are deemed essential. AWR's responses take into account orders issued by the CPUC, and the guidance provided by federal, state, and local health authorities and other government officials to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the actions taken by GSWC and BVESI include: (i) suspending service disconnections for nonpayment pursuant to CPUC orders; (ii) increasing the number of employees telecommuting; and (iii) delaying some capital improvement projects at GSWC. In February 2021, the CPUC adopted a resolution that extended the existing emergency customer protections previously established by the CPUC through June 30, 2021, including the suspension of service disconnections for non-payment, in response to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, the resolution also extends the COVID-19-related memorandum accounts established to track incremental costs associated with complying with the resolution, and requires utilities in California to file transition plans to address the eventual discontinuance of the emergency customer protections. The goal of the transition plan is to effectively ease customers through a transition off the emergency customer protections by proactively communicating with customers to enroll them in programs to manage their utility bills and informing them of the changes to programs in which they are already enrolled. GSWC and BVESI are in the process of developing their transition plans, which are required to be finalized and filed with the CPUC by April 1, 2021. The pandemic has caused significant volatility on financial markets, resulting in significant fluctuations in the fair value of plan assets in GSWC's pension and other retirement plans, which could continue. In addition, due to expected future credit losses on utility customer bills, GSWC and BVESI have increased their allowance for doubtful accounts as of December 31, 2020. However, the CPUC has authorized GSWC and BVESI to track incremental costs, including bad debt expense in excess of what is included in their respective revenue requirements, incurred as a result of the pandemic in COVID-19-related memorandum accounts, such as a Catastrophic Event Memorandum Account ("CEMA"), to be filed with the CPUC for future recovery. GSWC and BVESI have recorded approximately $4.4 million in these accounts as regulatory assets, as it is believed such amounts are probable of recovery. CEMA and other emergency-type memorandum accounts are established as a result of a state/federal declared emergency, and are therefore recognized as regulatory assets for future recovery. As a result, the amounts recorded in the COVID-19-related memorandum accounts have not impacted GSWC's and BVESI's earnings in 2020. Thus far, the COVID-19 pandemic has not had a material impact on ASUS's operations. Utility Accounting: Registrant’s accounting policies conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"), including the accounting principles for rate-regulated enterprises, which reflect the ratemaking policies of the CPUC and, to the extent applicable, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. GSWC and BVESI have incurred various costs and received various credits reflected as regulatory assets and liabilities. Accounting for such costs and credits as regulatory assets and liabilities is in accordance with the guidance for accounting for the effects of certain types of regulation. This guidance sets forth the application of GAAP for those companies whose rates are established by or are subject to approval by an independent third-party regulator. Under such accounting guidance, rate-regulated entities defer costs and credits on the balance sheet as regulatory assets and liabilities when it is probable that those costs and credits will be recognized in the ratemaking process in a period different from the period in which they would have been reflected in income by an unregulated company. These regulatory assets and liabilities are then recognized in the income statement in the period in which the same amounts are reflected in the rates charged for service. The amounts included as regulatory assets and liabilities that will be collected or refunded over a period exceeding one year are classified as long-term assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. Property and Depreciation: Registrant's property consists primarily of regulated utility plant at GSWC and BVESI. GSWC and BVESI capitalize, as utility plant, the cost of construction and the cost of additions, betterments and replacements of retired units of property. Such cost includes labor, material and certain indirect charges. Water systems acquired are recorded at estimated original cost of utility plant when first devoted to utility service and the applicable depreciation is recorded to accumulated depreciation. The difference between the estimated original cost, less accumulated depreciation, and the purchase price, if recognized by the CPUC, is recorded as an acquisition adjustment within utility plant. Depreciation is computed on the straight-line, remaining-life basis, group method, in accordance with the applicable ratemaking process. The provision for depreciation expressed as a percentage of the aggregate depreciable asset balances for regulated utilities was 2.2% for 2020, 2.2% for 2019, and 2.7% for 2018. Depreciation expense for regulated utilities, excluding amortization expense and depreciation on transportation equipment, totaled $32.9 million, $31.7 million and $37.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Depreciation computed on regulated utilities’ transportation equipment is recorded in other operating expenses and totaled $353,000, $316,000 and $238,000 for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. Retired property costs, including costs of removal, are charged to the accumulated provision for depreciation. Estimated useful lives of regulated utilities’ utility plant, as authorized by the CPUC, are as follows:
Source of water supply | 30 years to 50 years
Pumping | 25 years to 40 years
Water treatment | 20 years to 35 years
Transmission and distribution | 25 years to 55 years
Generation | 40 years
Other plant | 7 years to 40 years
Non-regulated property consists primarily of equipment utilized by ASUS and its subsidiaries for its operations. This property is stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation, which is calculated using the straight-line method over the useful lives of the assets. Asset Retirement Obligations: GSWC has a legal obligation for the retirement of its wells, which by law need to be properly capped at the time of removal. As such, GSWC incurs asset retirement obligations. GSWC records the fair value of a liability for these asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred. When the liability is initially recorded, GSWC capitalizes the cost by increasing the carrying amount of the related long-lived asset. Over time, the liability is accreted to its present value each period, and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the useful life of the related asset. Upon settlement of the liability, GSWC either settles the obligation for its recorded amount or incurs a gain or loss upon settlement. Retirement costs have historically been recovered through rates subsequent to the retirement costs being incurred. Accordingly, recoverability of GSWC’s asset retirement obligations are reflected as a regulatory asset. GSWC also reflects the loss or gain at settlement as a regulatory asset or liability on the balance sheet. With regards to removal costs associated with certain other long-lived assets, such as water mains, distribution and transmission assets, asset retirement obligations have not been recognized as GSWC believes there is no legal obligation to do so. There are no CPUC rules or regulations that require GSWC to remove any of its other long-lived assets. In addition, GSWC’s water pipelines are not subject to regulation by any federal regulatory agency. GSWC has franchise agreements with various municipalities in order to use the public right of way for utility purposes (i.e., operate water distribution and transmission assets), and if certain events occur in the future, GSWC could be required to remove or relocate certain of its pipelines. However, it is not possible to estimate an asset retirement amount since the timing and the amount of assets that may be required to be removed, if any, is not known. Amounts recorded for asset retirement obligations are subject to various assumptions and determinations, such as determining whether a legal obligation exists to remove assets, estimating the fair value of the costs of removal, when final removal will occur and the credit-adjusted risk-free interest rates to be utilized on discounting future liabilities. Changes that may arise over time with regard to these assumptions will change amounts recorded in the future. Revisions in estimates for timing or estimated cash flows are recognized as changes in the carrying amount of the liability and the related capitalized asset. The estimated fair value of the costs of removal was based on third-party costs. Impairment of Long-Lived Assets: Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be fully recoverable in accordance with accounting guidance for impairment or disposal of long-lived assets. Registrant would recognize an impairment loss on its regulated assets only if the carrying value amount of a long-lived asset is not recoverable from customer rates authorized by the CPUC. Impairment loss is measured as the excess of the carrying value over the amounts recovered in customer rates. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, no impairment loss was incurred. Goodwill: At December 31, 2020 and 2019, AWR had approximately $1.1 million of goodwill. The $1.1 million goodwill arose from ASUS’s acquisition of a subcontractor’s business at some of the Military Utility Privatization Subsidiaries. In accordance with the accounting guidance for testing goodwill, AWR annually assesses qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. For 2020, AWR’s assessment of qualitative factors did not indicate that an impairment had occurred for goodwill at ASUS. Cash and Cash Equivalents: Cash and cash equivalents include short-term cash investments with an original maturity of three months or less. At times, cash and cash equivalent balances may be in excess of federally insured limits. Cash and cash equivalents are held with financial institutions with high credit standings. Accounts Receivable: Accounts receivable is reported on the balance sheet net of any allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance for doubtful accounts is Registrant’s best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in Registrant’s existing accounts receivable from its water and electric customers, and is determined based on expected losses rather than incurred losses. Registrant reviews the allowance for doubtful accounts quarterly. Account balances are written off against the allowance when it is probable the receivable will not be recovered. When utility customers request extended payment terms, credit is extended based on regulatory guidelines, and collateral is not required. Receivables from the U.S. government include amounts due under contracts with the U.S. government to operate and maintain, and/or provide construction services for the water and/or wastewater systems at military bases. Other accounts receivable consist primarily of amounts due from third parties (non-utility customers) for various reasons, including amounts due from contractors, amounts due under settlement agreements and amounts due from other third-party prime government contractors pursuant to agreements for construction of water and/or wastewater facilities for such third-party prime contractors. The allowance for these other accounts receivable is based on Registrant’s evaluation of the receivable portfolio under current conditions and a review of specific problems and such other factors that, in Registrant’s judgment, should be considered in estimating losses. Allowances for doubtful accounts are disclosed in Note 18. Registrant adopted Accounting Standards Update 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments effective January 1, 2020. Materials and Supplies: Materials and supplies are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is computed using weighted average cost. Major classes of materials include pipe, hydrants and valves. Interest: Interest incurred during the construction of capital assets has generally not been capitalized for financial reporting purposes as such policy is not followed in the ratemaking process. Interest expense is generally recovered through the regulatory process. However, the CPUC has authorized certain capital projects to be filed for revenue recovery with advice letters when those projects are completed. During the time that such projects are under development and construction, GSWC and BVESI may accrue an allowance for funds used during construction (“AFUDC”) on the incurred expenditures to offset the cost of financing project construction. For the year ended December 31, 2020, BVESI recorded $200,000 in AFUDC. For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, the amount of AFUDC recorded was immaterial. Debt Issuance Costs and Redemption Premiums: Original debt issuance costs are deducted from the carrying value of the associated debt liability and amortized over the lives of the respective issues. Premiums paid on the early redemption of debt, which is reacquired through refunding, are deferred and amortized over the life of the debt issued to finance the refunding as GSWC normally receives recovery of these costs in rates. Advances for Construction and Contributions in Aid of Construction: Advances for construction represent amounts advanced by developers for the cost to construct water system facilities in order to extend water service to their properties. Advances are refundable in equal annual installments, generally over 40 years. In certain instances, GSWC makes refunds on these advances over a specific period of time based on operating revenues related to the main or as new customers are connected to receive service from the main. Contributions in aid of construction are similar to advances but require no refunding. Generally, GSWC and BVESI depreciate contributed property and amortizes contributions in aid of construction at the composite rate of the related property. Utility plant funded by advances and contributions is excluded from rate base. Fair Value of Financial Instruments: For cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and short-term debt, the carrying amount is assumed to approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of the amounts. The table below estimates the fair value of long-term debt issued by GSWC. Rates available to GSWC at December 31, 2020 and 2019 for debt with similar terms and remaining maturities were used to estimate fair value for long-term debt. Changes in the assumptions will produce differing results.
|  | 2020 |  | 2019
(dollars in thousands) |  | Carrying Amount |  | Fair Value |  | Carrying Amount |  | Fair Value
Long-term debt—GSWC (1) |  | $ | 444,271 |  |  | $ | 559,752 |  |  | $ | 284,699 |  |  | $ | 376,467 |
(1) Excludes debt issuance costs and redemption premiums. The accounting guidance for fair value measurements applies to all financial assets and financial liabilities that are being measured and reported on a fair value basis. Under the accounting guidance, GSWC makes fair value measurements on its publicly issued notes, private placement notes and other long-term debt using current U.S. corporate bond yields for similar debt instruments. Under the fair value guidance, these are classified as Level 2, which consists of quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability. The following table sets forth by level, within the fair value hierarchy, GSWC’s long-term debt measured at fair value as of December 31, 2020:
(dollars in thousands) |  | Level 1 |  | Level 2 |  | Level 3 |  | Total
Long-term debt—GSWC |  | — |  |  | $ | 559,752 |  |  | — |  |  | $ | 559,752 |
Stock-Based Awards: AWR has issued stock-based awards to its employees under stock incentive plans. AWR has also issued stock-based awards to its Board of Directors under non-employee directors stock plans. Registrant applies the provisions in the accounting guidance for share-based payments in accounting for all of its stock-based awards. See Note 13 for further discussion. 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. For 2020, Registrant has increased its allowance for doubtful accounts for utility customer accounts receivable, largely due to Registrant's current estimate of the expected associated economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (see Note 18). 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 was adopted by Registrant effective December 31, 2020 and applied on a retrospective basis to all periods presented. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Registrant's financial statements and disclosures. Accounting Pronouncements to be Adopted in Future Periods 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. Registrant will adopt this guidance effective January 1, 2021, which is not expected to have a material impact on its financial statements.

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