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Regulatory Matters | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2021
Regulated Operations [Abstract] |
Regulatory Matters | Regulatory Matters In accordance with accounting principles for rate-regulated enterprises, GSWC and BVESI record regulatory assets, which represent probable future recovery of costs from customers through the ratemaking process, and regulatory liabilities, which represent probable future refunds that are to be credited to customers through the ratemaking process. At March 31, 2021, GSWC and BVESI had approximately $22.9 million of regulatory liabilities, net of regulatory assets, not accruing carrying costs. Of this amount, (i) $78.0 million of regulatory liabilities are excess deferred income taxes arising from the lower federal income tax rate due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("Tax Act") enacted in December 2017 that are expected to be refunded to customers, (ii) $9.7 million of regulatory liabilities are from flowed-through deferred income taxes, (iii) $65.4 million of net regulatory assets relates to the underfunded position in GSWC's pension and other retirement obligations (not including the two-way pension balancing accounts), and (iv) a $1.2 million regulatory liability related to a memorandum account authorized by the CPUC to track unrealized gains and losses on BVESI's purchase power contracts over the term of the contracts. The remainder relates to other items that do not provide for or incur carrying costs. Regulatory assets represent costs incurred by GSWC and/or BVESI for which they have received or expect to receive rate recovery in the future. In determining the probability of costs being recognized in other periods, GSWC and BVESI consider regulatory rules and decisions, past practices, and other facts or circumstances that would indicate if recovery is probable. If the CPUC determines that a portion of either GSWC’s or BVESI's assets are not recoverable in customer rates, the applicable utility must determine if it has suffered an asset impairment that requires it to write down the asset's value. Regulatory assets are offset against regulatory liabilities within each ratemaking area. Amounts expected to be collected or refunded in the next twelve months have been classified as current assets and current liabilities by ratemaking area. Regulatory assets, less regulatory liabilities, included in the consolidated balance sheets are as follows:
(dollars in thousands) |  | March 31, 2021 |  | December 31, 2020
GSWC |  |  |  |
Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanism and Modified Cost Balancing Account |  | $ | 16,580 |  |  | $ | 13,741 |
Costs deferred for future recovery on Aerojet case |  | 6,544 |  |  | 6,751 |
Pensions and other post-retirement obligations (Note 8) |  | 64,693 |  |  | 65,576 |
COVID-19 memorandum accounts |  | 5,140 |  |  | 4,119 |
Excess deferred income taxes |  | (73,926) |  |  | (74,185) |
Flow-through taxes, net |  | (9,013) |  |  | (9,722) |
Other regulatory assets |  | 10,739 |  |  | 10,670 |
Various refunds to customers |  | (4,527) |  |  | (4,577) |
Total GSWC |  | $ | 16,230 |  |  | $ | 12,373 |
BVESI |  |  |  |
Derivative unrealized (gain) loss (Note 5) |  | (1,224) |  | 1,537
Other regulatory assets |  | 3,257 |  | 2,629
Total AWR |  | $ | 18,263 |  |  | $ | 16,539 |
Regulatory matters are discussed in the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC. The discussion below focuses on significant matters and developments since December 31, 2020. Alternative-Revenue Programs: GSWC records the difference between what it bills its water customers and that which is authorized by the CPUC using the Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanism ("WRAM") and the Modified Cost Balancing Account (“MCBA”) accounts approved by the CPUC. The over- or under-collection of the WRAM is aggregated with the MCBA over- or under-collection for the corresponding ratemaking area and bears interest at the current 90-day commercial paper rate. As required by the accounting guidance for alternative revenue programs, GSWC is required to collect its WRAM balances, net of its MCBA, within 24 months following the year in which an under-collection is recorded in order to recognize such amounts as revenue. The recovery periods for the majority of GSWC's WRAM/MCBA balances are primarily within 12 to 24 months. GSWC has filed with the CPUC for recovery of its 2020 WRAM/MCBA balances. For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, surcharges (net of surcredits) of approximately $1.9 million and $2.2 million, respectively, were billed to customers to recover previously incurred net under-collections in the WRAM/MCBA accounts. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, GSWC recorded additional net under-collections in the WRAM/MCBA accounts of approximately $4.7 million due primarily to higher-than-adopted supply costs currently in billed customer rates. As of March 31, 2021, GSWC had an aggregated regulatory asset of $16.6 million, which is comprised of a $1.4 million under-collection in the WRAM accounts and a $15.1 million under-collection in the MCBA accounts. COVID-19 Memorandum Accounts: The CPUC has approved GSWC's and BVESI's requests to activate COVID-19-related memorandum accounts, such as a Catastrophic Event Memorandum Account ("CEMA"), for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company's response to the pandemic has included suspending service disconnections for nonpayment, which has significantly increased the amount of delinquent customer accounts receivable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Costs incurred by GSWC and BVESI in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including bad debt expense in excess of what is included in their respective revenue requirements, are being included in the COVID-19-related memorandum accounts for future recovery. As of March 31, 2021, a total of $5.7 million in COVID-19 related incremental costs have been recorded as regulatory assets as GSWC and BVESI believe their respective costs are probable of recovery. GSWC's COVID-19 memorandum account is being addressed in its pending water general rate case, while BVESI intends to include the memorandum account for recovery in its next general rate case application expected to be filed in 2022. Other Regulatory Assets: Other regulatory assets represent costs incurred by GSWC or BVESI for which it has received or expects to receive rate recovery in the future. These regulatory assets are supported by regulatory rules and decisions, past practices, and other facts or circumstances that indicate recovery is probable. If the CPUC determines that a portion of either GSWC’s or BVESI's assets are not recoverable in customer rates, the applicable entity must determine if it has suffered an asset impairment that requires it to write down the asset's value. BVESI Other CEMA Regulatory Asset: BVESI activated a CEMA account to track the incremental costs incurred in response to a severe winter storm that occurred in February 2019 and which resulted in the declaration of an emergency by the governor of California. Incremental costs of $455,000 were included in the CEMA account and recorded as a regulatory asset. BVESI subsequently filed for recovery of these costs. In April 2021, the administrative law judge issued a proposed decision denying BVESI’s request for recovery, claiming that BVESI did not adequately demonstrate that the costs incurred were incremental and beyond costs already included in BVESI’s revenue requirement. The proposed decision does permit BVESI to file a new application on the issue of incrementality should it wish to continue pursuing recovery. BVESI did file a response to the proposed decision supporting BVESI's position. BVESI believes the storm costs were incremental and beyond what was included in its revenue requirement, and therefore, will plan on filing a new application to continue pursuing recovery. As a result, the costs in this CEMA account remain as a regulatory asset at March 31, 2021 as the Company continues to believe the incremental costs were properly tracked and included in the CEMA account consistent with the CPUC's well-established past practices. The CPUC allows CEMA accounts to be established following a state/federal declared emergency, and are therefore recognized as regulatory assets for future recovery. However, if BVESI does not ultimately prevail in obtaining recovery, it will result in a charge to earnings for the write-off of this CEMA regulatory asset totaling $455,000. Although BVESI believes it has provided the necessary evidence to support recovery of its requested incremental CEMA costs, at this time, management cannot predict the final outcome of this matter.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for detailed information about regulatory assets and liabilities, including current and noncurrent assets created when regulatory agencies permit the deferral of costs to the balance sheet that would otherwise be required to appear on the company's income statement and would be charged against current expenses or revenues, as well as current and noncurrent liabilities created when regulatory agencies permit. + References No definition available. + Details
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