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Derivative Instruments
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]  
Derivatives Instruments Derivative Instruments
BVES has entered into long-term fixed price contracts to purchase power over three- and five-year terms. These long-term contracts will expire during the fourth quarter of 2024 and are subject to the accounting guidance for derivatives and require mark-to-market derivative accounting. In July 2023, the CPUC approved a new power purchase agreement between BVES and a third party to procure renewable portfolio standard eligible energy and renewable energy credits as a bundled product. BVES will begin taking power under this long-term contract during the fourth quarter of 2024 to replace the existing expiring contracts. The new contract provides for the purchase of electricity during a delivery period from November 1, 2024 through December 31, 2035. Under this contract, there is an embedded derivative that also requires mark-to-market accounting.
The CPUC authorized the use of a regulatory asset and liability memorandum account to offset the mark-to-market entries required by the accounting guidance. Accordingly, all unrealized gains and losses generated from derivative instruments in purchase power contracts are deferred on a monthly basis into a non-interest-bearing regulatory memorandum account that tracks the changes in fair value of the derivative throughout the terms of the contracts. As a result, these unrealized gains and losses do not impact Registrant’s earnings. As of December 31, 2023, there was a $2.4 million derivative liability at fair value for the derivatives in the purchase power contracts, with a corresponding regulatory asset recorded in the derivative instrument memorandum account as a result of overall fixed prices under BVES’s purchase power contracts being higher than future energy prices. The notional volume of derivatives remaining under these long-term contracts as of December 31, 2023 was approximately 685,256 megawatt hours.
Registrant’s valuation model utilizes various inputs that include quoted market prices for energy over the duration of the contracts. The market prices used to determine the fair value for these derivative instruments were estimated based on independent sources such as broker quotes and publications that are not observable in or corroborated by the market. When such inputs have a significant impact on the measurement of fair value, the instrument is categorized as Level 3 as described in Note 1. Accordingly, the valuation of the derivatives on Registrant’s purchase power contracts have been classified as Level 3 for all periods presented.
The change in fair value was due to the change in market energy prices for the years 2023 and 2022. The following table presents changes in the fair value of the Level 3 derivatives for the years 2023 and 2022:
(dollars in thousands)20232022
Fair value at beginning of the period$11,847 $4,441 
Unrealized (losses) gains on purchase power contracts
(14,207)7,406 
Fair value at end of the period$(2,360)$11,847