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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Property, Plant and Equipment | The major components of depreciable plant and equipment as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:
| 2020 |  | 2019
Equipment | $ | 567,904 |  |  | 521,183 |
Transmission and distribution | 1,699,953 |  |  | 2,207,051 |
Office buildings and other structures | 930,203 |  |  | 260,220 |
Total depreciable plant and equipment | $ | 3,198,060 |  |  | 2,988,454 |
Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated remaining service lives of groups of assets. The estimated service lives of depreciable plant and equipment are as follows:
| Useful Lives
Equipment | 5 to 35 years
Transmission and distribution plant | 35 to 75 years
Office buildings and other structures | 7 to 50 years
Schedule of Real Estate Investments | The major components of real estate investments as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:
| 2020 |  | 2019
Land | $ | 14,168 |  |  | 14,168 |
Buildings and improvements | 43,961 |  |  | 43,531 |
Total real estate investment | $ | 58,129 |  |  | 57,699 |
Schedule of Future Minimum Rental Payments for Operating Leases | The following schedule shows the future minimum rental payments to be received from third parties under operating leases that have remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2020:
Year ending December 31: | Rental Revenue
2021 | $ | 4,264 |
2022 | 2,745 |
2023 | 2,565 |
2024 | 2,645 |
2025 | 2,833 |
Thereafter | 7,711 |
Schedule of Balancing and Memorandum Accounts | SJWC met the recognition requirements for certain of its balancing and memorandum accounts and certain amounts subject to balancing and memorandum accounts and recorded regulatory assets, net, as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, 2020
Beginning Balance |  | Regulatory Asset Increase (Decrease) |  | Refunds (Collections) Adjustments |  |  |  | Ending Balance
Revenue accounts: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Monterey WRAM | $ | 7,015 |  |  | 2,464 |  |  | 2,598 |  |  |  |  | 12,077 |
2014 - 2017 WCMA | 708 |  |  | — |  |  | (42) |  |  |  |  | 666 |
2012 General Rate Case true-up | 752 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  |  |  | 752 |
Cost of capital memorandum accounts | (1,553) |  |  | (8) |  |  | — |  |  |  |  | (1,561) |
Tax memorandum account | (6,643) |  |  | (2) |  |  | 6,978 |  |  |  |  | 333 |
All others | (2,219) |  |  | 62 |  |  | (67) |  |  |  |  | (2,224) |
Total revenue accounts | (1,940) |  |  | 2,516 |  |  | 9,467 |  |  |  |  | 10,043 |
Cost-recovery accounts: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Water supply costs | 4,328 |  |  | 3,828 |  |  | (33) |  |  |  |  | 8,123 |
Pension | 2,449 |  |  | 1,008 |  |  | 21 |  |  |  |  | 3,478 |
PRVMA | — |  |  | 1,219 |  |  | (111) |  |  |  |  | 1,108 |
CEMA | — |  |  | 2,266 |  |  | — |  |  |  |  | 2,266 |
All others | 446 |  |  | 3 |  |  | (4) |  |  |  |  | 445 |
Total cost-recovery accounts | 7,223 |  |  | 8,324 |  |  | (127) |  |  |  |  | 15,420 |
Total | $ | 5,283 |  |  | 10,840 |  |  | 9,340 |  |  |  |  | 25,463 |
| For the year ended December 31, 2019
Beginning Balance |  | Regulatory Asset Increase (Decrease) |  | Refunds (Collections) Adjustments |  |  |  | Ending Balance
Revenue accounts: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Monterey WRAM | $ | 6,847 |  |  | 4,582 |  |  | (4,414) |  |  |  |  | 7,015 |
2014 - 2017 WCMA | 7,750 |  |  | — |  |  | (7,042) |  |  |  |  | 708 |
2018 WCMA | 9,386 |  |  | (9,386) |  |  | — |  |  |  |  | — |
2012 General Rate Case true-up | 11,328 |  |  | 96 |  |  | (10,672) |  |  |  |  | 752 |
Cost of capital memorandum accounts | (1,523) |  |  | (30) |  |  | — |  |  |  |  | (1,553) |
Tax memorandum account | (6,504) |  |  | (139) |  |  | — |  |  |  |  | (6,643) |
All others | (1,735) |  |  | (107) |  |  | (377) |  |  |  |  | (2,219) |
Total revenue accounts | 25,549 |  |  | (4,984) |  |  | (22,505) |  |  |  |  | (1,940) |
Cost-recovery accounts: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Water supply costs | 9,617 |  |  | 207 |  |  | (5,496) |  |  |  |  | 4,328 |
Pension | (1,843) |  |  | 745 |  |  | 3,547 |  |  |  |  | 2,449 |
All others | 1,090 |  |  | 10 |  |  | (654) |  |  |  |  | 446 |
Total cost-recovery accounts | 8,864 |  |  | 962 |  |  | (2,603) |  |  |  |  | 7,223 |
Total | $ | 34,413 |  |  | (4,022) |  |  | (25,108) |  |  |  |  | 5,283 |
Schedule of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities | Regulatory assets, net, are comprised of the following as of December 31:
| 2020 |  | 2019
Regulatory assets: |  |  |
Income tax temporary differences, net (a) | $ | 6,230 |  |  | 2,433 |
Postretirement pensions and other medical benefits | 95,559 |  |  | 73,525 |
Business combinations debt premium, net | 22,479 |  |  | 25,020 |
Balancing and memorandum accounts, net | 25,463 |  |  | 5,283 |
WRA (b) | 323 |  |  | 9,108 |
Other, net (c) | 8,176 |  |  | 5,048 |
Total regulatory assets, net | 158,230 |  |  | 120,417 |
Less: current regulatory asset, net | 1,748 |  |  | 6,472 |
Total regulatory assets, net, less current portion | $ | 156,482 |  |  | 113,945 |
___________________________________ (a)The company expects to recover regulatory assets related to plant depreciation income tax temporary differences over the average lives of the plant assets of between 5 to 75 years. (b)WRA is a Connecticut Water decoupling mechanism that qualifies as an alternative revenue program. It is used to reconcile actual water demands with the demands projected in the most recent general rate case and allows companies to implement a surcharge or surcredit as necessary to recover the revenues approved in the general rate case. (c)Other, net includes other regulatory mechanisms, accrued benefits for vacation, and asset retirement obligations that have not yet been passed through in rates.
Schedule of Estimated Refunds of Advances for Construction and Contributions in Aid of Construction | Estimated refunds for the next five years and thereafter are shown below:
| Estimated Refunds
2021 | $ | 3,050 |
2022 | 3,050 |
2023 | 3,038 |
2024 | 2,958 |
2025 | 2,896 |
Thereafter | 52,462 |
Schedule of Asset Retirement Obligations | As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the asset retirement obligation is as follows:
| 2020 |  | 2019
Retirement obligation | $ | 4,619 |  |  | 4,803 |
Discount rate | 6 | % |  | 6 | %
Retirement obligation, present value | $ | 939 |  |  | 942 |
Disaggregation of Revenue | The major streams of revenue for SJW Group are as follows:
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
Revenue from contracts with customers | $ | 549,270 |  |  | 447,720 |  |  | 389,302 |
Alternative revenue programs, net | (493) |  |  | (18,232) |  |  | 10,456 |
Other balancing and memorandum accounts revenue and regulatory mechanisms, net | 10,217 |  |  | (14,403) |  |  | (7,541) |
Rental income | 5,532 |  |  | 5,397 |  |  | 5,482 |
| $ | 564,526 |  |  | 420,482 |  |  | 397,699 |

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