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Variable Interest Entities and Unconsolidated Investments in Power Plants | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2019
Variable Interest Entities and Unconsolidated Investments [Abstract] |
Variable interest entities and unconsolidated investments in power plants | Variable Interest Entities and Unconsolidated Investments We consolidate all of our VIEs where we have determined that we are the primary beneficiary. There were no changes to our determination of whether we are the primary beneficiary of our VIEs for the three months ended March 31, 2019. See Note 7 in our 2018 Form 10-K for further information regarding our VIEs. VIE Disclosures Our consolidated VIEs include natural gas-fired power plants with an aggregate capacity of 7,880 MW and 7,880 MW at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. For these VIEs, we may provide other operational and administrative support through various affiliate contractual arrangements among the VIEs, Calpine Corporation and its other wholly-owned subsidiaries whereby we support the VIE through the reimbursement of costs and/or the purchase and sale of energy. Other than amounts contractually required, we provided support to these VIEs in the form of cash and other contributions of nil during each of the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018. OMEC — OMEC has a ten-year tolling agreement with SDG&E which commenced on October 3, 2009. Under a ground lease agreement, OMEC held a put option to sell the Otay Mesa Energy Center for $280 million to SDG&E, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the agreement, which was exercisable until April 1, 2019 and SDG&E held a call option to purchase the Otay Mesa Energy Center for $377 million, which was exercisable through October 3, 2018. The call option held by SDG&E expired unexercised. OMEC has executed a new 59-month Resource Adequacy (“RA”) contract with SDG&E which would commence on October 3, 2019. The RA contract received initial regulatory approval by the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) on February 21, 2019. This approval was subject to a 30 day appeal period from the date of the issuance of the CPUC decision. On March 27, 2019, an appeal of the CPUC decision was filed with the CPUC. We continue to work to commence the RA contract. However, in the event that we are not successful and another alternative is not reached with SDG&E prior to October 3, 2019, OMEC expects to close on the put and transfer the Otay Mesa Energy Center to SDG&E for $280 million on or about October 3, 2019, which transaction could result in a write down of the carrying value of the asset. On December 19, 2018, we refinanced the project debt associated with OMEC which lowered the aggregate debt balance to $220 million and extended the maturity to August 2024. In the event that the exercise of the OMEC put option is not rescinded, the OMEC project debt will become payable on November 3, 2019. We have concluded that we are the primary beneficiary of OMEC as we believe the activity that has the most effect on the financial performance of OMEC is operations and maintenance which is controlled by us. As a result, we consolidate OMEC. Unconsolidated VIEs and Investments in Unconsolidated Subsidiaries We have a 50% partnership interest in Greenfield LP and in Whitby. Greenfield LP and Whitby are VIEs; however, we do not have the power to direct the most significant activities of these entities and therefore do not consolidate them. Greenfield LP is a limited partnership between certain subsidiaries of ours and of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., which operates the Greenfield Energy Centre, a 1,038 MW natural gas-fired, combined-cycle power plant located in Ontario, Canada. We and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. each hold a 50% interest in Greenfield LP. Whitby is a limited partnership between certain of our subsidiaries and Atlantic Packaging Ltd., which operates the Whitby facility, a 50 MW natural gas-fired, simple-cycle cogeneration power plant located in Ontario, Canada. We and Atlantic Packaging Ltd. each hold a 50% partnership interest in Whitby. Calpine Receivables is a VIE and a bankruptcy remote entity created for the special purpose of purchasing trade accounts receivable from Calpine Solutions under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program. We have determined that we do not have the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly affect the VIE’s economic performance nor the obligation to absorb losses or receive benefits from the VIE. Accordingly, we have determined that we are not the primary beneficiary of Calpine Receivables because we do not have the power to affect its financial performance as the unaffiliated financial institutions that purchase the receivables from Calpine Receivables control the selection criteria of the receivables sold and appoint the servicer of the receivables which controls management of default. Thus, we do not consolidate Calpine Receivables in our Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements and use the equity method of accounting to record our net interest in Calpine Receivables. We account for these entities under the equity method of accounting and include our net equity interest in investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries on our Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheets. At March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, our equity method investments included on our Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheets were comprised of the following (in millions):
| Ownership Interest as of March 31, 2019 |  | March 31, 2019 |  | December 31, 2018
Greenfield LP | 50% |  | $ | 54 |  |  | $ | 55 |
Whitby | 50% |  | 8 |  |  | 15 |
Calpine Receivables | 100% |  | 5 |  |  | 6 |
Total investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries |  |  | $ | 67 |  |  | $ | 76 |
Our risk of loss related to our investments in Greenfield LP and Whitby is limited to our investment balance. Our risk of loss related to our investment in Calpine Receivables is $60 million which consists of our notes receivable from Calpine Receivables at March 31, 2019 and our initial investment associated with Calpine Receivables. See Note 12 for further information associated with our related party activity with Calpine Receivables. Holders of the debt of our unconsolidated investments do not have recourse to Calpine Corporation and its other subsidiaries; therefore, the debt of our unconsolidated investments is not reflected on our Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheets. At March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, Greenfield LP’s debt was approximately $302 million and $301 million, respectively, and based on our pro rata share of our investment in Greenfield LP, our share of such debt would be approximately $151 million and $151 million at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. Our equity interest in the net income from our investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, is recorded in (income) from unconsolidated subsidiaries. We did not have material income or receive any distributions from our investment in Calpine Receivables for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018. The following table sets forth details of our (income) from unconsolidated subsidiaries for the periods indicated (in millions):
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018
Greenfield LP | $ | (2 | ) |  | $ | (2 | )
Whitby | (4 | ) |  | (4 | )
Total | $ | (6 | ) |  | $ | (6 | )
Distributions from Greenfield LP were nil during each of the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018. Distributions from Whitby were $11 million and $3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Inland Empire Energy Center Put and Call Options — We held a call option to purchase the Inland Empire Energy Center (a 775 MW natural gas-fired power plant located in California) at predetermined prices from GE that could be exercised between years 2017 and 2024. GE held a put option whereby they could require us to purchase the power plant, if certain plant performance criteria were met by 2025. On February 1, 2019, we entered into an agreement with GE which, among other things, terminated our call option and GE’s put option related to the Inland Empire Energy Center. As per this agreement, we will take ownership of the facility site and certain remaining site infrastructure and equipment after closure and decommissioning of the facility at a future date, until such time GE continues to own, operate and maintain the power plant, including directing any closure activities. As GE continues to direct all such significant activities of the power plant, we have determined that we no longer hold any variable interests in the Inland Empire Energy Center and it is not a VIE to Calpine.

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- Definition Variable Interest Entities and Unconsolidated Investments Abstract + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The entire disclosure for a variable interest entity (VIE), including but not limited to, judgments and assumptions in determining whether to consolidate and in identifying the primary beneficiary, gain (loss) recognized on the initial consolidation of the VIE, terms of arrangements, amounts and classification of the VIE's assets and liabilities, and the entity's maximum exposure to loss. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2197479 + Details
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