v3.19.1

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 3 Months Ended
--- | ---
Mar. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of significant accounting policies | Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies We are a power generation company engaged in the ownership and operation of primarily natural gas-fired and geothermal power plants in North America. We have a significant presence in major competitive wholesale and retail power markets in California, Texas and the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. We sell power, steam, capacity, renewable energy credits and ancillary services to our customers, which include utilities, independent electric system operators, industrial and agricultural companies, retail power providers, municipalities and other governmental entities, power marketers as well as retail commercial, industrial, governmental and residential customers. We continue to focus on providing products and services that are beneficial to our wholesale and retail customers. We purchase primarily natural gas and some fuel oil as fuel for our power plants and engage in related natural gas transportation and storage transactions. We also purchase power for sale to our customers and purchase electric transmission rights to deliver power to our customers. Additionally, consistent with our Risk Management Policy, we enter into natural gas, power, environmental product, fuel oil and other physical and financial commodity contracts to hedge certain business risks and optimize our portfolio of power plants. Basis of Interim Presentation — The accompanying unaudited, interim Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements of Calpine Corporation, a Delaware corporation, and consolidated subsidiaries have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC. In the opinion of management, the Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements include the normal, recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the information required to be set forth therein. Certain information and note disclosures, normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, have been condensed or omitted from these statements pursuant to such rules and regulations and, accordingly, these financial statements should be read in conjunction with our audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, included in our 2018 Form 10-K. The results for interim periods are not indicative of the results for the entire year primarily due to acquisitions and disposals of assets, seasonal fluctuations in our revenues and expenses, timing of major maintenance expense, variations resulting from the application of the method to calculate the provision for income tax for interim periods, volatility of commodity prices and mark-to-market gains and losses from commodity and interest rate derivative contracts. Use of Estimates in Preparation of Financial Statements — The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and related disclosures included in our Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Reclassifications — We have reclassified certain prior period amounts for comparative purposes. These reclassifications did not have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Cash and Cash Equivalents — We consider all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. We have cash and cash equivalents held in non-corporate accounts relating to certain project finance facilities and lease agreements that require us to establish and maintain segregated cash accounts. These accounts have been pledged as security in favor of the lenders under such project finance facilities, and the use of certain cash balances on deposit in such accounts is limited, at least temporarily, to the operations of the respective projects. Restricted Cash — Certain of our debt agreements, lease agreements or other operating agreements require us to establish and maintain segregated cash accounts, the use of which is restricted, making these cash funds unavailable for general use. These amounts are held by depository banks in order to comply with the contractual provisions requiring reserves for payments such as for debt service, rent and major maintenance or with applicable regulatory requirements. Funds that can be used to satisfy obligations due during the next 12 months are classified as current restricted cash, with the remainder classified as non-current restricted cash. Restricted cash is generally invested in accounts earning market rates; therefore, the carrying value approximates fair value. Such cash is excluded from cash and cash equivalents on our Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheets. The table below represents the components of our restricted cash as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 (in millions):
| March 31, 2019 |  | December 31, 2018
| Current |  | Non-Current |  | Total |  | Current |  | Non-Current |  | Total
Debt service | $ | 17 |  |  | $ | 7 |  |  | $ | 24 |  |  | $ | 13 |  |  | $ | 8 |  |  | $ | 21 |
Construction/major maintenance | 24 |  |  | 29 |  |  | 53 |  |  | 23 |  |  | 24 |  |  | 47 |
Security/project/insurance | 203 |  |  | 31 |  |  | 234 |  |  | 120 |  |  | — |  |  | 120 |
Other | 21 |  |  | 2 |  |  | 23 |  |  | 11 |  |  | 2 |  |  | 13 |
Total | $ | 265 |  |  | $ | 69 |  |  | $ | 334 |  |  | $ | 167 |  |  | $ | 34 |  |  | $ | 201 |
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net — At March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the components of property, plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation as follows (in millions):
| March 31, 2019 |  | December 31, 2018 |  | Depreciable Lives
Buildings, machinery and equipment | $ | 16,538 |  |  | $ | 16,400 |  |  | 1.5 | – | 50 | Years
Geothermal properties | 1,503 |  |  | 1,501 |  |  | 13 | – | 58 | Years
Other | 264 |  |  | 286 |  |  | 3 | – | 50 | Years
| 18,305 |  |  | 18,187 |  |  |  |  |  |
Less: Accumulated depreciation | 6,764 |  |  | 6,832 |  |  |  |  |  |
| 11,541 |  |  | 11,355 |  |  |  |  |  |
Land | 121 |  |  | 121 |  |  |  |  |  |
Construction in progress | 386 |  |  | 966 |  |  |  |  |  |
Property, plant and equipment, net | $ | 12,048 |  |  | $ | 12,442 |  |  |  |  |  |
Capitalized Interest — The total amount of interest capitalized was $7 million and $7 million during the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Goodwill — We have not recorded any impairment losses or changes in the carrying amount of our goodwill during the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018. New Accounting Standards and Disclosure Requirements Leases — On January 1, 2019, we adopted Accounting Standards Update 2016-02, “Leases” (“Topic 842”). The comprehensive new lease standard superseded all existing lease guidance. The standard requires that a lessee should recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for substantially all operating leases based on the present value of the minimum rental payments. For lessors, the accounting for leases under Topic 842 remained substantially unchanged. The standard also requires expanded disclosures surrounding leases. We adopted the standards under Topic 842 using the modified retrospective method and elected a number of the practical expedients in our implementation of Topic 842. The key change that affected us relates to our accounting for operating leases for which we are the lessee that were historically off-balance sheet. The impact of adopting the standards resulted in the recognition of a right-of-use asset and lease obligation liability of $191 million on our Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheet on January 1, 2019, exclusive of previously recognized lease balances. The implementation of Topic 842 did not have a material effect on our Consolidated Condensed Statement of Operations or Consolidated Condensed Statement of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2019. See Note 3 for a discussion of the practical expedients we elected and additional disclosures required by Topic 842. Derivatives and Hedging — In August 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2017-12, “Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities.” The standard better aligns an entity’s hedging activities and financial reporting for hedging relationships through changes to both the designation and measurement guidance for qualifying hedging relationships and the presentation of hedge results in the financial statements. The standard will prospectively make hedge accounting easier to apply to hedging activities and also enhances disclosure requirements for how hedge transactions are reflected in the financial statements when hedge accounting is elected. We adopted Accounting Standards Update 2017-12 in the first quarter of 2019 which did not have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Fair Value Measurements — In August 2018, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2018-13, “Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement.” The standard removes, modifies and adds disclosures about fair value measurements and is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. The changes required by this standard to remove or modify disclosures may be early adopted with adoption of the additional disclosures required by this standard delayed until their effective date. We do not anticipate a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows as a result of adopting this standard.

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AccountingPoliciesAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for the basis of presentation and significant accounting policies concepts. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). Accounting policies describe all significant accounting policies of the reporting entity. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122369 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BasisOfPresentationAndSignificantAccountingPoliciesTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration