Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURE ABOUT MARKET RISK
The Registrants hold commodity and financial instruments that are exposed to the following market risks:
• Commodity price risk, which is discussed further below.
• Counterparty credit risk associated with non-performance by counterparties on executed derivative instruments and participation in all, or some of the established, wholesale spot energy markets that are administered by PJM. The credit policies of PJM may, under certain circumstances, require that losses arising from the default of one member on spot energy market transactions be shared by the remaining participants. See Note 8 — Derivative Financial Instruments of the Combined Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for a detailed discussion of counterparty credit risk related to derivative instruments.
• Equity price and interest rate risk associated with Exelon’s pension and OPEB plan trusts. See Note 7 — Retirement Benefits of the 2023 Form 10-K for additional information.
• Interest rate risk associated with changes in interest rates for the Registrants’ outstanding long-term debt. This risk is significantly reduced as substantially all of the Registrants’ outstanding debt has fixed interest rates. There is inherent interest rate risk related to refinancing maturing debt by issuing new long-term debt. The Registrants use a combination of fixed-rate and variable-rate debt to manage interest rate exposure. See Note 9 — Debt and Credit Agreements of the Combined Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information. In addition, Exelon may utilize interest rate derivatives to lock in rate levels in anticipation of future financings, which are typically designated as cash flow hedges, or to lock in rate levels on borrowings, which are typically designated as economic hedges. See Note 8 – Derivative Financial Instruments of the Combined Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
The Registrants operate primarily under cost-based rate regulation limiting exposure to the effects of market risk. Hedging programs are utilized to reduce exposure to energy and natural gas price volatility and have no direct earnings impacts as the costs are fully recovered through regulatory-approved recovery mechanisms.
Exelon manages these risks through risk management policies and objectives for risk assessment, control and valuation, counterparty credit approval, and the monitoring and reporting of risk exposures. Risk management issues are reported to Exelon’s Executive Committee, the Risk Management Committees of each Utility Registrant, and the Audit and Risk Committee of Exelon’s Board of Directors.
Commodity Price Risk
Commodity price risk is associated with price movements resulting from changes in supply and demand, fuel costs, market liquidity, weather conditions, governmental regulatory and environmental policies, and other factors. To the extent the total amount of energy Exelon purchases differs from the amount of energy it has contracted to sell, Exelon is exposed to market fluctuations in commodity prices. Exelon seeks to mitigate its commodity price risk through the sale and purchase of electricity and natural gas.
ComEd entered into 20-year floating-to-fixed renewable energy swap contracts beginning in June 2012, which are considered an economic hedge and have changes in fair value recorded to an offsetting regulatory asset or liability. ComEd has block energy contracts to procure electric supply that are executed through a competitive procurement process, which are considered derivatives and qualify for NPNS, and as a result are accounted for on an accrual basis of accounting. PECO, BGE, Pepco, DPL, and ACE have contracts to procure electric supply that are executed through a competitive procurement process. PECO, BGE, Pepco, DPL, and ACE have certain full requirements contracts, which are considered derivatives and qualify for NPNS, and as a result are accounted for on an accrual basis of accounting. Other full requirements contracts are not derivatives.
PECO, BGE, and DPL also have executed derivative natural gas contracts, which qualify for NPNS, to hedge their long-term price risk in the natural gas market. The hedging programs for natural gas procurement have no direct impact on their financial statements.
For additional information on these contracts, see Note 8 — Derivative Financial Instruments and Note 10 — Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities of the Combined Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
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Table of Contents
The following table presents the maturity and source of fair value for Exelon’s and ComEd’s mark-to-market commodity contract net liabilities. These net liabilities are associated with ComEd’s floating-to-fixed energy swap contracts with unaffiliated suppliers. The table provides two fundamental pieces of information. First, the table provides the source of fair value used in determining the carrying amount of Exelon's and ComEd's total mark-to-market net liabilities. Second, the table shows the maturity, by year, of Exelon's and ComEd's commodity contract net liabilities giving an indication of when these mark-to-market amounts will settle and either generate or require cash. See Note 10 — Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities of the Combined Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding fair value measurements and the fair value hierarchy.
Maturities Within Total Fair
Value
Commodity derivative contracts (a) :
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 and Beyond
Prices based on model or other valuation methods (Level 3) $ (24) $ (17) $ (14) $ (14) $ (14) $ (25) $ (108)
_________
(a) Represents ComEd's net liabilities associated with the floating-to-fixed energy swap contracts with unaffiliated suppliers.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.