Content
Critical Accounting Estimates
DEPRECIATION
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment, the Company's largest asset with a net book value at December 31, 2008 of $16,389.6 million, or 66% of total assets, is generally provided on a straight-line basis over the estimated service lives of the assets commencing when the asset is placed in service. When it is determined that the estimated service life of an asset no longer reflects the expected remaining period of benefit, prospective changes are made to the estimated service life. Estimates of useful lives are based on third party engineering studies, experience and/or industry practice. There are a number of assumptions inherent in estimating the service lives of the Company's assets including the level of development, exploration, drilling, reserves and production of crude oil and natural gas in the supply areas served by the Company's pipelines as well as the demand for crude oil and natural gas and the integrity of the Company's systems. Changes in these assumptions could result in adjustments to the estimated service lives, which could result in material changes to depreciation expense in future periods in any of the Company's business segments, except the Corporate segment. For certain rate regulated operations, depreciation rates are approved by the regulator and the regulator may require periodic studies or technical updates on useful lives which may change depreciation rates. Reflecting the resource resiliency of the basins the Company serves, revised assumptions have typically resulted in extending useful lives.
REGULATORY ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Certain of the Company's Liquids Pipelines, Gas Pipelines and Gas Distribution and Services businesses are subject to regulation by various authorities, including but not limited to, the NEB, the FERC, the ERCB and the OEB. Regulatory bodies exercise statutory authority over matters such as construction, rates and ratemaking, and agreements with customers. To recognize the economic effects of the actions of the regulator, the timing of recognition of certain revenues and expenses in operations may differ from that otherwise expected under generally accepted accounting principles for non rate-regulated entities. Also, the Company records regulatory assets and liabilities to recognize the economic effects of the actions of the regulator. Regulatory assets represent amounts that are expected to be recovered from customers in future periods through rates. Regulatory liabilities represent amounts that are expected to be refunded to customers in future periods through rates. On refund or recovery of this difference, no earnings impact is recorded. Effectively, the income statement captures only the approved costs and the related revenue rather than the actual costs and related revenue. As of December 31, 2008, the Company's regulatory assets totaled $625.5 million (2007 – $548.4 million) and regulatory liabilities totaled $102.6 million (2007 – $173.7 million). To the extent that the regulator's actions differ from the Company's expectations, the timing and amount of recovery or settlement of regulatory balances could differ significantly from those recorded.
POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
The Company maintains pension plans, which provide defined benefit and/or defined contribution pension benefits and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) other than pensions to eligible retirees. Pension costs and obligations for the defined benefit pension plans are determined using the projected benefit method. This method involves complex actuarial calculations using several assumptions including discount rates, expected rates of return on plan assets, health-care cost trend rates, projected salary increases, retirement age, mortality and termination rates. These assumptions are determined by management and are reviewed annually by the Company's actuaries. Actual results that differ from assumptions are amortized over future periods and therefore could materially affect the expense recognized and the recorded obligation in future periods. The decline in the capital markets has reduced the current market value of the plan assets; however, the discount rate has increased resulting in a lower expected benefit obligation substantially offsetting the decline in the plan assets. The Company remains able to pay the current benefit obligations using cash from operations. See Note 25 to the 2008 Annual Consolidated Financial Statements for disclosure of the difference between the actual and the expected results for the past two years. Pension expense is recorded within all of the Company's business segments with the exception of EGD which records pension expense on a cash basis in accordance with rate regulated accounting.
Assuming no discretionary funding is made into the pension plans, funding in 2009 will be approximately $48 million which is not considered significant to the Company.
Pension Benefits |
OPEB |
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| Impact of a 0.5% Change in Key Assumptions | Obligation | Expense | Obligation | Expense | |||||||
(millions of Canadian dollars) |
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| Decrease in discount rate | 74.6 | 9.7 | 12.9 | 1.3 | |||||||
| Decrease in expected return on assets | n/a | 6.1 | n/a | 0.2 | |||||||
| Decrease in rate of salary increase | (19.2 | ) | (4.8 | ) | – | – | |||||
CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
Provisions for claims filed against the Company are determined on a case by case basis. Case estimates are reviewed on a regular basis and are updated as new information is received. The process of evaluating claims involves the use of estimates and a high degree of management judgment. Claims outstanding, the final determination of which could have a material impact on the financial results of the Company and certain of the Company's subsidiaries and investments, including Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. and Enbridge Energy Company, Inc., are disclosed in Note 29 of the 2008 Annual Consolidated Financial Statements.
ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
The fair value of asset retirement obligations (AROs) associated with the retirement of long-lived assets are recognized as long-term liabilities in the period when they can be reasonably determined. The fair value approximates the cost a third party would charge in performing the tasks necessary to retire such assets and is recognized at the present value of expected future cash flows. AROs are added to the carrying value of the associated asset and depreciated over the asset's useful life. The corresponding liability is accreted over time through charges to earnings and is reduced by actual costs of decommissioning and reclamation. The present value of expected future cash flows is determined using assumptions such as the probability of abandonment in place versus removal and the estimated costs required upon abandonment in each case, the discount rate and the estimated time to abandonment. For the majority of the Company's assets it is not possible to make a reasonable estimate of AROs due to the indeterminate timing, the long-lived nature of the assets and the scope of the asset retirements. Changes in any of these assumptions could materially affect the asset and liability recognized in respect of asset retirement obligations as well as the resulting accretion of the liability and depreciation of the asset within any of the Company's business segments.