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| WGL > SEC Filings for WGL > Form 10-Q on 8-May-2009 | All Recent SEC Filings |
8-May-2009
Quarterly Report
INTRODUCTION
This Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations(Management's Discussion) analyzes the financial condition, results
of operations and cash flows of WGL Holdings, Inc. (WGL Holdings) and its
subsidiaries and should be read in conjunction with our unaudited financial
statements and the accompanying notes in this quarterly report, as well as our
combined Annual Report on Form 10-K for WGL Holdings and Washington Gas Light
Company (Washington Gas) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008 (2008
Annual Report). Except where the content clearly indicates otherwise, "WGL
Holdings," "we," "us" or "our" refers to the holding company or the consolidated
entity of WGL Holdings and all of its subsidiaries.
Management's Discussion is divided into the following two major sections:
• WGL Holdings-This section describes the financial condition and results of
operations of WGL Holdings and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. It
includes discussions of our regulated and unregulated operations. WGL
Holdings' operations are derived from the results of Washington Gas and the
results of our non-utility operations.
• Washington Gas-This section describes the financial condition and results of operations of Washington Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary that comprises the majority of our regulated utility segment.
Both of the major sections of Management's Discussion-WGL Holdings and
Washington Gas-are designed to provide an understanding of our operations and
financial performance. Management's Discussion also should be read in
conjunction with the respective company's financial statements and the combined
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Unless otherwise noted, earnings per share amounts are presented on a diluted
basis and are based on weighted average common and common equivalent shares
outstanding. Our operations are seasonal and, accordingly, our operating results
for the interim periods presented are not indicative of the results to be
expected for the full fiscal year.
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Introduction
WGL Holdings, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, sells and delivers
natural gas and provides a variety of energy-related products and services to
customers primarily in the District of Columbia and the surrounding metropolitan
areas in Maryland and Virginia. WGL Holdings has three operating segments that
are described below.
Regulated Utility. With approximately 90% of our consolidated total assets,
the regulated utility segment consists of Washington Gas and Hampshire Gas
Company (Hampshire). Washington Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of WGL Holdings,
delivers natural gas to retail customers in accordance with tariffs approved by
the regulatory commissions that have jurisdiction over Washington Gas's rates.
Washington Gas also sells natural gas to customers who have not elected to
purchase natural gas from unregulated third-party marketers.
In its rates charged to utility customers, Washington Gas generally does not
earn a profit or incur a loss associated with the sale of the natural gas
commodity because regulation requires Washington Gas to bill these customers for
the natural gas commodity at the same cost that Washington Gas incurs. However,
Washington Gas has an asset optimization program which utilizes Washington Gas's
storage and transportation capacity resources when not fully being used to
physically serve utility customers by entering into commodity-related physical
and financial contracts with third parties with the objective of deriving a
profit to be shared with its utility customers (refer to the section entitled
"Market Risk" for a further discussion of our asset optimization program).
Unless otherwise noted, therm deliveries shown related to Washington Gas or the
regulated utility segment do not include therms delivered related to our asset
optimization program.
WGL Holdings, Inc. Washington Gas Light Company
WGL Holdings, Inc. Washington Gas Light Company
• regulatory environment and regulatory decisions;
• availability of natural gas supply and pipeline transportation and storage capacity;
• diversity of natural gas supply;
• volatility of natural gas prices;
• non-weather related changes in natural gas consumption patterns;
• maintaining the safety and reliability of the natural gas distribution system;
• competitive environment;
• environmental matters;
• industry consolidation;
• economic conditions and interest rates;
• inflation/deflation;
• use of business process outsourcing;
• labor contracts, including labor and benefit costs; and
• changes in accounting principles.
For a further discussion of the factors listed above, refer to Management's Discussion within the 2008 Annual Report. Also, refer to the section entitled "Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements" included in this quarterly report for a listing of forward-looking statements related to factors affecting WGL Holdings and Washington Gas.
WGL Holdings, Inc. Washington Gas Light Company
• accounting for regulatory operations - regulatory assets and liabilities;
• accounting for income taxes;
• accounting for contingencies;
• accounting for derivative instruments and
• accounting for pension and other post-retirement benefit plans.
For a description of these critical accounting policies, refer to Management's Discussion within the 2008 Annual Report. Refer to Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in this quarterly report for a discussion of newly implemented accounting policies.
WGL Holdings, Inc. Washington Gas Light Company
Net Income (Loss) by Operating Segment
Three Months Ended
March 31, Increase/
(In millions) 2009 2008 (Decrease)
Regulated Utility $ 75.4 $ 78.0 $ (2.6 )
Non-utility operations:
Retail energy-marketing (0.7 ) 3.6 (4.3 )
Design-Build Energy Systems 1.2 0.3 0.9
Other, principally non-utility activities (0.8 ) (0.9 ) 0.1
Total non-utility (0.3 ) 3.0 (3.3 )
Net Income $ 75.1 $ 81.0 $ (5.9 )
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Regulated Utility Operating Results
The following table summarizes the regulated utility segment's operating
results for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008.
Regulated Utility Operating Results
Three Months Ended
March 31, Increase/
(In millions) 2009 2008 (Decrease)
Utility net revenues:
Operating revenues $ 651.1 $ 677.7 $ (26.6 )
Less: Cost of gas 383.9 417.1 (33.2 )
Revenue taxes 24.9 21.6 3.3
Total utility net revenues 242.3 239.0 3.3
Operation and maintenance 67.9 63.0 4.9
Depreciation and amortization 24.0 23.1 0.9
General taxes and other assessments 15.3 13.5 1.8
Operating income 135.1 139.4 (4.3 )
Interest expense 11.2 11.4 (0.2 )
Other (income) expenses-net, including preferred
stock dividends (0.3 ) (0.1 ) (0.2 )
Income tax expense 48.8 50.1 (1.3 )
Net income $ 75.4 $ 78.0 $ (2.6 )
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The regulated utility segment's net income was $75.4 million for the three
months ended March 31, 2009, compared to net income of $78.0 million for the
same three-month period of the prior fiscal year. Net income decreased
$2.6 million primarily reflecting: (i) negative effects of higher natural gas
consumption patterns that benefited the prior comparative period; (ii) higher
recurring service costs related to the BPO and (iii) higher uncollectible
accounts expense. Partially offsetting these unfavorable items were: (i) the
effect of an increase in average active customer meters from the prior period;
(ii) an increase in the recovery of carrying costs on higher average storage gas
inventory balances; (iii) an increase in net margins associated with our asset
optimization program and (iv) lower costs for weather protection products
related to the District of Columbia.
WGL Holdings, Inc.
Washington Gas Light Company
Part I-Financial Information
Item 2-Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations (continued)
Utility Net Revenues. The following table provides the key factors
contributing to the changes in the utility net revenues of the regulated utility
segment between the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008.
Composition of Changes in Utility Net Revenues
Increase /
(In millions) (Decrease)
Customer growth $ 1.8
Estimated Weather effects - Offset by weather insurance and derivative
products 3.3
Estimated change in natural gas consumption patterns (7.3 )
Gas administrative charge (GAC) (0.3 )
Asset optimization:
Realized margins 8.8
Unrealized mark-to market valuations 0.5
Current period lower of cost or market adjustment (6.8 )
Storage carrying costs 3.4
Earnings Sharing Mechanism (ESM) (0.1 )
Total $ 3.3
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Customer growth - Average active customer meters increased 10,500 for the
three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to the same quarter of the prior
fiscal year.
Estimated weather effects - Washington Gas currently has a weather protection
strategy that is designed to neutralize the estimated financial effects of
variations from normal weather on net income (refer to the section entitled
"Weather Risk" for a further discussion of our weather protection strategy). As
part of this strategy, on October 1, 2008, Washington Gas purchased weather
derivatives to protect against variations from normal weather in the District of
Columbia. Washington Gas had weather insurance in fiscal year 2008 related to
the District of Columbia, which allowed us to retain the benefits of
colder-than-normal weather. Both the effects of weather insurance and weather
derivatives are recorded to "Operation and maintenance expenses".
Weather, when measured by heating degree days (HDDs), was 10.5% colder than
normal in the second quarter of fiscal year 2009, as compared to 8.1% warmer
than normal for the same quarter of fiscal year 2008. Including the effects of
our weather protection strategy, there were no estimated effects on net income
attributed to colder or warmer weather during the quarters ended March 31, 2009
or March 31, 2008.
Estimated change in natural gas consumption patterns - Changes in natural gas
consumption patterns may be affected by shifts in weather patterns in which
customer heating usage may not correlate highly with average historical levels
of usage per HDD that occur. Natural gas consumption patterns may also be
affected by non-weather related factors.
GAC - Represents a regulatory mechanism in all jurisdictions that provides
for recovery of uncollectible accounts expense related to changes in gas costs.
The related uncollectible accounts expense is included in operation and
maintenance expenses.
Asset optimization - We recorded pre-tax unrealized losses of $1.8 million
and $2.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008,
respectively, associated with our energy-related derivatives. When these
derivatives settle, any unrealized amounts will ultimately be reversed, and
Washington Gas will realize margins when combined with the related transactions
these derivatives economically hedge. Pre-tax realized margins related to our
asset optimization program were $13.5 million and $4.7 million for the quarter
ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. Partially offsetting these realized
margins for the current period were $6.8 million of lower-of-cost or market
adjustments associated with storage capacity assets utilized for asset
optimization. (Refer to the section entitled "Market Risk-Price Risk Related to
the Regulated Utility Segment"for a further discussion of our asset optimization
program).
WGL Holdings, Inc. Washington Gas Light Company
Composition of Changes in Operation and Maintenance Expenses
Increase/
(in millions) (Decrease)
Weather insurance and derivative products
Loss $ 3.3
Decrease in premium costs (1.4 )
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) 2.3
Labor and incentive plans 0.7
Employee benefits 0.3
Uncollectible accounts 1.0
Paving and leak repair (0.7 )
Other operating expenses (0.6 )
Total $ 4.9
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Weather insurance and derivative products - During the quarter ended
March 31, 2009, Washington Gas recorded a loss of $1.1 million (pre-tax) related
to its weather derivatives as a result of colder-than-normal weather during the
period. For the same quarter of the prior year, Washington Gas recorded a
$2.2 million benefit (pre-tax) related to its weather derivatives as a result of
warmer-than-normal weather during the period. The effect of these
weather-related instruments are offset in utility net revenues. Additionally,
Washington Gas incurred costs of $164,000 and $1.6 million during the quarters
ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively, for premium expense.
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) - The increase from the prior year
reflects a scheduled increase in the recurring service costs paid to the service
provider and amortization expense related to the regulatory asset established
for initial BPO implementation costs, partially offset by reduced labor and
benefits as well as improved cost efficiencies from implementing the outsourcing
initiative.
Uncollectible accounts - The increase from prior year is due to a higher
accrual rate for uncollectible expense in fiscal year 2009 due to an anticipated
increase in delinquencies of customer payments stemming largely from the
weakened economy.
Non-Utility Operating Results
Our non-utility operations comprise two business segments: (i) retail
energy-marketing and (ii) design-build energy systems. Transactions that are not
significant enough on a stand-alone basis to warrant treatment as an operating
segment, and that do not fit into one of our three operating segments, are
aggregated as "Other Activities" and included as part of non-utility operations.
Total net loss from our non-utility operations was $305,000 for the three months
ended March 31, 2009, compared to net income of $3.0 million for the same
three-month period of the prior fiscal year. This comparison primarily reflects
decreased earnings from our retail energy-marketing segment.
WGL Holdings, Inc. Washington Gas Light Company
Retail-Energy Marketing Financial and Statistical Data
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