SEC Company Response from MIDAMERICAN ENERGY CO (CIK 0000928576) — Oct 31, 2005
MIDAMERICAN ENERGY CO (CIK 0000928576)
Date: Oct. 31, 2005 · CIK: 0000928576 · Accession: 0001081316-05-000123
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-15387, 333-90553
Referenced dates: October 17, 2005, September 13, 2005, September 27, 2005, September 27, 2005
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MidAmerican Energy Holdings - SEC Correspondence
October
31, 2005
VIA
EDGAR
AND FACSIMILE
Mr.
George F. Ohsiek, Jr.
Branch
Chief
Division
of Corporation Finance
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
450
Fifth
Street, N.W.
Mail
Stop
3561
Washington,
D.C. 20549
RE:
MidAmerican
Energy Holdings Company
Form
10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Filed
March 1, 2005
Forms
10-Q for Fiscal Quarters Ended
March
31, 2005 and June 30, 2005
File
No. 1-14881
MidAmerican
Funding LLC
Form
10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Filed
February 28, 2005
Forms
10-Q for Fiscal Quarters Ended
March
31, 2005 and June 30, 2005
File
No. 333-90553
MidAmerican
Energy Company
Form
10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Filed
February 28, 2005
Forms
10-Q for Fiscal Quarters Ended
March
31, 2005 and June 30, 2005
File
No. 333-15387
Dear
Mr.
Ohsiek:
This
correspondence is being filed in response to the additional comment received
from the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”)
by letter dated October 17, 2005 (the “Comment”) with respect to
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (“MEHC” or the “Company”), MidAmerican
Funding LLC (“Funding”) and MidAmerican Energy Company (“MidAmerican Energy”)
and their respective Forms 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2004
(the “Form 10-K”) and their respective Forms 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended
March 31, 2005 and June 30, 2005 (the “Form 10-Q”). The numbering
below corresponds to the numbering of the Comment, which has been incorporated
into this response letter in italics.
1
MidAmerican
Energy Holdings Company
Form
10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Note
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, page 63
1.
Please
refer to comment 4 in our letter dated September 13, 2005 and
address the
following additional
comments:
Comment
- We note the capacity fees associated with the Upper Mahiao and Mahanagdong
Projects are subject to semi-annual adjustments pursuant to changes in
contractually specified price indices. Please tell us and revise to disclose
the
contractually specified price indices on which the adjustments are based.
Also
explain your consideration of whether this provision in the contracts represents
an embedded derivative requiring separation from the host contract, as
contemplated in paragraph 12 of SFAS 133.
Response:
The
capacity fees associated with the Upper Mahiao and Mahanagdong Projects are
subject to semi-annual adjustment based on movements in the Producer
Price Index (line 63) of the United States country table of the International
Financial Statistics published by the International Monetary Fund.
Paragraph
12 of SFAS 133 provides that an embedded derivative instrument shall be
separated from the host contract and accounted for as a derivative instrument
only if all of three specified criteria are met. The first criterion to be
met
is whether the economic characteristics and risks of the embedded derivative
instrument are not clearly and closely related to the economic characteristics
and risks of the host contract. Additional guidance on applying this criterion
to various contracts containing embedded derivative instruments is included
in
Appendix A of SFAS 133. Paragraph 61(j) of Appendix A states that
inflation-indexed adjustments for the use of leased assets are considered
to be
clearly and closely related to the economic characteristics of the host
contract. Consequently, the inflation-related derivative embedded in an
inflation-indexed lease contract would not be
separated from the host contract. As the capacity fees are adjusted based
upon a
Producer Price Index, which is a measure of inflation, the Company determined
that neither the Upper Mahiao nor the Mahanagdong Projects’ contracts contain an
embedded derivative requiring separation from the host contract as contemplated
in paragraph 12 of SFAS 133.
The
combined operating revenue of the Philippine Projects represented only 4.7%,
5.5%, and 6.8% of MEHC’s consolidated operating revenue for the years ended
December 31, 2004, 2003, and 2002, respectively, as detailed in Note
23,
“Segment Information” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2004. The Company respectfully acknowledges the comment
and,
in future annual filings, proposes updating its revenue recognition policy
as
follows (see Exhibit A for the complete disclosure):
“Leyte
Projects’ primary source of revenue is from capacity fees recognized on a
straight-line basis over the cooperation periods and subject to semi-annual
adjustment pursuant to changes in the United States producer price
index.”
2
Comment
- Explain in more detail how you determined to classify the Leyte and Casecnan
projects/leases as operating, as opposed to sales-type leases. In particular,
based on your reference to paragraph 8 of SFAS 13, we assume you concluded
the
leases do not represent real estate leases. Please tell us how you made this
determination and, in this regard, whether you own the land underlying the
facilities.
Response:
Although
the Company does not own the land underlying the Leyte Projects’ nor the
Casecnan Project’s (collectively, the “Philippine Projects”) facilities, the
respective agreements are real estate leases as they involve real property
as
defined in paragraph 1 of SFAS 98. Furthermore, ownership of the individual
Philippine Projects will be separately transferred, as single units, to its
respective customer (the Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development
Corporation (“PNOC-EDC”) for the Leyte Projects and the Philippine National
Irrigation Administration (“NIA”) for the Casecnan Project) at the end of the
applicable cooperation period. The Leyte Projects have 10-year cooperation
periods and the Casecnan Project has a 20-year cooperation period. Accordingly,
criteria (a) of paragraph 7 of SFAS 13 was met.
Pursuant
to paragraph 6(b)(i) of SFAS 13 (as amended by paragraph 22.c. of SFAS 98),
a
lease involving real estate is to be classified as a sales-type lease only
if it
meets the criterion in paragraph 7(a), in which case the criteria in paragraph
8
do not apply. However, the fair values of the respective facilities were
equal
to their costs or carrying amounts at the inception of the respective project
agreements and did not contain an element of manufacturer’s or dealer’s profit
to the Company, and therefore, the project agreements could not be classified
as
sales-type leases and the criteria in paragraph 8 needed to be evaluated
as
required by paragraph 22(l)(ii) of SFAS 98. As more fully described in response
to comment 4 in our letter dated September 27, 2005, the Company concluded,
based upon the circumstances at the inception of the agreement, that the
minimum
lease payments were not reasonably predictable. Therefore, the criteria (a)
of
paragraph 8 were not met. This conclusion was based upon a number of factors
including the dependence upon a single customer, the lack of operating history,
the existence of significant operating uncertainties, and the existence of
political, economic and other uncertainties associated with the Philippines.
In
the Company’s judgment, these circumstances, along with the length of the
agreements (the Leyte Projects have 10-year cooperation periods and the Casecnan
Project has a 20-year cooperation period) created “significant uncertainty”
regarding the lease payments being reasonably predictable.
The
Company respectfully acknowledges the comment and, for the reasons discussed
above, believes the project agreements of the Philippine Projects are properly
classified as operating leases pursuant to the guidance set forth in paragraphs
6-8 of SFAS 13.
Comment
- Given that you classified the projects/leases as operating leases due
to
“significant uncertainty” regarding the collectibility/realizability of
revenues, please tell us why you believe it is appropriate to record revenues
under these projects/leases prior to collection. Refer, for example, to
SAB
Topic 13.A.1., which indicates that revenues are not considered realizable
until
collectibility is “reasonably assured.” To help us understand the inception to
date difference between revenues recorded and amounts collected from your
customers, please tell us the amount of billed and unbilled receivables
under
these particular contracts/leases, as well as the amount of any related
reserves.
3
Response:
As more
fully described in response to comment 4 in our letter dated September 27,
2005,
the Company concluded, based upon the circumstances at the inception of the
project agreements, that the minimum lease payments were not reasonably
predictable. Therefore, the capital lease conditions were not met. This
conclusion was based upon a number of factors including the dependence upon
a
single customer, the lack of operating history, the existence of significant
operating uncertainties, and the existence of political, economic and other
uncertainties associated with the Philippines. In the Company’s judgment, these
circumstances, along with the length of the project agreements (the Leyte
Projects have 10-year cooperation periods and the Casecnan Project has a
20-year
cooperation period) created “significant uncertainty” regarding the lease
payments being reasonably predictable.
In
contrast, monthly billings for energy and water delivered are made to the
Leyte
Projects’ customer, PNOC-EDC, and the Casecnan Project’s customer, NIA, with
payment terms of 30 days. The Company monitors the collections of amounts
billed
for energy and water delivered pursuant to the respective project agreements
and
provides an allowance for doubtful accounts as necessary. Therefore, the
uncertainty that existed at the inception of the respective project agreements
relative to collectibility of future payments (given the Leyte Projects have
10-year cooperation periods and the Casecnan Project has a 20-year cooperation
period) is significantly reduced relative to billed amounts that are due
within
30 days. Except for the amounts
disputed by the
PNOC-EDC
and NIA, as more fully described in our September 27, 2005 letter,
the
amounts due for energy and water delivered have been paid timely by PNOC-EDC
and
NIA. Combined bad debt expense was $0.0 million, $10.0 million, and $11.5
million for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2003, and 2002,
respectively, at the Philippine Projects. The bad debt expense recognized
in the
years ended December 31, 2003 and 2002 resulted from NIA disputing
certain
contractual elements of the water delivery fee. The dispute was resolved
in
October 2003 with the execution of a supplemental agreement which clarified
such
contractual elements. As of December 31, 2004, the combined billed
receivables outstanding, unbilled receivables outstanding, and the amount
of
related reserves recorded at the Philippine Projects were $45.5 million,
$0.0 million and $0.8 million, respectively. As of December 31,
2003, the combined billed receivables outstanding, unbilled receivables
outstanding, and the amount of related reserves recorded at the Philippine
Projects were $48.3 million, $0.0 million and $2.0 million,
respectively.
Revenue
under the agreements has been recognized only in circumstances where the
Company
believed collection of billed amounts was reasonably assured pursuant to
ARB 43,
Chapter 1A, paragraph 1. However, as discussed in paragraph 22 of SFAS
5,
conditions under which receivables exist usually involve some degree of
uncertainty about their collectibility, in which case a contingency exists.
Accordingly, in circumstances where the Company determined that it was
probable
that it would be unable to collect all amounts outstanding due to the existence
of disputes or other circumstances, an allowance for doubtful accounts
was
recognized.
The
Company respectfully acknowledges the comment and, for the reasons discussed
above, believes it is appropriate to record revenues from the project agreements
of the Philippine Projects prior to collection.
4
Comment
- Expand your proposed revenue recognition disclosure to explain why the
Leyte
and Casecnan projects/leases are classified as operating leases, despite
the
fact that ownership of the facilities under lease transfers to the customer
at
the end of the respective cooperation periods.
Response:
The
Company respectfully acknowledges the comment and in future annual filings
proposes to disclose in its revenue recognition policy note that the project
agreements were classified as operating leases due to the significant
uncertainties that existed at the inception of the leases regarding both
the
collection of future amounts and the amount of unreimbursable costs yet to
be
incurred as follows (see Exhibit A for the complete disclosure):
“The
project agreements were classified as operating leases due to significant
uncertainties that existed at the inception of the leases regarding both
the
collection of future amounts and the amount of unreimbursable costs yet to
be
incurred mainly due to the existence of political, economic and other
uncertainties as