Public Utility Depreciation Practices

Description:

The purpose of this manual is to present background material and operating practices for the determination of depreciation of public utility property for regulatory purposes. The information contained in the manual was compiled by the NARUC's Staff Subcommittee on Depreciation with the intended purpose of presenting current practices and methods of determining depreciation and to update the previous edition. The publication begins with a discussion of the history of depreciation noting significant court decisions, regulatory statutes and practices regarding depreciation. It also includes background material sufficient for an understanding of depreciation practices. The manual also describes early depreciation methodologies and jurisdiction over depreciation practices. The remainder of the manual describes in great detail the many variables to be considered in determining depreciation including current concepts of depreciation, accounting for plant assets, general depreciation accounting, computing depreciation, mortality concepts, turnover and simulation analyses, actuarial life analyses, the "generation arrangement", the life span method, estimating salvage and cost of removal, equal life group depreciation rates, theoretical reserve studies, and the effects of expensing on a utility's performance.