1. Nature of business
General
Atlantic Power is an independent power producer that owns power generation assets in eleven states in the United States and two provinces in Canada. Our power generation projects, which are diversified by geography, fuel type, dispatch profile and offtaker, sell electricity to utilities and other large customers predominantly under long-term power purchase agreements (“PPAs”), which seek to minimize exposure to changes in commodity prices. As of March 31, 2021, our portfolio consisted of twenty-one operating projects with an aggregate electric generating capacity of approximately 1,723 megawatts (“MW”) on a gross ownership basis and approximately 1,327 MW on a net ownership basis. Sixteen of the projects are majority-owned by the Company.
Atlantic Power is a corporation established under the laws of the Province of Ontario on June 18, 2004 and continued to the Province of British Columbia on July 8, 2005. Our shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) under the symbol “ATP” and on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “AT.” Our registered office is located at 1066 West Hastings Street, Suite 2600, Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 3X1, Canada and our headquarters is located at 3 Allied Drive, Suite 155, Dedham, Massachusetts 02026, USA. Our telephone number in Dedham is (617) 977-2400 and the address of our website is www.atlanticpower.com. Information contained on Atlantic Power’s website or that can be accessed through its website is not incorporated into and does not constitute a part of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We have included our website address only as an inactive textual reference and do not intend it to be an active link to our website.
Basis of presentation
The interim condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q have been prepared in accordance with the SEC regulations for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q. The following notes should be read in conjunction with the accounting policies and other disclosures as set forth in the notes to our financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year.
In our opinion, the accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements present fairly our consolidated financial position as of March 31, 2021, the results of operations and comprehensive income for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, and our cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals and other adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.
Use of estimates
The preparation of financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the year. Actual results could differ from those estimates. During the periods presented, we have made a number of estimates and valuation assumptions, including the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in purchase accounting, the useful lives and recoverability of property, plant and equipment, valuation of goodwill, intangible assets and liabilities related to PPAs and fuel supply agreements, the recoverability of equity method investments, the recoverability of deferred tax assets, tax provisions, recovery of expected insurance proceeds, the fair value of financial instruments and derivatives, pension obligations, asset retirement obligations and equity-based compensation. In addition, estimates are used to test long-lived assets and goodwill for impairment and to determine the fair value of impaired assets. These estimates and valuation assumptions are based on