5:Fair Value Measurements

Accounting standards define fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. When measuring fair value, CMS Energy and Consumers are required to incorporate all assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability, including assumptions about risk. A fair value hierarchy prioritizes inputs used to measure fair value according to their observability in the market. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are as follows:

CMS Energy and Consumers classify fair value measurements within the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety.

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

Presented in the following table are CMS Energy’s and Consumers’ assets and liabilities recorded at fair value on a recurring basis:



Cash Equivalents: Cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents consist of money market funds with daily liquidity. Short-term debt instruments classified as cash equivalents on the consolidated balance sheets are not included since they are recorded at amortized cost.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Assets and Liabilities: The nonqualified deferred compensation plan assets consist of mutual funds, which are valued using daily quoted NAVs. CMS Energy and Consumers value their nonqualified deferred compensation plan liabilities based on the fair values of the plan assets, as they reflect what is owed to the plan participants in accordance with their investment elections. CMS Energy and Consumers report the assets in other non‑current assets and the liabilities in other non‑current liabilities on their consolidated balance sheets.

DB SERP Assets: The DB SERP cash equivalents consist of a money market fund with daily liquidity. The DB SERP invests in mutual funds that hold primarily fixed-income instruments of varying maturities. In order to meet their investment objectives, the funds hold investment-grade debt securities and may invest a portion of their assets in high-yield securities, foreign debt, and derivative instruments. CMS Energy and Consumers value these funds using daily quoted NAVs. CMS Energy and Consumers report their DB SERP assets in other non‑current assets on their consolidated balance sheets. For additional details about DB SERP securities, see Note 6, Financial Instruments.

Derivative Instruments: CMS Energy and Consumers value their derivative instruments using either a market approach that incorporates information from market transactions, or an income approach that discounts future expected cash flows to a present value amount. CMS Energy values its exchange-traded derivative contracts based on Level 1 quoted prices. CMS Energy’s and Consumers’ remaining derivatives are classified as Level 3.

The majority of these derivatives are FTRs held by Consumers. Consumers uses FTRs to manage price risk related to electricity transmission congestion. An FTR is a financial instrument that entitles its holder to receive compensation or requires its holder to remit payment for congestion-related transmission charges. Under regulatory accounting, all changes in fair value associated with FTRs are deferred as regulatory assets and liabilities until the instruments are settled. Due to the lack of quoted pricing information, Consumers determines the fair value of its FTRs based on Consumers’ average historical settlements.

5:Fair Value Measurements

Accounting standards define fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. When measuring fair value, CMS Energy and Consumers are required to incorporate all assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability, including assumptions about risk. A fair value hierarchy prioritizes inputs used to measure fair value according to their observability in the market. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are as follows:

CMS Energy and Consumers classify fair value measurements within the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety.

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

Presented in the following table are CMS Energy’s and Consumers’ assets and liabilities recorded at fair value on a recurring basis:



Cash Equivalents: Cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents consist of money market funds with daily liquidity. Short-term debt instruments classified as cash equivalents on the consolidated balance sheets are not included since they are recorded at amortized cost.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Assets and Liabilities: The nonqualified deferred compensation plan assets consist of mutual funds, which are valued using daily quoted NAVs. CMS Energy and Consumers value their nonqualified deferred compensation plan liabilities based on the fair values of the plan assets, as they reflect what is owed to the plan participants in accordance with their investment elections. CMS Energy and Consumers report the assets in other non‑current assets and the liabilities in other non‑current liabilities on their consolidated balance sheets.

DB SERP Assets: The DB SERP cash equivalents consist of a money market fund with daily liquidity. The DB SERP invests in mutual funds that hold primarily fixed-income instruments of varying maturities. In order to meet their investment objectives, the funds hold investment-grade debt securities and may invest a portion of their assets in high-yield securities, foreign debt, and derivative instruments. CMS Energy and Consumers value these funds using daily quoted NAVs. CMS Energy and Consumers report their DB SERP assets in other non‑current assets on their consolidated balance sheets. For additional details about DB SERP securities, see Note 6, Financial Instruments.

Derivative Instruments: CMS Energy and Consumers value their derivative instruments using either a market approach that incorporates information from market transactions, or an income approach that discounts future expected cash flows to a present value amount. CMS Energy values its exchange-traded derivative contracts based on Level 1 quoted prices. CMS Energy’s and Consumers’ remaining derivatives are classified as Level 3.

The majority of these derivatives are FTRs held by Consumers. Consumers uses FTRs to manage price risk related to electricity transmission congestion. An FTR is a financial instrument that entitles its holder to receive compensation or requires its holder to remit payment for congestion-related transmission charges. Under regulatory accounting, all changes in fair value associated with FTRs are deferred as regulatory assets and liabilities until the instruments are settled. Due to the lack of quoted pricing information, Consumers determines the fair value of its FTRs based on Consumers’ average historical settlements.