Goodwill |
3 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Mar. 31, 2016 | |
| Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Goodwill | Goodwill The Partnership tests its goodwill for impairment annually as of May 1 unless indicators, events, or circumstances would require an immediate review. Goodwill is tested for impairment using financial information at the reporting unit level, referred to as the Columbia Gas Transmission Operations reporting unit, which is consistent with the level of discrete financial information reviewed by management. The Columbia Gas Transmission Operations reporting unit includes the following entities: Columbia Gas Transmission (including its equity method investment in the Millennium Pipeline joint venture), Columbia Gulf and the equity method investment in Hardy Storage. All of the Partnership's goodwill relates to NiSource's acquisition of CEG in 2000, which was contributed to the Partnership prior to the IPO. The Partnership’s goodwill assets at March 31, 2016 were $1,975.5 million. The Predecessor completed a quantitative (“step 1”) fair value measurement of the reporting unit during the May 1, 2012 goodwill test. The test indicated that the fair value of the reporting unit substantially exceeded the carrying value, indicating that no impairment existed. GAAP allows entities testing goodwill for impairment the option of performing a qualitative (“step 0”) assessment before calculating the fair value of a reporting unit for the goodwill impairment test. If a step 0 assessment is performed, an entity is no longer required to calculate the fair value of a reporting unit unless the entity determines that, based on that assessment, it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than its carrying amount. The Partnership applied the qualitative step 0 analysis to its reporting unit for the annual impairment test performed as of May 1, 2015. For the current year test, the Partnership assessed various assumptions, events and circumstances that would have affected the estimated fair value of the reporting unit as compared to its base line May 1, 2012 step 1 fair value measurement. The results of this assessment indicated that it is not more likely than not that its reporting unit fair value is less than the reporting unit carrying value. The Partnership considered whether there were any events or changes in circumstances subsequent to the annual test that would reduce the fair value of the reporting unit below its carrying amount and necessitate another goodwill impairment test. In consideration of all relevant factors, including the recent Merger Agreement, there were no indicators that would require goodwill impairment testing during the first quarter of 2016. |