This instructional case introduces students to the issues surrounding the recognition and disclosure of asset retirement obligations and loss contingencies by examining the actual management decisions of two Southern energy companies facing increased regulatory scrutiny over the environmental risks associated with coal ash. We have found that the case sparks student interest in this topic area and initiates a robust discussion of the challenges of managing and disclosing environmental risks more generally. The Teaching Notes below offer facilitation guidance for an in-class discussion of each of the case requirements and an epilogue that instructors may wish to share with students at the end of their class discussion. Appendix A also includes a grading rubric to help instructors evaluate student responses to each of the case requirement questions.
The first case requirement helps students practice searching the Codification and asks students to summarize the accounting treatments for the recognition and disclosure...
