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Litigation
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Colstrip Unit 4 [Member]  
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests  
Litigation Litigation
From time to time, the Company is involved in litigation or legislative rulemaking proceedings relating to its operations in the normal course of business.  The following is a description of pending proceedings that are material to PSE’s operations:

Colstrip
PSE has a 50% ownership interest in Colstrip Units 1 and 2 and a 25% interest in each of Colstrip Units 3 and 4. As part of a settlement that was signed by all Colstrip owners, Colstrip Units 1 and 2 owners, PSE and Talen Energy Corporation (Talen), agreed to retire the two oldest units (Units 1 and 2) at Colstrip no later than July 1, 2022. Depreciation rates were updated in the 2017 GRC, where PSE's depreciation increased for Colstrip Units 1 and 2 to recover plant costs to the expected shutdown date. Additionally, PSE has accelerated the depreciation of Colstrip Units 3 and 4, per the terms of the GRC settlement, to December 31, 2027. The 2017 GRC also repurposed PTCs and hydro-related treasury grants to recover unrecovered plant costs and to fund and recover decommissioning and remediation costs for Colstrip Units 1 through 4. Talen permanently shut down Units 1 and 2 on December 31, 2019.
The Washington Clean Energy Transition Act requires the Washington Commission to provide recovery of the investment, decommissioning, and remediation costs associated with the facilities that are not recovered through the repurposed PTC's and hydro-related treasury grants. The full scope of decommissioning activities and costs may vary from the estimates that are available at this time. Colstrip Unit 4 is classified as Electric Utility Plant on the balance sheet, see Note 6, "Utility Plant," to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this report.
On May 4, 2021, PSE along with the Colstrip owners, Avista Corporation, PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana after Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 265 and 266 into law. The litigation challenged the constitutionality of Senate Bill 266. On October 13, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Montana issued a preliminary injunction finding it likely that Senate Bill 266 unconstitutionally violates the commerce clause of the United States Constitution. Since then, a motion was filed requesting that the findings of the preliminary injunction be made permanent. As of December 31, 2021, the Company is not able to predict the outcome, nor an amount or range of potential impact in the event of an outcome that is adverse to the Company’s interests.

Puget LNG
In January 2018, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) determined a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) was necessary in order to rule on the air quality permit for the facility. In December 2019, PSCAA issued the air quality permit for the facility, a decision which was appealed to the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) by each of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and nonprofit law firm Earthjustice. In November 2021, the PCHB affirmed the PSCAA ruling in PSE's favor. In December 2021, the PCHB decision was appealed with the Pierce County Superior Court by each of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and nonprofit law firm Earthjustice. The appeal did not delay commissioning at the plant, which was completed on February 1, 2022. Puget LNG is expected to commence commercial operations in 2022.

Regional Haze Rule
In January 2017, the EPA published revisions to the Regional Haze Rule. Among other things, these revisions delayed new Regional Haze review from 2018 to 2021, however the end date will remain 2028. In January 2018, the EPA announced that it was reconsidering certain aspects of these revisions and PSE is unable to predict the outcome. Challenges to the 2017 Regional Haze Revision Rule are being held in abeyance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, pending resolution of the EPA’s reconsideration of the rule.

Clean Air Act 111(d)/EPA Affordable Clean Energy Rule
In August 2018, the EPA proposed the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, pursuant to Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. The ACE rule was finalized in June 2019, and establishes emission guidelines for states to develop plans to address greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired plants. On January 19, 2021 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) vacated the ACE rule and remanded the record back to the Agency for further consideration consistent with its opinion, finding that it misinterpreted the Clean Air Act. That matter is now pending before the US Supreme Court.

Washington Clean Air Rule
The Washington Clean Air Rule (CAR) was adopted by the state of Washington’s Department of Ecology in September 2016 and was intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from “covered entities” located within Washington, including large manufacturers, petroleum producers and natural gas utilities, including PSE. In September 2016, PSE, along with Avista Corporation, Cascade Natural Gas Corporation and NW Natural, filed lawsuits in both the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and in the Superior Court of the State of Washington for Thurston County challenging the CAR. In March 2018, the Superior Court of the State of Washington for Thurston County invalidated the CAR. After an appeal by the Washington Department of Ecology, in January 2020, the Washington Supreme Court affirmed that CAR is not valid for “indirect emitters”, meaning it does not apply to the sale of natural gas for use by customers. The court ruled, however, that the rule can be severed and is valid for direct emitters including electric utilities with permitted air emission sources, and remanded the case back to the Thurston County to determine which parts of the rule survive. The Department of Ecology and the four parties asked Thurston County to stay this case until the 2020 Washington State legislative session concluded; the Department of Ecology has asked the court to extend the stay until the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Meanwhile, the four companies moved to voluntarily dismiss the federal court litigation without prejudice in March 2020.
Notably, the Climate Commitment Act, adopted by the state of Washington in 2021, prohibits the Department of Ecology from adopting or enforcing a program that regulates greenhouse gas emissions from a stationary source except as provided in the Act, which could effectively preempt the CAR.