Regulatory Accounting:

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Regulatory Assets and Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]

REGULATORY ACCOUNTING

We had the following regulatory assets and liabilities (in thousands) as of:



	March 31, 2019			December 31, 2018			March 31, 2018
Regulatory assets
Deferred energy and fuel cost adjustments ^(a)	$	35,512		$	29,661		$	25,056
Deferred gas cost adjustments ^(a)	5,124			3,362			2,118
Gas price derivatives ^(a)	3,939			6,201			11,045
Deferred taxes on AFUDC^(b)	7,771			7,841			7,808
Employee benefit plans ^(c)	111,724			110,524			109,999
Environmental^(a)	945			959			1,012
Loss on reacquired debt^(a)	20,570			21,001			20,267
Renewable energy standard adjustment ^(a)	1,533			1,722			1,600
Deferred taxes on flow through accounting^(c)	33,226			31,044			28,014
Decommissioning costs ^(b)	11,694			11,700			12,552
Gas supply contract termination ^(a)	12,866			14,310			18,590
Other regulatory assets^(a)	41,803			45,910			29,171
Total regulatory assets	286,707			284,235			267,232
Less current regulatory assets	(54,303		)	(48,776		)	(54,492		)
Regulatory assets, non-current	$	232,404		$	235,459		$	212,740

Regulatory liabilities
Deferred energy and gas costs^(a)	$	19,018		$	6,991		$	20,194
Employee benefit plan costs and related deferred taxes^(c)	42,207			42,533			40,332
Cost of removal^(a)	154,170			150,123			139,002
Excess deferred income taxes ^(c)	307,894			310,562			310,622
TCJA revenue reserve	16,549			18,032			15,239
Other regulatory liabilities^(c)	17,421			12,553			12,472
Total regulatory liabilities	557,259			540,794			537,861
Less current regulatory liabilities	(45,777		)	(29,810		)	(42,499		)
Regulatory liabilities, non-current	$	511,482		$	510,984		$	495,362

__________


(a)	We are allowed recovery of costs, but we are not allowed a rate of return.


(b)	In addition to recovery of costs, we are allowed a rate of return.


(c)	In addition to recovery or repayment of costs, we are allowed a return on a portion of this amount or a reduction in rate base.

Regulatory Matters

Except as discussed below, there have been no other significant changes to our Regulatory Matters from those previously disclosed in Note 13 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in our 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Regulatory Activity

Nebraska

On March 29, 2019, Nebraska Gas filed an application with the NPSC requesting to merge its two gas distribution utilities into a new public utility entity. The filing also requests to merge the terms and conditions of the existing tariffs of the two utilities into a single tariff.

Wyoming

On March 6, 2019, Wyoming Gas filed an application with the WPSC requesting to merge its four gas distribution utilities into a new public utility entity. The filing also requests the new entity adopt the terms and conditions of the existing tariffs.

Colorado

On February 1, 2019, Colorado Gas filed a rate review with the CPUC requesting approval to consolidate the base rate areas, tariffs, terms and conditions and adjustment clauses of its two legacy utilities. The rate review also requests $2.5 million in new revenue to recover costs and investments in safety, reliability and system integrity.