Pension and Other Postretirement Employee Benefits

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Retirement Benefits, Description [Abstract]

Pension and Other Postretirement Employee Benefits

NOTE 11. PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

In March 2022 we transferred $75.6 million of our qualified pension plan (the Plan) assets to an insurance company for the purchase of a group annuity contract. As a result of the transaction, the insurance company assumed responsibility for annuity administration and benefit payments to select retirees and terminated vested participants, with no change to participants' pension benefits. In connection with this transaction we recorded a non-cash pretax settlement charge of $14.2 million as a result of accelerating the recognition of actuarial losses included in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) that would have been recognized in future periods.

The settlement triggered a remeasurement of the Plan's assets and liabilities. We updated the discount rate used to measure our projected benefit obligation for the Plan as of March 31, 2022, and to calculate the related net periodic benefit cost for the remainder of 2022 to 3.95% from 3.00%. All other pension assumptions remain unchanged. The net effect of the remeasurement was a $6.2 million reduction in the funded status of the Plan, primarily driven by lower returns on Plan assets. This change in funded status was reflected in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2022.

The following table details the components of net periodic cost (benefit) of our pension plans and other postretirement employee benefits (OPEB):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	Pension						OPEB
(in thousands)	2022			2021			2022			2021
Service cost	$	1,849		$	2,045		$	79		$	168
Interest cost		2,812			2,633			229			317
Expected return on plan assets		(3,145	)		(3,382	)		—			—
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)		18			21			156			(298	)
Amortization of actuarial loss (gain)		1,954			3,578			(95	)		545
Net periodic cost before pension settlement charge		3,488			4,895			369			732
Pension settlement charge		14,165			—			—			—
Total net periodic cost	$	17,653		$	4,895		$	369		$	732

During the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, funding of pension and other postretirement employee benefit plans was $1.3 million and $1.4 million, respectively.