Regulatory assets and liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Regulatory Assets and Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]

Regulatory Assets and Liabilities

The following table summarizes the individual components of unamortized regulatory assets and liabilities as of December 31:



	Estimated Recovery Period	*	2019			2018
			(In thousands)
Regulatory assets:
Pension and postretirement benefits (a)	(e)		$	157,069		$	165,898
Natural gas costs recoverable through rate adjustments (a) (b)	Up to 3 years		89,204			42,652
Asset retirement obligations (a)	Over plant lives		66,000			60,097
Plants to be retired (a)	-		32,931			—
Cost recovery mechanisms (a) (b)	Up to 3 years		19,396			17,948
Manufactured gas plant sites remediation (a)	-		15,347			17,068
Taxes recoverable from customers (a)	Over plant lives		11,486			11,946
Conservation programs (a) (b)	Up to 3 years		7,405			7,494
Long-term debt refinancing costs (a)	Up to 18 years		4,286			4,898
Costs related to identifying generation development (a)	Up to 7 years		2,052			2,508
Other (a) (b)	Up to 19 years		12,221			9,608
Total regulatory assets			$	417,397		$	340,117
Regulatory liabilities:
Taxes refundable to customers (c) (d)			$	249,506		$	277,833
Plant removal and decommissioning costs (c)			173,722			173,143
Natural gas costs refundable through rate adjustments (d)			23,825			29,995
Pension and postretirement benefits (c)			18,065			15,264
Other (c) (d)			25,187			25,197
Total regulatory liabilities			$	490,305		$	521,432
Net regulatory position			$	(72,908	)	$	(181,315	)


*	Estimated recovery period for regulatory assets currently being recovered in rates charged to customers.


(a)	Included in deferred charges and other assets - other on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.


(b)	Included in prepayments and other current assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.


(c)	Included in deferred credits and other liabilities - other on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.


(d)	Included in other accrued liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.


(e)	Recovered as expense is incurred or cash contributions are made.

The regulatory assets are expected to be recovered in rates charged to customers. A portion of the Company's regulatory assets are not earning a return; however, these regulatory assets are expected to be recovered from customers in future rates. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, approximately $276.5 million and $313.5 million, respectively, of regulatory assets were not earning a rate of return.

During the first quarter of 2019 and the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company experienced increased natural gas costs in certain jurisdictions where it supplies natural gas. The Company has recorded these natural gas costs as regulatory assets as they are expected to be recovered from customers, as discussed in Note 19.

In February 2019, the Company announced that it intends to retire three aging coal-fired electric generating units in early 2021 and early 2022. The Company has accelerated the depreciation related to these facilities in property, plant and equipment and has recorded the difference between the accelerated depreciation, in accordance with GAAP, and the depreciation approved for rate-making purposes as regulatory assets. The Company expects to recover the regulatory assets related to the plants to be retired in future rates.

If, for any reason, the Company's regulated businesses cease to meet the criteria for application of regulatory accounting for all or part of their operations, the regulatory assets and liabilities relating to those portions ceasing to meet such criteria would be removed from the balance sheet and included in the statement of income or accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the period in which the discontinuance of regulatory accounting occurs.