Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefits

Xcel Energy offers various benefit plans to its employees. Approximately 47 percent of employees that receive benefits are represented by several local labor unions under several collective-bargaining agreements. At Dec. 31, 2016:


•	NSP-Minnesota had 1,959 and NSP-Wisconsin had 399 bargaining employees covered under a collective-bargaining agreement, which expires at the end of 2019. NSP-Minnesota also had an additional 253 nuclear operation bargaining employees covered under several collective-bargaining agreements. These agreements expire in 2017, 2018 and 2019.


•	PSCo had 1,984 bargaining employees covered under a collective-bargaining agreement, which expires in May 2017.


•	SPS had 833 bargaining employees covered under a collective-bargaining agreement, which expired in October 2014. While collective bargaining is ongoing, the terms and conditions of the expired agreement are automatically extended.

The plans invest in various instruments which are disclosed under the accounting guidance for fair value measurements which establishes a hierarchical framework for disclosing the observability of the inputs utilized in measuring fair value. The three levels in the hierarchy and examples of each level are as follows:

Level 1 — Quoted prices are available in active markets for identical assets as of the reporting date. The types of assets included in Level 1 are highly liquid and actively traded instruments with quoted prices.

Level 2 — Pricing inputs are other than quoted prices in active markets, but are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reporting date. The types of assets included in Level 2 are typically either comparable to actively traded securities or contracts, or priced with models using highly observable inputs.

Level 3 — Significant inputs to pricing have little or no observability as of the reporting date. The types of assets included in Level 3 are those with inputs requiring significant management judgment or estimation.

Specific valuation methods include the following:

Cash equivalents — The fair values of cash equivalents are generally based on cost plus accrued interest; money market funds are measured using quoted NAVs.

Insurance contracts — Insurance contract fair values take into consideration the value of the investments in separate accounts of the insurer, which are priced based on observable inputs.

Investments in commingled funds, equity securities and other funds — Equity securities are valued using quoted prices in active markets. The fair values for commingled funds are measured using NAVs, which take into consideration the value of underlying fund investments, as well as the other accrued assets and liabilities of a fund, in order to determine a per share market value. The investments in commingled funds may be redeemed for net asset value with proper notice. Proper notice varies by fund and can range from daily with a few days’ notice to annually with 90 days’ notice. Private equity investments require approval of the fund for any unscheduled redemption, and such redemptions may be approved or denied by the fund at its sole discretion. Depending on the fund, unscheduled distributions from real estate investments may require approval of the fund or may be redeemed with proper notice, which is typically quarterly with 45-90 days’ notice; however, withdrawals from real estate investments may be delayed or discounted as a result of fund illiquidity.

Investments in debt securities — Fair values for debt securities are determined by a third party pricing service using recent trades and observable spreads from benchmark interest rates for similar securities.

Derivative Instruments — Fair values for foreign currency derivatives are determined using pricing models based on the prevailing forward exchange rate of the underlying currencies. The fair values of interest rate derivatives are based on broker quotes that utilize current market interest rate forecasts.

Pension Benefits

Xcel Energy has several noncontributory, defined benefit pension plans that cover almost all employees. Generally, benefits are based on a combination of years of service, the employee’s average pay and, in some cases, social security benefits. Xcel Energy’s policy is to fully fund into an external trust the actuarially determined pension costs recognized for ratemaking and financial reporting purposes, subject to the limitations of applicable employee benefit and tax laws.

In addition to the qualified pension plans, Xcel Energy maintains a supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP) and a nonqualified pension plan. The SERP is maintained for certain executives that were participants in the plan in 2008, when the SERP was closed to new participants. The nonqualified pension plan provides unfunded, nonqualified benefits for compensation that is in excess of the limits applicable to the qualified pension plans, with distributions funded by Xcel Energy’s consolidated operating cash flows. The total obligations of the SERP and nonqualified plan as of Dec. 31, 2016 and 2015 were $43.5 million and $41.8 million, respectively. In 2016 and 2015, Xcel Energy recognized net benefit cost for financial reporting for the SERP and nonqualified plans of $7.9 million and $9.5 million, respectively.

In 2016, Xcel Energy established rabbi trusts to provide partial funding for future distributions of the SERP and its deferred compensation plan, supplemented by Xcel Energy’s consolidated operating cash flows as determined necessary. For more information regarding the funding of rabbi trusts, see Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements. Also in 2016, Xcel Energy amended the deferred compensation plan to provide eligible participants the ability to diversify deferred settlements of equity awards, other than time-based equity awards, into various fund options.

Xcel Energy bases the investment-return assumption on expected long-term performance for each of the investment types included in its pension asset portfolio. Xcel Energy considers the historical returns achieved by its asset portfolio over the past 20-year or longer period, as well as the long-term return levels projected and recommended by investment experts. Xcel Energy continually reviews its pension assumptions. The pension cost determination assumes a forecasted mix of investment types over the long-term.


•	Investment returns in 2016 were below the assumed level of 6.87 percent;


•	Investment returns in 2015 were below the assumed level of 7.09 percent;


•	Investment returns in 2014 were above the assumed level of 7.05 percent; and


•	In 2017, Xcel Energy’s expected investment-return assumption is 6.87 percent.

The assets are invested in a portfolio according to Xcel Energy’s return, liquidity and diversification objectives to provide a source of funding for plan obligations and minimize the necessity of contributions to the plan, within appropriate levels of risk. The principal mechanism for achieving these objectives is the projected allocation of assets to selected asset classes, given the long-term risk, return, and liquidity characteristics of each particular asset class. There were no significant concentrations of risk in any particular industry, index, or entity. Market volatility can impact even well-diversified portfolios and significantly affect the return levels achieved by pension assets in any year.

The following table presents the target pension asset allocations for Xcel Energy at Dec. 31 for the upcoming year:



	2016		2015
Domestic and international equity securities	38	%	39	%
Long-duration fixed income and interest rate swap securities	27		27
Short-to-intermediate fixed income securities	16		13
Alternative investments	17		19
Cash	2		2
Total	100	%	100	%

Xcel Energy’s ongoing investment strategy is based on plan-specific investment recommendations that seek to minimize potential investment and interest rate risk as a plan’s funded status increases over time. The investment recommendations result in a greater percentage of long-duration fixed income securities being allocated to specific plans having relatively higher funded status ratios and a greater percentage of growth assets being allocated to plans having relatively lower funded status ratios. The aggregate projected asset allocation presented in the table above for the master pension trust results from the plan-specific strategies.

Pension Plan Assets

The following tables present, for each of the fair value hierarchy levels, Xcel Energy’s pension plan assets that are measured at fair value as of Dec. 31, 2016 and 2015:



	Dec. 31, 2016
(Thousands of Dollars)	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Investments Measured at NAV ^(a)		Total
Cash equivalents	$	112,515	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	112,515
Commingled funds:
U.S. equity funds	—		—		—		490,919		490,919
Non U.S. equity funds	—		—		—		368,866		368,866
U.S. corporate bond funds	—		—		—		268,017		268,017
Emerging market equity funds	—		—		—		194,495		194,495
Emerging market debt funds	—		—		—		163,586		163,586
Commodity funds	—		—		—		21,275		21,275
Private equity investments	—		—		—		100,877		100,877
Real estate	—		—		—		183,608		183,608
Other commingled funds	—		—		—		210,252		210,252
Debt securities:
Government securities	—		363,386		—		—		363,386
U.S. corporate bonds	—		238,077		—		—		238,077
Non U.S. corporate bonds	—		38,218		—		—		38,218
Mortgage-backed securities	—		6,119		—		—		6,119
Asset-backed securities	—		2,898		—		—		2,898
Equity securities:
U.S. equities	89,467		—		—		—		89,467
Other	—		3,238		—		—		3,238
Total	$	201,982	$	651,936	$	—	$	2,001,895	$	2,855,813


^(a)	Based on the requirements of ASU No. 2015-07, investments measured at fair value using a NAV methodology have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy. See Note 2 for further information on the adoption of ASU No. 2015-07.



	Dec. 31, 2015
(Thousands of Dollars)	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Investments Measured at NAV ^(a)		Total
Cash equivalents	$	178,884	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	178,884
Derivatives	—		2,850		—		—		2,850
Commingled funds:
U.S. equity funds	—		—		—		392,738		392,738
Non U.S. equity funds	—		—		—		377,334		377,334
U.S. corporate bond funds	—		—		—		237,370		237,370
Emerging market equity funds	—		—		—		172,116		172,116
Emerging market debt funds	—		—		—		166,222		166,222
Commodity funds	—		—		—		52,132		52,132
Private equity investments	—		—		—		126,396		126,396
Real estate	—		—		—		200,835		200,835
Other commingled funds	—		—		—		216,254		216,254
Debt securities:
Government securities	—		412,932		—		—		412,932
U.S. corporate bonds	—		213,972		—		—		213,972
Non U.S. corporate bonds	—		34,467		—		—		34,467
Asset-backed securities	—		2,446		—		—		2,446
Equity securities:
U.S. equities	93,831		—		—		—		93,831
Other	—		3,001		—		—		3,001
Total	$	272,715	$	669,668	$	—	$	1,941,397	$	2,883,780


^(a)	Based on the requirements of ASU No. 2015-07, investments measured at fair value using a NAV methodology have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy. See Note 2 for further information on the adoption of ASU No. 2015-07.

There were no assets transferred in or out of Level 3 for the years ended Dec. 31, 2016, 2015 or 2014.

Benefit Obligations — A comparison of the actuarially computed pension benefit obligation and plan assets for Xcel Energy is presented in the following table:



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Accumulated Benefit Obligation at Dec. 31	$	3,488,758		$	3,368,239

Change in Projected Benefit Obligation:
Obligation at Jan. 1	$	3,567,927		$	3,746,752
Service cost	91,739			99,311
Interest cost	160,102			148,524
Plan amendments	1,922			—
Actuarial loss (gain)	185,469			(169,678		)
Benefit payments	(325,541		)	(256,982		)
Obligation at Dec. 31	$	3,681,618		$	3,567,927



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Change in Fair Value of Plan Assets:
Fair value of plan assets at Jan. 1	$	2,883,780		$	3,083,771
Actual return (loss) on plan assets	172,359			(33,102		)
Employer contributions	125,215			90,093
Benefit payments	(325,541		)	(256,982		)
Fair value of plan assets at Dec. 31	$	2,855,813		$	2,883,780



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Funded Status of Plans at Dec. 31:
Funded status^(a)	$	(825,805	)	$	(684,147	)


^(a)	Amounts are recognized in noncurrent liabilities on Xcel Energy’s consolidated balance sheets.



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Amounts Not Yet Recognized as Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost:
Net loss	$	1,835,966		$	1,710,097
Prior service credit	(5,232		)	(9,073		)
Total	$	1,830,734		$	1,701,024



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016		2015
Amounts Not Yet Recognized as Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost Have Been Recorded as Follows Based Upon Expected Recovery in Rates:
Current regulatory assets	$	101,426	$	105,426
Noncurrent regulatory assets	1,649,482		1,520,975
Deferred income taxes	31,032		29,002
Net-of-tax accumulated OCI	48,794		45,621
Total	$	1,830,734	$	1,701,024



Measurement date	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015



	2016		2015
Significant Assumptions Used to Measure Benefit Obligations:
Discount rate for year-end valuation	4.13	%	4.66	%
Expected average long-term increase in compensation level	3.75		4.00
Mortality table	RP-2014		RP-2014

Mortality — In 2014, the Society of Actuaries published a new mortality table (RP-2014) and projection scale (MP-2014) that increased the overall life expectancy of males and females. On Dec. 31, 2014 Xcel Energy adopted the RP-2014 table, with modifications, based on its population and specific experience and a modified MP-2014 projection scale. During 2016, a new projection table was released (MP-2016). In 2016, Xcel Energy adopted a modified version of the MP-2016 table and will continue to utilize the RP-2014 base table, modified for company experience.

Cash Flows — Cash funding requirements can be impacted by changes to actuarial assumptions, actual asset levels and other calculations prescribed by the funding requirements of income tax and other pension-related regulations. Required contributions were made in 2014 through 2017 to meet minimum funding requirements.

Total voluntary and required pension funding contributions across all four of Xcel Energy’s pension plans were as follows:


•	$150.0 million in January 2017;


•	$125.2 million in 2016;


•	$90.1 million in 2015; and


•	$130.6 million in 2014.

For future years, Xcel Energy anticipates contributions will be made as necessary.

Plan Amendments — The 2016 increase in the projected benefit obligation resulted from a change in the discount rate basis for lump sum conversion to annuity participants and annuity conversion to lump sum participants in the Xcel Energy Pension Plan. Additionally, the annual credits contributed to the PSCo Bargaining Plan retirement spending account increased. In 2015, there were no plan amendments made which affected the projected benefit obligation.

Benefit Costs — The components of Xcel Energy’s net periodic pension cost were:



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015			2014
Service cost	$	91,739		$	99,311		$	88,342
Interest cost	160,102			148,524			156,619
Expected return on plan assets	(210,299		)	(213,890		)	(207,205		)
Amortization of prior service credit	(1,919		)	(1,805		)	(1,746		)
Amortization of net loss	97,539			125,152			116,762
Net periodic pension cost	137,162			157,292			152,772
Costs not recognized due to effects of regulation	(15,459		)	(29,633		)	(26,315		)
Net benefit cost recognized for financial reporting	$	121,703		$	127,659		$	126,457



	2016		2015		2014
Significant Assumptions Used to Measure Costs:
Discount rate	4.66	%	4.11	%	4.75	%
Expected average long-term increase in compensation level	4.00		3.75		3.75
Expected average long-term rate of return on assets	6.87		7.09		7.05

Pension costs include an expected return impact for the current year that may differ from actual investment performance in the plan. The return assumption used for 2017 pension cost calculations is 6.87 percent.

Defined Contribution Plans

Xcel Energy maintains 401(k) and other defined contribution plans that cover substantially all employees. Total expense to these plans was approximately $35.8 million in 2016, $34.1 million in 2015 and $32.4 million in 2014.

Postretirement Health Care Benefits

Xcel Energy has a contributory health and welfare benefit plan that provides health care and death benefits to certain Xcel Energy retirees.


•	NSP-Minnesota and NSP-Wisconsin discontinued contributing toward health care benefits for nonbargaining employees retiring after 1998 and for bargaining employees who retired after 1999.


•	Xcel Energy discontinued contributing toward health care benefits for PSCo and SPS, nonbargaining employees retiring after June 30, 2003.


•	Employees of NCE who retired in 2002 continue to receive employer-subsidized health care benefits.


•	Nonbargaining employees of the former NCE who retired after 1998, bargaining employees of the former NCE who retired after 1999 and nonbargaining employees of NCE who retired after June 30, 2003, are eligible to participate in the Xcel Energy health care program with no employer subsidy.

Plan Assets — Certain state agencies that regulate Xcel Energy Inc.’s utility subsidiaries also have issued guidelines related to the funding of postretirement benefit costs. SPS is required to fund postretirement benefit costs for Texas and New Mexico jurisdictional amounts collected in rates. PSCo is required to fund postretirement benefit costs in irrevocable external trusts that are dedicated to the payment of these postretirement benefits. These assets are invested in a manner consistent with the investment strategy for the pension plan.

The following table presents the target postretirement asset allocations for Xcel Energy at Dec. 31 for the upcoming year:



	2016		2015
Domestic and international equity securities	25	%	25	%
Short-to-intermediate fixed income securities	57		57
Alternative investments	13		13
Cash	5		5
Total	100	%	100	%

Xcel Energy bases its investment-return assumption for the postretirement health care fund assets on expected long-term performance for each of the investment types included in its asset portfolio. The assets are invested in a portfolio according to Xcel Energy’s return, liquidity and diversification objectives to provide a source of funding for plan obligations and minimize the necessity of contributions to the plan, within appropriate levels of risk. The principal mechanism for achieving these objectives is the projected allocation of assets to selected asset classes, given the long-term risk, return, correlation and liquidity characteristics of each particular asset class. There were no significant concentrations of risk in any particular industry, index, or entity. Market volatility can impact even well-diversified portfolios and significantly affect the return levels achieved by postretirement health care assets in any year.

The following tables present, for each of the fair value hierarchy levels, Xcel Energy’s postretirement benefit plan assets that are measured at fair value as of Dec. 31, 2016 and 2015:



	Dec. 31, 2016
(Thousands of Dollars)	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Investments Measured at NAV ^(a)		Total
Cash equivalents	$	20,545	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	20,545
Insurance contracts	—		47,233		—		—		47,233
Commingled funds:
U.S. equity funds	—		—		—		54,440		54,440
U.S fixed income funds	—		—		—		27,109		27,109
Emerging market debt funds	—		—		—		30,431		30,431
Other commingled funds	—		—		—		54,957		54,957
Debt securities:
Government securities	—		37,745		—		—		37,745
U.S. corporate bonds	—		62,317		—		—		62,317
Non U.S. corporate bonds	—		17,281		—		—		17,281
Asset-backed securities	—		18,922		—		—		18,922
Mortgage-backed securities	—		28,717		—		—		28,717
Equity securities:
Non U.S. equities	40,960		—		—		—		40,960
Other	—		1,448		—		—		1,448
Total	$	61,505	$	213,663	$	—	$	166,937	$	442,105


^(a)	Based on the requirements of ASU No. 2015-07, investments measured at fair value using a NAV methodology have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy. See Note 2 for further information on the adoption of ASU No. 2015-07.



	Dec. 31, 2015
(Thousands of Dollars)	Level 1		Level 2			Level 3		Investments Measured at NAV ^(a)		Total
Cash equivalents	$	19,638	$	—		$	—	$	—	$	19,638
Insurance contracts	—		47,205			—		—		47,205
Commingled funds:
U.S. equity funds	—		—			—		38,202		38,202
Non U.S. equity funds	—		—			—		33,596		33,596
U.S fixed income funds	—		—			—		24,248		24,248
Emerging market equity funds	—		—			—		11,096		11,096
Emerging market debt funds	—		—			—		35,667		35,667
Other commingled funds	—		—			—		61,973		61,973
Debt securities:
Government securities	—		39,241			—		—		39,241
U.S. corporate bonds	—		59,879			—		—		59,879
Non U.S. corporate bonds	—		12,997			—		—		12,997
Asset-backed securities	—		28,691			—		—		28,691
Mortgage-backed securities	—		35,612			—		—		35,612
Other	—		(412		)	—		—		(412		)
Total	$	19,638	$	223,213		$	—	$	204,782	$	447,633


^(a)	Based on the requirements of ASU No. 2015-07, investments measured at fair value using a NAV methodology have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy. See Note 2 for further information on the adoption of ASU No. 2015-07.

There were no assets transferred in or out of Level 3 for the years ended Dec. 31, 2016, 2015 or 2014.

Benefit Obligations — A comparison of the actuarially computed benefit obligation and plan assets for Xcel Energy is presented in the following table:



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Change in Projected Benefit Obligation:
Obligation at Jan. 1	$	584,267		$	642,869
Service cost	1,727			2,116
Interest cost	26,107			25,297
Medicare subsidy reimbursements	2,058			1,958
Plan participants’ contributions	6,896			6,718
Actuarial loss (gain)	32,954			(45,793		)
Benefit payments	(50,925		)	(48,898		)
Obligation at Dec. 31	$	603,084		$	584,267



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Change in Fair Value of Plan Assets:
Fair value of plan assets at Jan. 1	$	447,633		$	475,058
Actual return (loss) on plan assets	20,555			(3,570		)
Plan participants’ contributions	6,896			6,718
Employer contributions	17,946			18,325
Benefit payments	(50,925		)	(48,898		)
Fair value of plan assets at Dec. 31	$	442,105		$	447,633



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Funded Status of Plans at Dec. 31:
Funded status	$	(160,979	)	$	(136,634	)
Noncurrent assets	437			1,820
Current liabilities	(6,395		)	(7,495		)
Noncurrent liabilities	(155,021		)	(130,959		)
Net postretirement amounts recognized on consolidated balance sheets	$	(160,979	)	$	(136,634	)



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Amounts Not Yet Recognized as Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost:
Net loss	$	136,391		$	103,039
Prior service credit	(54,239		)	(64,925		)
Total	$	82,152		$	38,114



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015
Amounts Not Yet Recognized as Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost Have Been Recorded as Follows Based Upon Expected Recovery in Rates:
Current regulatory assets	$	247		$	352
Noncurrent regulatory assets	90,990			50,135
Current regulatory liabilities	(1,004		)	(985		)
Noncurrent regulatory liabilities	(14,221		)	(16,916		)
Deferred income taxes	2,387			2,148
Net-of-tax accumulated OCI	3,753			3,380
Total	$	82,152		$	38,114



Measurement date	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015



	2016		2015
Significant Assumptions Used to Measure Benefit Obligations:
Discount rate for year-end valuation	4.13	%	4.65	%
Mortality table	RP 2014		RP 2014
Health care costs trend rate — initial	5.50	%	6.00	%

Effective Jan. 1, 2017, the initial medical trend rate was decreased from 6.0 percent to 5.5 percent. The ultimate trend assumption remained at 4.5 percent. The period until the ultimate rate is reached is two years. Xcel Energy bases its medical trend assumption on the long-term cost inflation expected in the health care market, considering the levels projected and recommended by industry experts, as well as recent actual medical cost increases experienced by Xcel Energy’s retiree medical plan.

A one-percent change in the assumed health care cost trend rate would have the following effects on Xcel Energy:



	One-Percentage Point
(Thousands of Dollars)	Increase		Decrease
APBO	$	57,329	$	(48,831	)
Service and interest components	2,926		(2,477		)

Cash Flows — The postretirement health care plans have no funding requirements under income tax and other retirement-related regulations other than fulfilling benefit payment obligations, when claims are presented and approved under the plans. Additional cash funding requirements are prescribed by certain state and federal rate regulatory authorities. Xcel Energy contributed $17.9 million during 2016, $18.3 million during 2015, $17.1 million during 2014 and expects to contribute approximately $11.8 million during 2017.

Plan Amendments — In 2016 and 2015, there were no plan amendments made which affected the benefit obligation.

Benefit Costs — The components of Xcel Energy’s net periodic postretirement benefit costs were:



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016			2015			2014
Service cost	$	1,727		$	2,116		$	3,457
Interest cost	26,107			25,297			34,028
Expected return on plan assets	(24,995		)	(26,600		)	(33,954		)
Amortization of prior service credit	(10,686		)	(10,686		)	(10,688		)
Amortization of net loss	4,042			5,404			11,740
Net periodic postretirement benefit (credit) cost	$	(3,805	)	$	(4,469	)	$	4,583



	2016		2015		2014
Significant Assumptions Used to Measure Costs:
Discount rate	4.65	%	4.08	%	4.82	%
Expected average long-term rate of return on assets	5.80		5.80		7.17

Projected Benefit Payments

The following table lists Xcel Energy’s projected benefit payments for the pension and postretirement benefit plans:



(Thousands of Dollars)	Projected Pension Benefit Payments		Gross Projected Postretirement Health Care Benefit Payments		Expected Medicare Part D Subsidies		Net Projected Postretirement Health Care Benefit Payments
2017	$	276,123	$	49,245	$	2,245	$	47,000
2018	260,252		48,322		2,371		45,951
2019	266,823		47,497		2,485		45,012
2020	270,677		47,640		2,575		45,065
2021	270,119		46,865		2,672		44,193
2022-2026	1,321,308		215,956		14,750		201,206

Multiemployer Plans

NSP-Minnesota and NSP-Wisconsin each contribute to several union multiemployer pension and other postretirement benefit plans, none of which are individually significant. These plans provide pension and postretirement health care benefits to certain union employees, including electrical workers, boilermakers, and other construction and facilities workers who may perform services for more than one employer during a given period and do not participate in the NSP-Minnesota and NSP-Wisconsin sponsored pension and postretirement health care plans. Contributing to these types of plans creates risk that differs from providing benefits under NSP-Minnesota and NSP-Wisconsin sponsored plans, in that if another participating employer ceases to contribute to a multiemployer plan, additional unfunded obligations may need to be funded over time by remaining participating employers.

Contributions to multiemployer plans were as follows for the years ended Dec. 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014. The average number of NSP-Minnesota union employees covered by the multiemployer pension plans decreased to approximately 700 in 2016 from 900 in 2015. There were no other significant changes to the nature or magnitude of the participation of NSP-Minnesota and NSP-Wisconsin in multiemployer plans for the years presented:



(Thousands of Dollars)	2016		2015		2014
Multiemployer pension contributions:
NSP-Minnesota	$	13,843	$	17,223	$	20,254
NSP-Wisconsin	707		944		156
Total	$	14,550	$	18,167	$	20,410
Multiemployer other postretirement benefit contributions:
NSP-Minnesota	$	86	$	135	$	273
Total	$	86	$	135	$	273