Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Disclosure Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Text Block

2.Significant Accounting Policies Update

Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 of the 2011 Form 10-K. There were no material changes to those accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2012. The following are current updates to certain critical accounting policy estimates and subsequent events of the Company, and to accounting standards in general.

Regulatory Accounting

In applying regulatory accounting principles in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP), we capitalize or defer certain costs and revenues as regulatory assets and liabilities. At March 31, 2012 and 2011 and at December 31, 2011, the amounts deferred as regulatory assets and liabilities were as follows:

			Regulatory Assets
			March 31,		March 31,		December 31,
Thousands			2012		2011		2011
Current:
	Unrealized loss on derivatives(1)	$	53,697	$	25,655	$	57,317
	Pension and other postretirement benefit liabilities(2)		15,491		10,988		15,491
	Other(3)		21,302		11,552		21,865
Total current		$	90,490	$	48,195	$	94,673
Non-current:
	Unrealized loss on derivatives(1)	$	3,947	$	13,914	$	6,536
	Income tax asset		63,452		70,241		65,264
	Pension and other postretirement benefit liabilities(2)		166,639		115,490		170,512
	Environmental costs(4)		112,297		117,544		105,670
	Other(3)		22,186		28,263		23,410
Total non-current		$	368,521	$	345,452	$	371,392

			Regulatory Liabilities
			March 31,		March 31,		December 31,
Thousands			2012		2011		2011
Current:
	Gas costs	$	35,584	$	14,144	$	17,994
	Unrealized gain on derivatives(1)		1,824		4,861		2,853
	Other(3)		12,933		10,011		10,199
Total current		$	50,341	$	29,016	$	31,046
Non-current:
	Gas costs	$	14,462	$	3,932	$	8,420
	Unrealized gain on derivatives(1)		52		1,560		-
	Accrued asset removal costs		270,837		256,203		267,355
	Other(3)		2,780		2,181		2,607
Total non-current		$	288,131	$	263,876	$	278,382

• Unrealized gain and loss on derivatives does not earn a rate of return or a carrying charge.  These amounts are recoverable through utility rates as part of the annual Purchased Gas Adjustment mechanism when realized at settlement.
• Certain pension and other postretirement benefit liabilities of the utility are approved for regulatory deferral, including amounts recorded to the pension cost balancing account to mitigate the effects of higher and lower pension expenses.  Such deferred amounts earn a rate of return or carrying charge (see Note 8).
• Other primarily consists of deferrals and amortizations under other approved regulatory mechanisms.  The accounts being amortized typically earn a rate of return or carrying charge.
• Environmental costs are related to those sites that are approved for regulatory deferral.  In Oregon, we earn a rate of return on amounts paid, whereas amounts accrued but not yet paid do not earn a rate of return or a carrying charge until expended. Environmental costs related to Washington were deferred beginning in 2011, with cost recovery and carrying charge to be determined in a future proceeding.

Subsequent Events

There are no subsequent events to report for the period ended March 31, 2012.

New Accounting Standards Update

Adopted Standards

Comprehensive Income. In June 2011, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on the presentation of comprehensive income within the financial statements. An entity can elect to present items of net income and other comprehensive income in one continuous statement—referred to as the statement of comprehensive income—or in two separate, but consecutive, statements. These changes were effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2011. We elected to present net income and other comprehensive income in one continuous statement, “Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.”

Multiemployer Pension Plans.In September 2011, the FASB issued authoritative guidance regarding multiemployer pension plan disclosures. The revised standard is intended to provide more information about an employer's financial obligations to a multiemployer pension plan and, therefore, help financial statement users better understand the financial health of all significant plans in which the employer participates. The updated guidance was effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2011, and we elected to early adopted the guidance in our 2011 Form 10-K. Please see Note 9 in our 2011 Form 10-K for more detail.

Fair Value Measurement. In May 2011, the FASB issued amendments to the authoritative guidance on fair value measurement. The amendments are primarily related to disclosure requirements for Level 3 fair value assets and were effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on our financial statement disclosures.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Balance Sheet Offsetting. In December 2011, the FASB issued authoritative guidance regarding the offsetting of assets and liabilities on the balance sheet. The revised standard is intended to provide more comparable guidance between the U.S. GAAP and international accounting standards by requiring entities to disclose both gross and net amounts for assets and liabilities offset on the balance sheet as well as other disclosures concerning their enforceable master netting arrangements. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2013, and we are currently assessing the impact on our financial statement disclosures.