Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Disclosure Pension And Other Postretirement Benefits [Abstract]

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

8. Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Costs

The following tables provide the components of net periodic benefit cost for our company-sponsored qualified and non-qualified defined benefit pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans:

	Three Months Ended Three Months Ended September 30,
							Other Postretirement
	Pension Benefits						Benefits
Thousands	2012			2011			2012			2011
Service cost	$	2,130		$	1,839		$	177		$	168
Interest cost	4,303			4,503			314			344
Expected return on plan assets	(4,637		)	(4,455		)	—			—
Amortization of net actuarial loss	3,844			2,683			103			68
Amortization of prior service costs	48			88			50			50
Amortization of transition obligations	—			—			103			103
Net periodic benefit cost	5,688			4,658			747			733
Amount allocated to construction	(1,676		)	(1,279		)	(252		)	(234		)
Amount deferred to regulatory balancing account(1)	(2,111		)	(1,330		)	—			—
Net amount charged to expense	$	1,901		$	2,049		$	495		$	499

	Six Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30,
							Other Postretirement
	Pension Benefits						Benefits
Thousands	2012			2011			2012			2011
Service cost	$	6,390		$	5,638		$	531		$	504
Interest cost	12,911			13,556			943			1,031
Expected return on plan assets	(13,914		)	(13,367		)	—			—
Amortization of net actuarial loss	11,531			8,067			309			204
Amortization of prior service costs	146			264			148			148
Amortization of transition obligations	—			—			309			309
Net periodic benefit cost	17,064			14,158			2,240			2,196
Amount allocated to construction	(4,522		)	(3,765		)	(681		)	(689		)
Amount deferred to regulatory balancing account(1)	(6,273		)	(3,989		)	—			—
Net amount charged to expense	$	6,269		$	6,404		$	1,559		$	1,507

⁽¹⁾ Effective January 1, 2011, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) approved the deferral of certain pension expenses above or below the amount set in rates, with recovery of these deferred amounts through the implementation of a balancing account, which includes the expectation of lower net periodic benefit costs in future years. Deferred pension expense balances include accrued interest at the utility’s authorized rate of return. See "Regulatory Accounting" in Note 2.

Employer Contributions to Company-Sponsored Defined Benefit Pension Plans

In the nine months ended September 30, 2012, we made cash contributions totaling $23.5 million to our qualified defined benefit pension plans.  In July 2012, Congress passed the "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act" (MAP-21), which among other things includes a method of stabilizing interest rate assumptions and has the effect of reducing short-term minimum funding requirements but increasing operational costs of running a pension plan. We are evaluating the impact of MAP-21 on contribution requirements to our qualified pension plans and will update our funding estimates in future filings.

Multiemployer Pension Plan

In addition to the company-sponsored defined benefit pension plans referred to above, we contribute to a defined benefit multiemployer pension plan (EIN 94-6076144) for our utility’s bargaining unit employees, known as the Western States Office and Professional Employees Pension Fund (Western States Plan).  The cost of this plan is in addition to pension expense presented in the table above.  Our contributions to the Western States Plan amounted to $0.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011.  Under the terms of our current collective bargaining agreement, we can withdraw from the Western States Plan at any time. However, if we withdraw and the plan is underfunded, we could be assessed a withdrawal liability.  We do not recognize a liability currently for the Western States Plan because we have made no decision to withdraw from the plan.

Defined Contribution Plan

The Retirement K Savings Plan provided to our employees is a qualified defined contribution plan under Internal Revenue Code Section 401(k).  Our contributions to this plan totaled $1.7 million and $1.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

See Note 9 in the 2011 Form 10-K for more information about these plans.