Income Taxes (Table)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

The components of income tax expense from continuing operations for 2015, 2014 and 2013 were as follows:



	2015			2014			2013
	(In thousands)
Current
Federal	$	—		$	—		$	—
State	7,251			5,527			8,178
Deferred
Federal	175,897			169,106			124,836
State	12,548			12,375			9,605
Investment tax credits	(6		)	(6		)	(20		)
	$	195,690		$	187,002		$	142,599

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

Reconciliations of the provision for income taxes computed at the statutory rate to the reported provisions for income taxes from continuing operations for 2015, 2014 and 2013 are set forth below:



	2015			2014			2013
	(In thousands)
Tax at statutory rate of 35%	$	178,768		$	166,887		$	130,655
Common stock dividends deductible for tax reporting	(2,413		)	(2,307		)	(2,153		)
State taxes (net of federal benefit)	12,869			11,636			11,559
Change in valuation allowance	4,998			6,969			1,085
Other, net	1,468			3,817			1,453
Income tax expense	$	195,690		$	187,002		$	142,599

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The tax effect of temporary differences that gave rise to significant components of the deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets at September 30, 2015 and 2014 are presented below:



	2015			2014
	(In thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Employee benefit plans	$	121,619		$	116,157
Interest rate agreements	51,067			10,565
Net operating loss carryforwards	313,224			236,626
Charitable and other credit carryforwards	22,281			21,614
Other	36,695			28,849
Total deferred tax assets	544,886			413,811
Valuation allowance	(10,872		)	(6,969		)
Net deferred tax assets	534,014			406,842
Deferred tax liabilities:
Difference in net book value and net tax value of assets	(1,890,886		)	(1,655,894		)
Pension funding	(35,247		)	(17,890		)
Gas cost adjustments	(43,634		)	(31,252		)
Other	(31,480		)	(37,173		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(2,001,247		)	(1,742,209		)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(1,467,233	)	$	(1,335,367	)
Deferred credits for rate regulated entities	$	412		$	(109	)

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Roll Forward

The following table reconciles the beginning and ending balance of our unrecognized tax benefits:



	2015			2014
	(In thousands)
Unrecognized tax benefits - beginning balance	$	12,629		$	4,158
Increase resulting from prior period tax positions	1,009			3,846
Increase resulting from current period tax positions	3,431			4,625
Unrecognized tax benefits - ending balance	17,069			12,629
Accrued interest and penalties	820			411
Gross unrecognized tax benefits	17,889			13,040
Less: deferred federal and state income tax benefits	(6,261		)	(4,564		)
Total unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would impact the effective income tax rate as of the end of the year	$	11,628		$	8,476