Income Taxes (Table)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

The components of income tax expense from continuing operations for 2016, 2015 and 2014 were as follows:



	2016			2015			2014
	(In thousands)
Current
Federal	$	—		$	—		$	—
State	6,822			7,251			5,527
Deferred
Federal	181,790			175,897			169,106
State	11,766			12,548			12,375
Investment tax credits	(5		)	(6		)	(6		)
	$	200,373		$	195,690		$	187,002

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 2016, 2015 and 2014 are set forth below:



	2016			2015			2014
	(In thousands)
Tax at statutory rate of 35%	$	192,667		$	178,768		$	166,887
Common stock dividends deductible for tax reporting	(2,570		)	(2,413		)	(2,307		)
State taxes (net of federal benefit)	11,504			12,869			11,636
Change in valuation allowance	1,324			4,998			6,969
Other, net	(2,552		)	1,468			3,817
Income tax expense	$	200,373		$	195,690		$	187,002

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, 2016 and 2015 are presented below:



	2016			2015
	(In thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Employee benefit plans	$	122,682		$	121,619
Interest rate agreements	107,782			51,067
Net operating loss carryforwards	514,391			313,224
Charitable and other credit carryforwards	22,273			22,281
Other	23,648			36,695
Total deferred tax assets	790,776			544,886
Valuation allowance	(10,481		)	(10,872		)
Net deferred tax assets	780,295			534,014
Deferred tax liabilities:
Difference in net book value and net tax value of assets	(2,259,278		)	(1,890,886		)
Pension funding	(30,652		)	(35,247		)
Gas cost adjustments	(54,725		)	(43,634		)
Other	(38,696		)	(31,480		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(2,383,351		)	(2,001,247		)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(1,603,056	)	$	(1,467,233	)
Deferred credits for rate regulated entities	$	861		$	412

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Roll Forward

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



	2016			2015
	(In thousands)
Unrecognized tax benefits - beginning balance	$	17,069		$	12,629
Increase (decrease) resulting from prior period tax positions	(290		)	1,009
Increase resulting from current period tax positions	3,519			3,431
Unrecognized tax benefits - ending balance	20,298			17,069
Less: deferred federal and state income tax benefits	(7,104		)	(5,974		)
Total unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would impact the effective income tax rate as of the end of the year	$	13,194		$	11,095