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Regulatory Assets and Liabilities
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]  
Schedule of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Text Block] REGULATORY ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
The majority of PGE’s regulatory assets and liabilities are reflected in customer prices and are amortized over the period in which they are reflected in customer prices. Items not currently reflected in prices are pending before the regulatory body as discussed below.

Regulatory assets and liabilities consist of the following (dollars in millions):
Remaining Amortization PeriodAs of December 31,
20212020
Earning a Return (1)
Not Earning a ReturnTotalTotal
Regulatory assets:
Price risk management
(2)
$— $55 $55 $124 
Pension plan
(3)
— 131 131 240 
Debt issuance costs 2049— 23 23 25 
Trojan decommissioning activities 2059— 90 90 95 
February 2021 ice storm and damage
(4)
67 — 67 — 
Power cost adjustment mechanism
(5)
29 — 29 — 
2020 Labor Day wildfire
(4)
45 — 45 15 
COVID-19
(4)
36 — 36 10 
Other Various58 23 81 83 
Total regulatory assets$235 $322 $557 $592 
Regulatory liabilities:
Asset retirement removal costs
(6)
$1,047 $— $1,047 $1,016 
Deferred income taxes
(7)
208 — 208 239 
Asset retirement obligations
(6)
43 — 43 37 
Price risk management
(2)
— 55 55 18 
OtherVarious57 56 113 82 
Total regulatory liabilities$1,355 $111 $1,466 $1,392 
(1)Earning a return includes either interest on the regulatory asset or liability, or inclusion of the regulatory asset or liability as an increase or decrease to rate base at the allowed rate of return.
(2)No amortization period in accordance with ratemaking and cost recovery processes authorized by the OPUC, PGE recognizes a regulatory asset or liability to defer unrealized losses or gains on derivative instruments until settlement.
(3)Recovery expected over the average service life of employees.
(4)Amortization period not yet determined.
(5)Amortization period not yet determined. A final determination regarding the 2021 PCAM results will be made by the OPUC through a public filing and review in 2022. The OPUC has significant discretion in making the final determination of recovery. The OPUC’s conclusion of overall prudence, including an earnings review, could result in a portion, or all, of PGE’s deferral being disallowed for recovery. Such disallowance would be recognized as a charge to earnings.
(6)Recovery or refund expected over the estimated lives of the underlying assets and treated as a reduction to rate base.
(7)Refund expected primarily through amortization using the average rate assumption method over the average life of the underlying assets and treated as a reduction to rate base.

Price risk management represents the difference between the net unrealized losses recognized on derivative instruments related to price risk management activities and their realization and subsequent recovery in customer prices. For further information regarding assets and liabilities from price risk management activities, see Note 6, Risk Management.

Pension and other postretirement plans represents unrecognized components of the benefit plans’ funded status, which are recoverable in customer prices when recognized in net periodic pension and postretirement benefit costs. For further information, see Note 11, Employee Benefits.
 
Debt issuance costs represents unrecognized debt issuance costs related to debt instruments retired prior to the stipulated maturity date.

Trojan decommissioning activities represents the deferral of ongoing costs and adjustments to the Trojan ARO associated with monitoring spent nuclear fuel at Trojan, net of amortization of customer collections. In addition, proceeds received from the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) for the reimbursement of costs to monitor the ISFSI is deferred and offsets customer collections.

February 2021 ice storm and damage represent the costs not previously included for recovery in customer prices related to major storm damage incurred during the twelve months ended December 31, 2021. Such costs were incurred to repair damage to PGE’s transmission and distribution systems and restore power to customers as a result of the historic storms that ultimately led Oregon’s Governor to declare a state of emergency on February 13, 2021. On February 15, 2021, the Company filed an application for authorization to defer emergency restoration costs for the February storms (Docket UM 2156). PGE does not expect an OPUC decision on the February storm deferral until 2022. While the Company believes the full amount of the deferral is probable of recovery as PGE’s prudently incurred costs were in response to the unique and unprecedented nature of the storms, the OPUC has significant discretion in making the final determination of recovery and their conclusions of overall prudence, including an earnings review, and could result in a portion, or all, of PGE’s deferral being disallowed for recovery.

Power Cost Adjustment Mechanism—As of December 31, 2021, actual NVPC was $62 million above baseline NVPC, and therefore PGE has deferred $29 million which represents 90% of the excess variance expected to be collected from customers. A final determination regarding the 2021 PCAM results will be made by the OPUC through a public filing and review in 2022. The OPUC has significant discretion in making the final determination of recovery. The OPUC’s conclusion of overall prudence, including an earnings review, could result in a portion, or all, of PGE’s deferral being disallowed for recovery. Such disallowance would be recognized as a charge to earnings. For additional information on the PCAM, see “Power Cost Adjustment Mechanism” in Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.

Wildfire—In 2020, Oregon experienced one of the most destructive wildfire seasons on record, with over one million acres of land burned that ultimately led Oregon’s Governor to declare a state of emergency on August 20,
2020. As a result, PGE has incurred costs to replace and rebuild PGE facilities damaged by the fires, as well as addressing fire-damaged vegetation and other resulting debris and hazards both in and outside of PGE’s property and right-of-way. Ongoing costs include replacing equipment, enhanced tree and brush clearing, and making emergency plans in close partnership with local, state, and federal land and emergency management agencies to further expand the use of a public safety power shutoff, if the need should arise. On October 20, 2020, the OPUC formally approved PGE’s request for deferral of such costs (Docket UM 2115). As of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, PGE’s cumulative deferred costs related to the wildfire response was $45 million and $15 million, respectively. PGE continues to assess the damage to its infrastructure and expects regulatory recovery of prudently incurred restoration costs. PGE believes the full amount of the 2020 and 2021 deferrals are probable of recovery as the Company’s prudently incurred costs were in response to the unique and unprecedented nature of the wildfire events leading to the deferral. The OPUC has significant discretion in making the final determination of recovery. The OPUC’s conclusion of overall prudence, including an earnings review, could result in a portion, or all, of PGE’s deferral being disallowed for recovery. Such disallowance would be recognized as a charge to earnings.

COVID-19 Impacts—The COVID-19 pandemic led Oregon’s Governor to declare a state of emergency on March 8, 2020 and is still in effect. Due to the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on economic activity, PGE has experienced an increase in bad debt expense, lost revenue, and other incremental costs. On March 20, 2020, PGE filed an application with the OPUC for deferral of certain incremental costs, such as bad debt expense, related to COVID-19. PGE, other utilities under the OPUC’s jurisdiction, intervenors, and OPUC staff held discussions regarding the scope of costs incurred by utilities which may qualify for deferral under Docket UM2114, Investigation into the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Utility Customers. The result of such discussions was an Energy Term Sheet (Term Sheet), which dictates costs in scope for deferral but is silent to the timing of recovery of such costs. On September 24, 2020, the Commission adopted a proposed OPUC Staff motion for Staff to execute stipulations incorporating the terms of the Term Sheet. PGE’s deferral application was approved by the Commission on October 20, 2020 with final stipulations for the Term Sheet approved on November 3, 2020. As of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, PGE’s deferred balance was $36 million and $10 million, respectively, comprised primarily of bad debt expense in excess of what is currently considered and collected in customer prices. Amortization of any deferred costs will remain subject to OPUC review prior to amortization in customer prices and would be subject to an earnings test. PGE believes the full amount of the 2020 and 2021 deferrals is probable of recovery as the Company’s prudently incurred costs were in response to the unique nature of the COVID-19 pandemic health emergency. The OPUC has significant discretion in making the final determination of recovery. The OPUC’s conclusion of overall prudence, including an earnings review, could result in a portion, or all, of PGE’s deferral being disallowed for recovery. Such disallowance would be recognized as a charge to earnings.

Asset retirement removal costs represents the costs that do not qualify as AROs and are a component of depreciation expense allowed in customer prices. Such costs are recorded as a regulatory liability as they are collected in prices, and are reduced by actual removal costs incurred.

Deferred income taxes represents income tax benefits primarily from property-related timing differences that will be refunded to customers when the temporary differences reverse. Substantially all of the amounts deferred are subject to tax normalization rules that require that the impact to the results of operations of amortizing the excess deferred income tax balance cannot occur more rapidly than over the book life of the related assets. The Company uses the average rate assumption method to account for the refund to customers. For further information, see Note 12, Income Taxes.

Asset retirement obligations represents the difference in the timing of recognition of: i) the amounts recognized for depreciation expense of the asset retirement costs and accretion of the ARO; and ii) the amount recovered in customer prices.