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Litigation
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Colstrip Unit 4 [Member]  
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests  
Litigation Litigation
From time to time, the Company is involved in litigation or legislative rulemaking proceedings relating to its operations in the normal course of business.  The following is a description of pending proceedings that are material to PSE’s operations:

Colstrip
PSE has a 50% ownership interest in Colstrip Units 1 and 2 and a 25% interest in each of Colstrip Units 3 and 4. In March 2013, the Sierra Club and the Montana Environmental Information Center filed a Clean Air Act citizen suit against all Colstrip owners in the U.S. District Court, District of Montana. In July 2016, PSE reached a settlement with the Sierra Club to dismiss all of the Clean Air Act allegations against the Colstrip Generating Station, which was approved by the court in September 2016. As part of the settlement that was signed by all Colstrip owners, Colstrip 1 and 2 owners, PSE and Talen Energy Corporation (Talen), agreed to retire the two oldest units (Units 1 and 2) at Colstrip in eastern Montana no later than July 1, 2022. Depreciation rates were updated in the GRC effective December 19, 2017, where PSE's depreciation increased for Colstrip Units 1 and 2 to recover plant costs to the expected shutdown date. Additionally, PSE has accelerated the depreciation of Colstrip Units 3 and 4, per the terms of the GRC settlement, to December 31, 2027. The GRC also repurposed PTCs and hydro-related treasury grants to recover unrecovered plant costs and to fund and recover decommissioning and remediation costs for Colstrip Units 1 through 4.
Consistent with a June 2019 announcement, Talen permanently shut down Units 1 and 2 at the end of the year due to operational losses associated with the Units. Colstrip Units 1 and 2 were retired effective December 31, 2019. The Washington Clean Energy Transition Act requires the Washington Commission to provide recovery of the investment, decommissioning, and remediation costs associated with the facilities that are not recovered through the repurposed PTC's and hydro-related treasury grants. The full scope of decommissioning activities and costs may vary from the estimates that are available at this time.
On December 10, 2019, PSE announced its intention to sell its interest in Colstrip Unit 4 to NorthWestern Energy for $1. Under this agreement, PSE would retain its obligation to fund 25% of the environmental remediation and decommissioning costs associated with Unit 4 during PSE's operation. The agreement is subject to approval by the Washington Commission and the Montana Public Service Commission. Additionally, PSE has agreed to enter into a power purchase agreement with NorthWestern Energy for 90 MW through 2025 to facilitate the transition, and sell a portion of its dedicated Colstrip transmission system, conditioned upon regulatory approval. PSE expects external parties to intervene on the contingent purchase agreement for Colstrip Unit 4. For accounting purposes, management has evaluated the applicable held for sale criteria as of December 31, 2019, and determined that these criteria were not met. As such, Unit 4 is classified as Electric Utility Plant on the balance sheet, see Note 6, "Utility Plant," to the consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report.

Regional Haze Rule
In January 2017, the EPA published revisions to the Regional Haze Rule. Among other things, these revisions delayed new Regional Haze review from 2018 to 2021, however the end date will remain 2028. In January 2018, the EPA announced that it was reconsidering certain aspects of these revisions and PSE is unable to predict the outcome. Challenges to the 2017 Regional Haze Revision Rule are pending in abeyance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, pending resolution of the EPA’s reconsideration of the rule.

Clean Air Act 111(d)/EPA Affordable clean Energy Rule
In June 2014, the EPA issued a proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) rule under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act designed to regulate GHG emissions from existing power plants. The proposed rule includes state-specific goals and guidelines for states to develop plans for meeting these goals. The EPA published a final rule in October 2015. In March 2017, then EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, signed a notice of withdrawal of the proposed CPP federal plan and model trading rules and, in October 2017, the EPA proposed to repeal the CPP rule.
In August 2018, the EPA proposed the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, pursuant to Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.. The ACE rule was finalized in June 2019, and establishes emission guidelines for states to develop plans to address greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired plants. Compliance plans under ACE are due July 2020, and compliance generally required by July 2024. PSE is evaluating the final ACE rule to determine its impact on operations pending the outcome of the proposed Colstrip Unit 4 sale to NorthWestern Energy.
Washington Clean Air Rule
The CAR was adopted in September 2016, in Washington State and attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from “covered entities” located within Washington State. Included under the new rule are large manufacturers, petroleum producers and natural gas utilities, including PSE. The CAR sets a cap on emissions associated with covered entities, which decreases over time approximately 5.0% every three years. Entities must reduce their carbon emissions, or purchase emission reduction units (ERUs), as defined under the rule, from others.
In September 2016, PSE, along with Avista Corporation, Cascade Natural Gas Corporation and NW Natural, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington challenging the CAR. In September 2016, the four companies filed a similar challenge to the CAR in Thurston County Superior Court. In March 2018, the Thurston County Superior Court invalidated the CAR. The Department of Ecology appealed the Superior Court decision in May 2018. As a result of the appeal, direct review to the Washington State Supreme Court was granted and oral argument was held on March 16, 2019. In January 2020, the Washington Supreme Court affirmed that CAR is not valid for “indirect emitters” meaning it does not apply to the sale of natural gas for use by customers. The court ruled, however, that the rule can be severed and is valid for direct emitters including electric utilities with permitted air emission sources, but remanded the case back to the Thurston County to determine which parts of the rule survive. Meanwhile, the federal court litigation has been held in abeyance pending resolution of the state case.