Income Taxes Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign

The jurisdictional components of income (loss) from continuing operations before income tax expense (benefit), attributable to Calpine, for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, are as follows (in millions):

	2013			2012		2011
U.S.	$	(13	)	$	194	$	(232	)
International	29			24		20
Total	$	16		$	218	$	(212	)

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

The components of income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, consisted of the following (in millions):

	2013			2012			2011
Current:
Federal	$	(2	)	$	(12	)	$	(16	)
State	(9		)	16			12
Foreign	(1		)	14			3
Total current	(12		)	18			(1		)
Deferred:
Federal	1			11			(33		)
State	4			(5		)	9
Foreign	9			(5		)	3
Total deferred	14			1			(21		)
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	2		$	19		$	(22	)

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

A reconciliation of the federal statutory rate of 35% to our effective rate from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, is as follows:

	2013		2012		2011
Federal statutory tax expense (benefit) rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	(35.0	)%
State tax expense (benefit), net of federal benefit	(69.8	)	3.2		6.5
Depletion in excess of basis	(14.7	)	(0.2	)	—
Federal refunds	—		(4.7	)	—
Valuation allowances against future tax benefits	89.8		(30.3	)	57.1
Valuation allowance related to reconsolidation of CCFC	—		—		(36.0	)
Valuation allowance related to foreign taxes	(19.8	)	(8.2	)	—
Foreign taxes	(10.8	)	3.7		(0.9	)
Bankruptcy settlement	—		—		(15.7	)
Intraperiod allocation	4.5		4.6		19.9
Change in unrecognized tax benefits	(30.1	)	5.1		(6.6	)
Disallowed compensation	11.7		0.4		0.3
Stock-based compensation	8.6		0.2		0.1
Lobbying contributions	3.3		0.3		0.4
Other differences	4.8		(0.4	)	(0.5	)
Effective income tax expense (benefit) rate	12.5	%	8.7	%	(10.4	)%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of deferred income taxes as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, are as follows (in millions):

	2013			2012
Deferred tax assets:
NOL and credit carryforwards	$	3,120		$	3,073
Taxes related to risk management activities and derivatives	60			90
Reorganization items and impairments	262			315
Foreign capital losses	18			25
Other differences	104			60
Deferred tax assets before valuation allowance	3,564			3,563
Valuation allowance	(2,246		)	(2,222		)
Total deferred tax assets	1,318			1,341
Deferred tax liabilities: property, plant and equipment	(1,310		)	(1,316		)
Net deferred tax asset	8			25
Less: Current portion deferred tax asset (liability)	12			(3		)
Less: Non-current deferred tax asset	7			28
Deferred income tax liability, non-current	$	(11	)	$	—

Schedule of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) Intraperiod Tax Allocation

The following table details the effects of our intraperiod tax allocations for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 (in millions).

	2013			2012			2011
Intraperiod tax allocation expense included in continuing operations	$	1		$	9		$	42
Intraperiod tax allocation benefit included in OCI	$	(1	)	$	(9	)	$	(45	)

Schedule of Income Tax Contingencies

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of our unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, is as follows (in millions):

	2013			2012			2011
Balance, beginning of period	$	(92	)	$	(74	)	$	(88	)
Increases related to prior year tax positions	(7		)	(19		)	—
Decreases related to prior year tax positions	8			1			1
Decreases related to settlements	10			—			—
Decrease related to lapse of statute of limitations	13			—			13
Balance, end of period	$	(68	)	$	(92	)	$	(74	)