Employee Benefit Plans:

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Employee Benefit Plans:

Employee Benefit Plans:

Note 8 — Employee Benefit Plans:

The components of net periodic benefit costs, before allocation to the overhead pool, for Registrant’s pension plan, postretirement plan, and Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”) for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010 are as follows:

	For The Three Months Ended June 30,
	Pension Benefits						Other Postretirement Benefits						SERP
(dollars in thousands)	2011			2010			2011			2010			2011		2010
Components of Net Periodic Benefits Cost:
Service cost	$	1,429		$	1,199		$	107		$	102		$	150	$	108
Interest cost	1,639			1,526			153			159			116		89
Expected return on plan assets	(1,588		)	(1,313		)	(74		)	(63		)	—		—
Amortization of transition	—			—			105			105			—		—
Amortization of prior service cost (benefit)	30			30			(50		)	(50		)	40		40
Amortization of actuarial loss	322			293			—			—			34
Net periodic pension cost under accounting standards	1,832			1,735			241			253			340		237
Regulatory adjustment — deferred	(161		)	—			—			—			—		—
Total expense recognized, before allocation to overhead pool	$	1,671		$	1,735		$	241		$	253		$	340	$	237

	For The Six Months Ended June 30,
	Pension Benefits						Other Postretirement Benefits						SERP
(dollars in thousands)	2011			2010			2011			2010			2011		2010
Components of Net Periodic Benefits Cost:
Service cost	$	2,812		$	2,398		$	214		$	204		$	300	$	216
Interest cost	3,262			3,052			306			318			232		178
Expected return on plan assets	(3,174		)	(2,626		)	(147		)	(126		)	—		—
Amortization of transition	—			—			210			210			—		—
Amortization of prior service cost (benefit)	59			60			(100		)	(100		)	81		80
Amortization of actuarial loss	621			586			—			—			67		—
Net periodic pension cost under accounting standards	3,580			3,470			483			$	506		680		474
Regulatory adjustment — deferred	(253		)	—			—			—			—		—
Total expense recognized, before allocation to overhead pool	$	3,327		$	3,470		$	483		$	506		$	680	$	474

Registrant expects to contribute approximately $6.6 million and $500,000 to the pension and postretirement medical plans in 2011, respectively.  A contribution of $1.0 million was made to the pension plan during the six months ended June 30, 2011.

In May 2009, the Board of Directors approved the establishment of a Rabbi Trust created for the SERP plan. Assets in a Rabbi Trust can be subject to the claims of creditors; therefore, they are not considered as an asset for purposes of computing the SERP’s funded status.  As of June 30, 2011, the balance in the Rabbi Trust totals $1.7 million and is included in Registrant’s other property and investments.

Regulatory Adjustment:

In November 2010, the CPUC authorized GSWC to establish a two-way balancing account, effective January 1, 2010, for its three water regions and the general office to track differences between the forecasted annual pension expenses adopted in rates for 2010, 2011 and 2012 and the actual annual expense to be recorded by GSWC in accordance with the accounting guidance for pension costs.  For the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, GSWC’s actual expense under the accounting guidance for pension was greater than amounts included in customer rates by $161,000 and $253,000, respectively. This under-collection has been recorded in the two-way pension balancing account included in regulatory assets (Note 2).  As of June 30, 2011, GSWC has included a $2.1 million under-collection in the two-way pension balancing account.