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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES We and our subsidiaries have significant commitments and contingencies arising from our operations, including those related to unconditional purchase obligations, environmental matters, and enforcement and litigation matters. Unconditional Purchase Obligations Our electric utilities have obligations to distribute and sell electricity to their customers, and our natural gas utilities have obligations to distribute and sell natural gas to their customers. The utilities expect to recover costs related to these obligations in future customer rates. In order to meet these obligations, we routinely enter into long-term purchase and sale commitments for various quantities and lengths of time. The wind generation facilities that are part of our non-utility energy infrastructure segment have obligations to distribute and sell electricity through long-term offtake agreements with their customers for all of the energy produced. In order to support these sales obligations, these companies enter into easements and other service agreements associated with the wind generating facilities. Our minimum future commitments related to these purchase obligations as of September 30, 2022, including those of our subsidiaries, were approximately $10.6 billion. Environmental Matters Consistent with other companies in the energy industry, we face significant ongoing environmental compliance and remediation obligations related to current and past operations. Specific environmental issues affecting us include, but are not limited to, current and future regulation of air emissions such as sulfur dioxide, NOx, fine particulates, mercury, and GHGs; water intake and discharges; management of coal combustion products such as fly ash; and remediation of impacted properties, including former manufactured gas plant sites. Air Quality Cross State Air Pollution Rule – Good Neighbor Plan The EPA issued a proposed rule that would update and expand the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule's ozone-season NOx program to address the 2015 ozone NAAQS, resulting in more stringent regulation of ozone-season NOx emissions from EGUs in 26 states, relying on authorization through the CAA's “good neighbor provision." As part of the proposed rule, expected to take effect in May 2023, the EPA would establish a new trading program that would impose lower NOx emissions budgets on states, at levels that the EPA projected would be achievable through full operation of existing EGU emissions control equipment beginning during ozone season 2023, and through installation of additional control equipment at both EGU and non-EGU stationary sources by the start of the 2026 ozone season, as well as planned plant retirements. Based on a review of our existing units' 2020 and 2021 actual ozone season emissions and projected future emissions versus proposed NOx ozone season allocations, we anticipate that we should be able to comply with the expanded rule requirements without procuring additional allowances on the open market. Our RICE units in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and planned RICE units in Wisconsin are not subject to this rule as proposed as each unit is expected to be less than 25 MW. We note that, to the extent we use RICE engines for natural gas distribution operations, those engines may be subject to the emission limits and operational requirements of the rule beginning in 2026. In June 2022, we submitted comments on this proposed rule seeking clarification of its applicability, as well as other items, and we will closely monitor the final rule for any changes from the proposed rule. National Ambient Air Quality Standards Ozone After completing its review of the 2008 ozone standard, the EPA released a final rule in October 2015, creating a more stringent standard than the 2008 NAAQS. The 2015 ozone standard lowered the 8-hour limit for ground-level ozone. In December 2020, the EPA completed its 5-year review of the ozone standard and issued a final decision to retain, without any changes, the existing 2015 standard. Under Executive Order 13990, the Biden Administration ordered that all agencies review existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and similar actions promulgated, issued, or adopted between January 20, 2017 and January 20, 2021. In October 2021, the EPA announced that it will reconsider the December 2020 decision to retain the 2015 ozone standards with no changes and that it is targeting the end of 2023 to complete this reconsideration. The EPA issued final nonattainment area designations for the 2015 ozone standard in April 2018. The following counties within our Wisconsin service territories were designated as partial nonattainment: Door, Kenosha, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Northern Milwaukee/Ozaukee. The area designations were challenged in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Clean Wisconsin et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A decision was issued in July 2020 remanding the rule to the EPA for further evaluation. As a result of the July 2020 remand, in June 2021, the EPA published its final action to revise the nonattainment area designations and/or boundaries for 13 counties associated with six nonattainment areas, including several in Illinois and Wisconsin. Under the new designations, all of Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties are now listed as nonattainment and portions of Racine, Waukesha, and Washington counties have been added to the "Milwaukee" nonattainment area. Additionally, the Chicago, IL-IN-WI nonattainment area now includes an expanded portion of Kenosha County, and the partial nonattainment areas of Sheboygan, Door, and Manitowoc counties were also expanded. In February 2022, revisions to the Wisconsin Administrative Code to adopt the 2015 standard were finalized. The amended regulations adopted the standard and incorporated by reference the federal air pollution monitoring requirements related to the standard. The WDNR submitted the rule updates as a SIP revision to the EPA in April 2022, which the EPA proposed to approve in August 2022. In April 2022, the EPA proposed to find that the Milwaukee and Chicago, IL-IN-WI nonattainment areas did not meet the marginal attainment deadline of August 2021, and will be adjusted to "moderate" nonattainment status for the 2015 standard. In October 2022, the EPA published its final reclassifications from "marginal" to "moderate" for these areas, effective November 7, 2022. Accordingly, the WDNR must submit a SIP revision to address the moderate nonattainment status. We also expect the moderate nonattainment designation to impact emission offset ratios for major construction permitting in these areas. We believe that we are well positioned to meet the requirements associated with the 2015 ozone standard and do not expect to incur significant costs to comply with the associated state and federal rules. Particulate Matter In December 2020, the EPA completed its 5-year review of the 2012 annual and 24-hour standards for fine particulate matter. The EPA determined that no revisions were necessary to the current annual standard of 12 µg/m 3 or the 24-hour standard of 35 µg/m 3. This determination was also subject to review under Executive Order 13990 and in June 2021, the EPA announced it would reconsider the December 2020 decision. Under the Biden Administration's policy review, the EPA concluded that the scientific evidence and information from the December 2020 determination supports revising the level of the annual standard for the particulate matter NAAQS to below the current level of 12 µg/m 3, while retaining the 24-hour standard. In March 2022, the EPA’s CASAC sent a letter to the EPA finalizing its peer review of the particulate matter standards. Based on their review, the majority of the members of the CASAC found that lowering the annual standard to within a range of 8 to 10 µg/m 3 was appropriate, while a minority of the members of the committee found that a range of 10 to 11 µg/m 3 would be appropriate. Additionally, a majority of the CASAC members favored lowering the 24-hour standard, while a minority concurred with EPA’s preliminary conclusion to retain the 24-hour standard without revision. In May 2022, the EPA released its staff-written Policy Assessment for the reconsideration of the standard. Similar to the CASAC findings, the EPA staff found that conditions supported either an annual standard in the 10 to 12 µg/m 3 range or in the 8 to 10 µg/m 3 range. In August 2022, the EPA sent a proposed rule regarding the review of the particulate matter standards to the Office of Management and Budget, which is expected to be released for public comment by the end of 2022. We anticipate the final rule to be released in spring 2023. All counties within our service territories are in attainment with the current 2012 standards. If the EPA lowers the annual standard to 10 or 11 µg/m 3, our generating facilities within our service territories should remain in attainment. If the EPA lowers it to below 10 µg/m 3, there could be some nonattainment areas that may affect permitting of some smaller ancillary equipment located at our facilities. Climate Change The ACE rule, which replaced the Clean Power Plan, was vacated by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in January 2021. In October 2021, the Supreme Court agreed to review the D.C. Circuit Court's ruling vacating the EPA's ACE rule and in June 2022, the Supreme Court issued its decision. The Supreme Court found that the EPA may regulate GHGs under section 111 of the CAA but cannot rely on generation shifting to lower carbon emitting sources to do so. Based on an updated EPA regulatory timeline, we expect a new GHG replacement rule to be proposed in March 2023. In January 2021, the EPA finalized a rule to revise the New Source Performance Standards for GHG emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed fossil-fueled power plants; however, it was vacated by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in April 2021. Based on an updated EPA regulatory timeline, we expect a new rule to be proposed in March 2023. We continue to move forward on the ESG Progress Plan, which is heavily focused on reducing GHG emissions. The EPA released proposed regulations for the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, 40 CFR Part 98, in June 2022. The proposed revisions could impact the reporting required of our local natural gas distribution companies and underground natural gas storage facilities with updates to emission factors for equipment counts and increased disclosure for large release events. We expect the final rule in late 2022 or early 2023, pending the EPA's review and consideration of public comments. Additionally, we continue to assess the potential impacts of the waste emissions charge included in the IRA pending updates to the regulations. Our ESG Progress Plan includes the retirement of older, fossil-fueled generation, to be replaced with zero-carbon-emitting renewables and clean natural gas-fueled generation. We have already retired more than 1,800 MW of coal-fired generation since the beginning of 2018. Through our ESG Progress Plan, we expect to retire approximately 1,600 MW of additional fossil-fueled generation by the end of 2026, which includes the planned retirements in 2024-2025 of OCPP Units 5-8 and the planned retirement by June 2026 of jointly-owned Columbia Units 1-2. See Note 24, Regulatory Environment, for more information on the timing of the retirements. In May 2021, we announced goals to achieve reductions in carbon emissions from our electric generation fleet by 60% by the end of 2025 and by 80% by the end of 2030, both from a 2005 baseline. We expect to achieve these goals by making operating refinements, retiring less efficient generating units, and executing our capital plan. Over the longer term, the target for our generation fleet is net-zero CO 2 emissions by 2050. We also continue to reduce methane emissions by improving our natural gas distribution system, and have set a target across our natural gas distribution operations to achieve net-zero methane emissions by the end of 2030. We plan to achieve our net-zero goal through an effort that includes both continuous operational improvements and equipment upgrades, as well as the use of RNG throughout our utility systems. Water Quality Clean Water Act Cooling Water Intake Structure Rule In August 2014, the EPA issued a final regulation under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act that requires the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures at existing power plants to reflect the BTA for minimizing adverse environmental impacts. The federal rule became effective in October 2014 and applies to all of our existing generating facilities with cooling water intake structures, except for the ERGS units, which were permitted and received a final BTA determination under the rules governing new facilities. In 2016, the WDNR initiated a state rulemaking process to incorporate the federal Section 316(b) requirements into the Wisconsin Administrative Code. This new state rule, NR 111, became effective in June 2020, and the WDNR will apply it when establishing BTA requirements for cooling water intake structures at existing facilities. These BTA requirements are incorporated into WPDES permits for WE and WPS facilities. We have received a final BTA determination for Valley power plant. We have received interim BTA determinations for PWGS, OCPP Units 5-8 and Weston Units 2, 3, and 4. We believe that existing technology at the PWGS satisfies the BTA requirements; however, a final determination will not be made until the WPDES permit is renewed for this facility, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2022. We also believe that existing technology installed at the OCPP facility meets the BTA requirements; however, depending on the timing of the permit reissuance, all four generating units may be retired prior to the WDNR making a final BTA decision anticipated in 2025. In addition, we believe that existing technology installed at the Weston facility will result in a final BTA determination during the WPDES permit reissuance in 2023. As a result of past capital investments completed to address Section 316(b) compliance at WE and WPS, we believe our fleet overall is well positioned to continue to meet this regulation and do not expect to incur significant additional compliance costs. Steam Electric Effluent Limitation Guidelines The EPA's final 2015 ELG rule took effect in January 2016 and was modified in 2020 to revise the treatment technology requirements related to BATW and wet FGD wastewaters at existing facilities. This rule created new requirements for several types of power plant wastewaters. The two new requirements that affect WE and WPS relate to discharge limits for BATW and wet FGD wastewater. Our power plant facilities already have advanced wastewater treatment technologies installed that meet many of the discharge limits established by this rule. There will, however, need to be facility modifications to meet water permit requirements for the BATW system at Weston Unit 3, which is expected to be completed by December 2023. Modifications to OC 7 and OC 8 BATW systems were completed and placed in-service in mid-2021. Wastewater treatment system modifications also will be required for wet FGD discharges and site wastewater from the ERGS units. Based on engineering cost estimates, we expect that compliance with the ELG rule will require $100 million in capital investment. In December 2021, the PSCW Division of Energy Regulation and Analysis issued a Certificate of Authority approving the ERGS FGD wastewater treatment system modification. The BATW modifications do not require PSCW approval prior to construction. All of these ELG required projects are either in-service or are on track for completion by the WPDES permit deadline in December 2023. In July 2021, the EPA announced that it intends to initiate rulemaking to revise the ELG Rule as modified in 2020. The EPA has stated that the ELG Rule will continue to be implemented and enforced while the agency pursues this rulemaking process. The EPA plans to propose a revised rule in the fourth quarter of 2022. Waters of the United States In December 2021, the EPA and the United States Army Corps of Engineers together released a proposed rule to repeal the April 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule that defined WOTUS. The purpose of this proposed rule will be to restore regulations defining WOTUS that were in place prior to 2015 and to update certain provisions to be consistent with relevant Supreme Court decisions. The pre-2015 approach involves applying factors established through case law and agency precedents to determine whether a wetland or surface drainage feature is subject to federal jurisdiction. In January 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case, Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, to evaluate the proper test for determining whether wetlands are WOTUS. The parcel at issue was determined to be a WOTUS by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based on the “significant nexus” test. In October 2022, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in this case during which Sackett's lawyers argued that the Ninth Circuit wrongly applied the "significant nexus" test to the property. A decision by the Supreme Court is expected in spring 2023. At this point, our projects requiring federal permits are moving ahead, but we are monitoring these recent developments to better understand potential future impacts. This case, once decided, should provide some clarity regarding the definition of WOTUS. We will continue to monitor this litigation and any subsequent agency action. Land Quality Manufactured Gas Plant Remediation We have identified sites at which our utilities or a predecessor company owned or operated a manufactured gas plant or stored manufactured gas. We have also identified other sites that may have been impacted by historical manufactured gas plant activities. Our natural gas utilities are responsible for the environmental remediation of these sites, some of which are in the EPA Superfund Alternative Approach Program. We are also working with various state jurisdictions in our investigation and remediation planning. These sites are at various stages of investigation, monitoring, remediation, and closure. In addition, we are coordinating the investigation and cleanup of some of these sites subject to the jurisdiction of the EPA under what is called a "multisite" program. This program involves prioritizing the work to be done at the sites, preparation and approval of documents common to all of the sites, and use of a consistent approach in selecting remedies. At this time, we cannot estimate future remediation costs associated with these sites beyond those described below. The future costs for detailed site investigation, future remediation, and monitoring are dependent upon several variables including, among other things, the extent of remediation, changes in technology, and changes in regulation. Historically, our regulators have allowed us to recover incurred costs, net of insurance recoveries and recoveries from potentially responsible parties, associated with the remediation of manufactured gas plant sites. Accordingly, we have established regulatory assets for costs associated with these sites. We have established the following regulatory assets and reserves for manufactured gas plant sites:
(in millions) |  | September 30, 2022 |  | December 31, 2021
Regulatory assets |  | $ | 616.3 |  |  | $ | 630.9 |
Reserves for future environmental remediation |  | 497.7 |  |  | 532.6 |
Enforcement and Litigation Matters We and our subsidiaries are involved in legal and administrative proceedings before various courts and agencies with respect to matters arising in the ordinary course of business. Although we are unable to predict the outcome of these matters, management believes that appropriate reserves have been established and that final settlement of these actions will not have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations. Consent Decrees Wisconsin Public Service Corporation – Weston and Pulliam Power Plants In November 2009, the EPA issued an NOV to WPS, which alleged violations of the CAA's New Source Review requirements relating to certain projects completed at the Weston and Pulliam power plants from 1994 to 2009. WPS entered into a Consent Decree with the EPA resolving this NOV. This Consent Decree was entered by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in March 2013. With the retirement of Pulliam Units 7 and 8 in October 2018, WPS completed the mitigation projects required by the Consent Decree and received a completeness letter from the EPA in October 2018. We are working with the EPA on a closeout process for the Consent Decree and expect that process to be completed in 2023. Joint Ownership Power Plants – Columbia and Edgewater In December 2009, the EPA issued an NOV to Wisconsin Power and Light Company, the operator of the Columbia and Edgewater plants, and the other joint owners of these plants, including Madison Gas and Electric Company, WE (former co-owner of an Edgewater unit), and WPS. The NOV alleged violations of the CAA's New Source Review requirements related to certain projects completed at those plants. WPS, along with Wisconsin Power and Light Company, Madison Gas and Electric Company, and WE, entered into a Consent Decree with the EPA resolving this NOV. This Consent Decree was entered by the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in June 2013. As a result of the continued implementation of the Consent Decree related to the jointly owned Columbia and Edgewater plants, the Edgewater 4 generating unit was retired in September 2018. Wisconsin Power and Light Company expects to start the process to close out this Consent Decree in early 2023.

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