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Commitments and Contingencies | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Indemnities Edison International and SCE have various financial and performance guarantees and indemnity agreements which are issued in the normal course of business. Edison International and SCE have provided indemnifications through contracts entered into in the normal course of business. These are primarily indemnifications against adverse litigation outcomes in connection with underwriting agreements, and indemnities for specified environmental liabilities and income taxes with respect to assets sold. Edison International's and SCE's obligations under these agreements may or may not be limited in terms of time and/or amount, and in some instances Edison International and SCE may have recourse against third parties. Edison International and SCE have not recorded a liability related to these indemnities. The overall maximum amount of the obligations under these indemnifications cannot be reasonably estimated. SCE has indemnified the City of Redlands, California in connection with Mountainview's California Energy Commission permit for cleanup or associated actions related to groundwater contaminated by perchlorate due to the disposal of filter cake at the City's solid waste landfill. The obligations under this agreement are not limited to a specific time period or subject to a maximum liability. SCE has not recorded a liability related to this indemnity. Contingencies In addition to the matters disclosed in these Notes, Edison International and SCE are involved in other legal, tax and regulatory proceedings before various courts and governmental agencies regarding matters arising in the ordinary course of business. Edison International and SCE believe the outcome of these other proceedings will not, individually or in the aggregate, materially affect its results of operations or liquidity. San Onofre SCE believes that the actions taken and costs incurred in connection with the San Onofre replacement steam generators and outages have been prudent. Accordingly, SCE has argued in related CPUC regulatory proceedings that its operating, capital, and market power costs should be recoverable through base rates and the ERRA balancing account (as reduced by the charges recorded in 2013 and 2014). SCE, however, cannot provide assurance that the CPUC will not disallow costs incurred or order refunds to customers of amounts collected in rates, or that SCE will be successful in recovering amounts from third parties. Disallowances of costs and/or refund of amounts received from customers could be material and adversely affect SCE's financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In March 2014, SCE, in recognition of these risks, entered into the San Onofre OII Settlement Agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric Company, ORA, TURN, FOE and CUE that, if approved by the CPUC, would resolve the disallowance and regulatory recovery issues in accordance with the terms of the agreement. SCE will pursue recoveries from the manufacturer of the replacement steam generators and under San Onofre's insurance, but there is no assurance that SCE will recover all of its applicable costs pursuant to these arrangements. See Note 9 for further details. San Gabriel Valley Windstorm Investigation In November 2011, a windstorm resulted in significant damage to SCE's electric system and service outages for SCE customers primarily in the San Gabriel Valley. The CPUC directed its Safety and Enforcement Division ("SED") to conduct an investigation focused on the cause of the outages, SCE's service restoration effort, and SCE's customer communications during the outages. The SED issued its final report on January 11, 2013. The report asserts that SCE and others with whom SCE shares utility poles violated certain CPUC safety rules applicable to overhead line construction, maintenance and operation, which may have caused the failures of affected poles and supporting cables. The report also concludes that SCE's restoration time was not adequate and makes other assertions. Additionally, the report contends that SCE violated CPUC rules by failing to preserve evidence relevant to the investigation when it did not retain damaged poles that were replaced following the windstorm. In February 2014, SCE entered into agreements with the SED to settle this matter and another, unrelated matter involving SCE's system that occurred in San Bernardino for $24.5 million. In March 2014, the CPUC opened an OII on the 2011 windstorm and the San Bernardino matter and SCE and the SED jointly filed a motion seeking approval of the settlement agreements in this OII. On July 15, 2014, the assigned ALJ in the OII issued a proposed decision which, if approved by the CPUC, would approve both settlements without modification. If the settlement agreements are not approved by the CPUC and SCE is found to have violated any CPUC rules, it could be subject to penalties. Absent approval of the two settlement agreements by the CPUC, SCE is unable to estimate a possible loss or range of loss that may be imposed by the CPUC on SCE. Four Corners Environmental Matters In October 2011, four private environmental organizations filed a CAA citizen lawsuit against the co-owners of Four Corners. The complaint alleges that certain work performed at the Four Corners generating units 4 and 5, over the approximate periods of 1985 – 1986 and 2007 – 2010, constituted plant "major modifications" and the plant's failure to obtain permits and install best available control technology ("BACT") violated the Prevention of Significant Deterioration requirements and the New Source Performance Standards of the CAA. The complaint also alleges subsequent and continuing violations of BACT air emissions limits. The lawsuit seeks injunctive and declaratory relief, civil penalties, including a mitigation project and litigation costs. In November 2012, the parties requested a stay of the litigation to allow for settlement discussion, and the matter is currently stayed. In December 2013, SCE sold its ownership interest in generating units 4 and 5 to APS. Under the sale agreement SCE remains responsible for its pro-rata share of certain environmental liabilities, including penalties in the event they arise from environmental violations prior to the sale. In addition, under the terms of the sale agreement, SCE retains the liability for its proportionate share of expenses occurring as a result of new environmental regulations applicable to the coal ash and combustion residuals deposited at the landfill at Four Corners during the period that SCE held its ownership interest in Four Corners if such new regulations are adopted. SCE is unable to estimate a possible loss or range of loss associated with these matters. Environmental Remediation SCE records its environmental remediation liabilities when site assessments and/or remedial actions are probable and a range of reasonably likely cleanup costs can be estimated. SCE reviews its sites and measures the liability quarterly, by assessing a range of reasonably likely costs for each identified site using currently available information, including existing technology, presently enacted laws and regulations, experience gained at similar sites, and the probable level of involvement and financial condition of other potentially responsible parties. These estimates include costs for site investigations, remediation, operation and maintenance, monitoring and site closure. Unless there is a single probable amount, SCE records the lower end of this reasonably likely range of costs (reflected in "Other long-term liabilities") at undiscounted amounts as timing of cash flows is uncertain. At June 30, 2014, SCE's recorded estimated minimum liability to remediate its 19 identified material sites (sites in which the upper end of the range of the costs is at least $1 million) was $111 million, including $72 million related to San Onofre. In addition to these sites, SCE also has 39 immaterial sites for which the total minimum recorded liability was $4 million. Of the $115 million total environmental remediation liability for SCE, $110 million has been recorded as a regulatory asset. SCE expects to recover $37 million through an incentive mechanism that allows SCE to recover 90% of its environmental remediation costs at certain sites (SCE may request to include additional sites) and $73 million through a mechanism that allows SCE to recover 100% of the costs incurred at certain sites through customer rates. SCE's identified sites include several sites for which there is a lack of currently available information, including the nature and magnitude of contamination, and the extent, if any, that SCE may be held responsible for contributing to any costs incurred for remediating these sites. Thus, no reasonable estimate of cleanup costs can be made for these sites. The ultimate costs to clean up SCE's identified sites may vary from its recorded liability due to numerous uncertainties inherent in the estimation process, such as: the extent and nature of contamination; the scarcity of reliable data for identified sites; the varying costs of alternative cleanup methods; developments resulting from investigatory studies; the possibility of identifying additional sites; and the time periods over which site remediation is expected to occur. SCE believes that, due to these uncertainties, it is reasonably possible that cleanup costs at the identified material sites and immaterial sites could exceed its recorded liability by up to $156 million and $7 million, respectively, all of which is related to SCE. The upper limit of this range of costs was estimated using assumptions least favorable to SCE among a range of reasonably possible outcomes. SCE expects to clean up and mitigate its identified sites over a period of up to 30 years. Remediation costs for each of the next four years are expected to range from $5 million to $30 million. Costs incurred for the six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 were $1 million and $3 million, respectively. Based upon the CPUC's regulatory treatment of environmental remediation costs incurred at SCE, SCE believes that costs ultimately recorded will not materially affect its results of operations, financial position or cash flows. There can be no assurance, however, that future developments, including additional information about existing sites or the identification of new sites, will not require material revisions to estimates. Nuclear Insurance Federal law limits public offsite liability claims for bodily injury and property damage from a nuclear incident to the amount of available financial protection, which is currently approximately $13.6 billion. SCE and other owners of San Onofre and Palo Verde have purchased the maximum private primary insurance available ($375 million) through a Facility Form issued by American Nuclear Insurers ("ANI"). The balance is covered by a loss sharing program among nuclear reactor licensees. If a nuclear incident at any licensed reactor in the United States results in claims and/or costs which exceed the primary insurance at that plant site, all nuclear reactor licensees could be required to contribute their share of the liability in the form of a deferred premium. The ANI Facility Form coverage includes broad liability protection for bodily injury or offsite property damage caused by nuclear material at San Onofre, or while in transit to or from San Onofre. The Facility Form, however, includes several exclusions. First, it excludes onsite property damage to the nuclear facility itself and onsite cleanup costs, but as discussed below SCE maintains separate NEIL property damage coverage for such events. Second, tort claims of onsite workers are excluded, but SCE also maintains separate $375 million ANI Facility Workers Form coverage for non-licensee workers. Third, offsite environmental costs arising out of government orders or directives, including those issued under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, also known as CERCLA, are excluded, with minor exceptions from clearly identifiable accidents. Based on its ownership interests, SCE could be required to pay a maximum of approximately $255 million per nuclear incident. However, it would have to pay no more than approximately $38 million per incident in any one year. If the public liability limit above is insufficient, federal law contemplates that additional funds may be appropriated by Congress. This could include an additional assessment on all licensed reactor operators as a measure for raising further federal revenue. NEIL, a mutual insurance company owned by entities with nuclear facilities, issues nuclear property damage and accidental outage insurance policies. The amount of nuclear property insurance purchased for San Onofre and Palo Verde exceeds the minimum federal requirement of approximately $1.06 billion. These policies include coverage for decontamination liability. Property damage insurance also covers damages caused by acts of terrorism up to specified limits. Additional outage insurance covers part of replacement power expenses during an accident-related nuclear unit outage. The accidental outage insurance at San Onofre has been canceled as a result of the permanent retirement, but that insurance continues to be in effect at Palo Verde. If losses at any nuclear facility covered by the arrangement were to exceed the accumulated funds for these insurance programs, SCE could be assessed retrospective premium adjustments of up to approximately $52 million per year. Insurance premiums are charged to operating expense. Wildfire Insurance Severe wildfires in California have given rise to large damage claims against California utilities for fire-related losses alleged to be the result of the failure of electric and other utility equipment. Invoking a California Court of Appeal decision, plaintiffs pursuing these claims have relied on the doctrine of inverse condemnation, which can impose strict liability (including liability for a claimant's attorneys' fees) for property damage. Prolonged drought conditions in California have also increased the risk of severe wildfire events. On June 1, 2014, Edison International renewed its liability insurance coverage, which included coverage for SCE's wildfire liabilities up to a $547.5 million limit (with a self-insured retention of $10 million per wildfire occurrence). Various coverage limitations within the policies that make up this insurance coverage could result in additional self-insured costs in the event of multiple wildfire occurrences during the policy period (June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015). SCE also has additional coverage for certain wildfire liabilities of $450 million, which applies when total covered wildfire claims exceed $550 million, through June 14, 2015. SCE may experience coverage reductions and/or increased insurance costs in future years. No assurance can be given that future losses will not exceed the limits of SCE's insurance coverage. Spent Nuclear Fuel Under federal law, the Department of Energy ("DOE") is responsible for the selection and construction of a facility for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The DOE did not meet its contractual obligation to begin acceptance of spent nuclear fuel by January 31, 1998. Extended delays by the DOE have led to the construction of costly alternatives and associated siting and environmental issues. Currently, both San Onofre and Palo Verde have interim storage for spent nuclear fuel on site sufficient for the current license period. In June 2010, the United States Court of Federal Claims issued a decision granting SCE and the San Onofre co-owners damages of approximately $142 million (SCE share $112 million) to recover costs incurred through December 31, 2005 for the DOE's failure to meet its obligation to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel from San Onofre. SCE received payment from the federal government in the amount of the damage award in November 2011. SCE has returned to the San Onofre co-owners their respective shares of the damage award paid. In December 2013, the CPUC approved SCE's proposal to return the SCE share of the award to customers based on the amount that customers actually contributed for fuel storage costs, resulting in approximately $94 million of the SCE share being returned to customers and the remaining $18 million being returned to shareholders. SCE, as operating agent, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the San Onofre owners against the DOE in the Court of Federal Claims in December 2011 seeking damages of approximately $98 million for the DOE's failure to meet its obligation to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel for the period from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2010. Additional legal action would be necessary to recover damages incurred after December 31, 2010. All damages recovered by SCE are subject to CPUC review as to how these amounts would be distributed among customers, shareholders, or to offset fuel decommissioning or storage costs.

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