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Asset Retirement Obligations | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2015
Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract] |
Asset Retirement Obligations | Asset Retirement Obligations In the first quarter of 2015, an updated decommissioning study was completed for the Four Corners coal-fired plant, which resulted in an increase to the asset retirement obligation ("ARO") in the amount of $18 million. In the second quarter of 2015, there was a revision in estimated cash flows for the Four Corners decommissioning, which resulted in an increase to the ARO in the amount of $6 million. In addition, APS recognized an ARO for Cholla as a result of new CCR environmental rules that were published in the Federal Register in the second quarter of 2015. See Note 8 for additional information related to the CCR environmental rules. This resulted in an increase to the ARO in the amount of $39 million, an increase in plant in service of $23 million and a reduction of the regulatory liability of $16 million. The following schedule shows the change in our asset retirement obligations for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 (dollars in millions):
Asset retirement obligations at January 1, 2015 | $ | 391 |
Changes attributable to: |  |
Accretion expense | 19 |
Settlements | (27 | )
Estimated cash flow revisions | 24 |
Newly incurred liabilities | 42 |
Asset retirement obligations at September 30, 2015 | $ | 449 |
Decommissioning activities for Four Corners Units 1-3 began in January 2014; thus, $27 million of the total asset retirement obligation of $449 million at September 30, 2015, is classified as a current liability on the balance sheet. In accordance with regulatory accounting, APS accrues removal costs for its regulated utility assets, even if there is no legal obligation for removal. See detail of regulatory liabilities in Note 3.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for an asset retirement obligation and the associated long-lived asset. An asset retirement obligation is a legal obligation associated with the disposal or retirement from service of a tangible long-lived asset that results from the acquisition, construction or development, or the normal operations of a long-lived asset, except for certain obligations of lessees. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 410 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6392692&loc=d3e7535-110849 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 410 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6392692&loc=d3e7569-110849 + Details
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