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Income Taxes | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2011
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] |
Income Taxes | Income Taxes The components of income (loss) before income taxes from continuing operations for each of the years ended December 31 were as follows:
| 2011 |  |  | 2010 |  |  | 2009 |
| (In thousands)
United States | $ | 333,486 |  |  | $ | 336,450 |  |  | $ | (227,021 | )
Foreign | 2,740 |  |  | 30,100 |  |  | 7,655 |
Income (loss) before income taxes from continuing operations | $ | 336,226 |  |  | $ | 366,550 |  |  | $ | (219,366 | )
Income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations for the years ended December 31 was as follows:
| 2011 |  |  | 2010 |  |  | 2009 |
| (In thousands)
Current: |  |  |  |  |
Federal | $ | (7,188 | ) |  | $ | 37,014 |  |  | $ | 64,389 |
State | 778 |  |  | 10,589 |  |  | 8,284 |
Foreign | 127 |  |  | 4,451 |  |  | 254 |
| (6,283 | ) |  | 52,054 |  |  | 72,927 |
Deferred: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Income taxes - |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Federal | 105,528 |  |  | 62,618 |  |  | (147,607 | )
State | 13,157 |  |  | 4,147 |  |  | (22,370 | )
Investment tax credit - net | 240 |  |  | (180 | ) |  | 213 |
| 118,925 |  |  | 66,585 |  |  | (169,764 | )
Change in uncertain tax benefits | (1,048 | ) |  | 3,230 |  |  | 562 |
Change in accrued interest | (1,320 | ) |  | 661 |  |  | 183 |
Total income tax expense (benefit) | $ | 110,274 |  |  | $ | 122,530 |  |  | $ | (96,092 | )
Components of deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities at December 31 were as follows:
| 2011 |  |  | 2010 |
| (In thousands)
Deferred tax assets: |  |  |
Regulatory matters | $ | 119,189 |  |  | $ | 114,427 |
Accrued pension costs | 95,260 |  |  | 82,085 |
Asset retirement obligations | 26,380 |  |  | 24,391 |
Legal and environmental contingencies | 21,788 |  |  | 13,622 |
Compensation-related | 16,241 |  |  | 17,261 |
Other | 41,055 |  |  | 40,307 |
Total deferred tax assets | 319,913 |  |  | 292,093 |
Deferred tax liabilities: |  |  |  |  |
Depreciation and basis differences on property, plant and equipment | 715,482 |  |  | 679,809 |
Basis differences on natural gas and oil producing properties | 210,146 |  |  | 152,455 |
Regulatory matters | 84,963 |  |  | 64,017 |
Intangible asset amortization | 14,307 |  |  | 14,843 |
Other | 23,774 |  |  | 20,348 |
Total deferred tax liabilities | 1,048,672 |  |  | 931,472 |
Net deferred income tax liability | $ | (728,759 | ) |  | $ | (639,379 | )
As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, no valuation allowance has been recorded associated with the previously identified deferred tax assets. The following table reconciles the change in the net deferred income tax liability from December 31, 2010, to December 31, 2011, to deferred income tax expense:
| 2011 |
(In thousands) |
Change in net deferred income tax liability from the preceding table | $ | 89,380 |
Deferred taxes associated with other comprehensive loss | 9,678 |
Deferred taxes associated with discontinued operations | 8,090 |
Other | 11,777 |
Deferred income tax expense for the period | $ | 118,925 |
Total income tax expense (benefit) differs from the amount computed by applying the statutory federal income tax rate to income (loss) before taxes. The reasons for this difference were as follows:
Years ended December 31, | 2011 |  | 2010 |  | 2009
| Amount |  |  | % |  |  | Amount |  |  | % |  |  | Amount |  |  | % |
| (Dollars in thousands)
Computed tax at federal statutory rate | $ | 117,679 |  |  | 35.0 |  |  | $ | 128,293 |  |  | 35.0 |  |  | $ | (76,778 | ) |  | 35.0 |
Increases (reductions) resulting from: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit (expense) | 10,653 |  |  | 3.2 |  |  | 10,210 |  |  | 2.8 |  |  | (7,280 | ) |  | 3.3 |
Resolution of tax matters and uncertain tax positions | (3,906 | ) |  | (1.2 | ) |  | 667 |  |  | .2 |  |  | 881 |  |  | (.4 | )
Federal renewable energy credit | (3,485 | ) |  | (1.0 | ) |  | (2,185 | ) |  | (.6 | ) |  | (1,452 | ) |  | .7 |
Depletion allowance | (3,266 | ) |  | (1.0 | ) |  | (2,810 | ) |  | (.8 | ) |  | (2,320 | ) |  | 1.0 |
Deductible K-Plan dividends | (2,282 | ) |  | (.7 | ) |  | (2,309 | ) |  | (.6 | ) |  | (2,369 | ) |  | 1.1 |
Foreign operations | (391 | ) |  | (.1 | ) |  | (588 | ) |  | (.2 | ) |  | (1,148 | ) |  | .5 |
Domestic production activities deduction | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | (856 | ) |  | .4 |
Other | (4,728 | ) |  | (1.4 | ) |  | (8,748 | ) |  | (2.4 | ) |  | (4,770 | ) |  | 2.2 |
Total income tax expense (benefit) | $ | 110,274 |  |  | 32.8 |  |  | $ | 122,530 |  |  | 33.4 |  |  | $ | (96,092 | ) |  | 43.8 |
The income tax benefit in 2009 resulted largely from the Company's write-down of natural gas and oil properties, as discussed in Note 1. Deferred income taxes have been accrued with respect to temporary differences related to the Company's foreign operations. The amount of cumulative undistributed earnings for which there are temporary differences is approximately $6.9 million at December 31, 2011. The amount of deferred tax liability, net of allowable foreign tax credits, associated with the undistributed earnings at December 31, 2011, was approximately $1.6 million. The Company and its subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, and various state, local and foreign jurisdictions. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local, or non-U.S. income tax examinations by tax authorities for years ending prior to 2007. A reconciliation of the unrecognized tax benefits (excluding interest) for the years ended December 31 was as follows:
| 2011 |  |  | 2010 |  |  | 2009 |
| (In thousands)
Balance at beginning of year | $ | 9,378 |  |  | $ | 6,148 |  |  | $ | 5,586 |
Additions for tax positions of prior years | 4,172 |  |  | 3,230 |  |  | 562 |
Settlements | (2,344 | ) |  | — |  |  | — |
Balance at end of year | $ | 11,206 |  |  | $ | 9,378 |  |  | $ | 6,148 |
Included in the balance of unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2011 and 2010, were $6.6 million and $3.8 million, respectively, of tax positions for which the ultimate deductibility is highly certain but for which there is uncertainty about the timing of such deductibility. Because of the impact of deferred tax accounting, other than interest and penalties, the disallowance of the shorter deductibility period would not affect the annual effective tax rate but would accelerate the payment of cash to the taxing authority to an earlier period. The amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate was $6.0 million, including approximately $1.4 million for the payment of interest and penalties at December 31, 2011, and was $7.1 million, including approximately $1.5 million for the payment of interest and penalties at December 31, 2010. It is likely that substantially all of the unrecognized tax benefits, as well as interest, at December 31, 2011, will be settled in the next twelve months due to the anticipated settlement of federal and state audits. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the Company recognized approximately $780,000, $2.0 million and $190,000, respectively, in interest expense. Penalties were not material in 2011, 2010 and 2009. The Company recognized interest income of approximately $1.9 million, $20,000 and $165,000 for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. The Company had accrued liabilities of approximately $970,000 and $2.3 million at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, for the payment of interest.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for income taxes. Disclosures may include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32537-109319 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 136, 172 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 08 -Paragraph h -Article 4 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32559-109319 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32639-109319 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 15 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32718-109319 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6881521&loc=d3e23780-122690 + Details
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