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Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Components of income (loss) before 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)

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	)

Deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities

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	)

Schedule of Change in Net Deferred Income Tax Liability Reconciliation [Table Text Block]

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

Reconciliation of income tax expense (benefit) at statutory federal rate versus actual rate

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

Reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits (excluding interest)

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

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Tabular disclosure of the components of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for each year presented including, but not limited to: current tax expense (benefit), deferred tax expense (benefit), investment tax credits, government grants, the benefits of operating loss carryforwards, tax expense that results from allocating certain tax benefits either directly to contributed capital or to reduce goodwill or other noncurrent intangible assets of an acquired entity, adjustments of a deferred tax liability or asset for enacted changes in tax laws or rates or a change in the tax status of the entity, and adjustments of the beginning-of-the-year balances of a valuation allowance because of a change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset in future years.

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Tabular disclosure of tax positions taken in the tax returns filed or to be filed for which it is more likely than not that the tax position will not be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities (i.e., uncertain tax positions) and other types of income tax contingencies, including: (1) the policy on classification of interest and penalties; (2) a tabular reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits at the beginning and end of the period; the total amount(s) of: (3) unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate, and (4) interest and penalties recognized in each of the income statement and balance sheet; (5) for positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts unrecognized will significantly change within 12 months of the reporting date the: (i) nature of the uncertainty, (ii) nature of the event that could occur that would cause the change, and (iii) an estimate of the range of the reasonably possible change or a statement that an estimate of the range cannot be made; and (6) a description of tax years that remain subject to examination by major tax jurisdictions.

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-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.



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