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Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

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:

	2014			2013			2012
				(In thousands)
United States	$	411,182		$	415,202		$	(47,175	)
Foreign	(52		)	416			1,708
Income (loss) before income taxes from continuing operations	$	411,130		$	415,618		$	(45,467	)

Income tax expense (benefit)

Income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations for the years ended December 31 was as follows:

	2014			2013			2012
				(In thousands)
Current:
Federal	$	32,726		$	45,518		$	(26,858	)
State	5,390			4,311			858
Foreign	—			(29		)	(75		)
	38,116			49,800			(26,075		)
Deferred:
Income taxes:
Federal	81,017			78,953			(1,224		)
State	4,989			8,031			(6,323		)
Investment tax credit - net	1,009			(206		)	44
	87,015			86,778			(7,503		)
Change in uncertain tax positions	(5,183		)	—			1,974
Change in accrued interest	21			158			458
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	119,969		$	136,736		$	(31,146	)

Deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities

Components of deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities at December 31 were as follows:

	2014			2013
	(In thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Regulatory matters	$	134,567		$	125,607
Accrued pension costs	97,690			74,320
Alternative minimum tax credit carryforward	23,844			33,304
Compensation-related	38,654			31,550
Asset retirement obligations	34,296			29,578
Legal and environmental contingencies	10,049			10,710
Other	59,389			45,101
Total deferred tax assets	398,489			350,170
Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation and basis differences on property, plant and equipment	906,455			813,597
Basis differences on oil and natural gas producing properties	270,939			266,168
Regulatory matters	97,521			64,914
Intangible asset amortization	22,505			13,579
Other	29,676			26,170
Total deferred tax liabilities	1,327,096			1,184,428
Net deferred income tax liability	$	(928,607	)	$	(834,258	)

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, 2013, to December 31, 2014, to deferred income tax expense:

	2014
(In thousands)
Change in net deferred income tax liability from the preceding table	$	94,349
Deferred taxes associated with other comprehensive loss	2,360
Other	(9,694		)
Deferred income tax expense for the period	$	87,015

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,	2014					2013					2012
	Amount			%		Amount			%		Amount			%
	(Dollars in thousands)
Computed tax at federal statutory rate	$	143,895		35.0		$	145,466		35.0		$	(15,914	)	35.0
Increases (reductions) resulting from:
State income taxes, net of federal income tax	10,483			2.5		10,524			2.5		2,469			(5.4	)
Domestic production activities	(5,460		)	(1.3	)	(677		)	(.2	)	—			—
Nonqualified benefit plans	(1,624		)	(.4	)	(5,173		)	(1.2	)	(2,359		)	5.2
Depletion allowance	(4,010		)	(1.0	)	(3,764		)	(.9	)	(3,728		)	8.2
Federal renewable energy credit	(3,655		)	(.9	)	(3,404		)	(.8	)	(3,401		)	7.5
Deductible K-Plan dividends	(2,062		)	(.5	)	(1,593		)	(.4	)	(2,829		)	6.2
AFUDC equity	(2,031		)	(.5	)	(1,074		)	(.3	)	(1,500		)	3.3
Resolution of tax matters and uncertain tax positions	(7,367		)	(1.8	)	(859		)	(.2	)	2,559			(5.6	)
Deferred tax rate changes	9			—		741			.2		(3,083		)	6.8
Other	(8,209		)	(1.9	)	(3,451		)	(.8	)	(3,360		)	7.3
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	119,969		29.2		$	136,736		32.9		$	(31,146	)	68.5

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:

	2014			2013			2012
				(In thousands)
Balance at beginning of year	$	14,914		$	14,914		$	11,206
Additions for tax positions of prior years	—			—			3,708
Settlements	(14,777		)	—			—
Balance at end of year	$	137		$	14,914		$	14,914

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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 the reconciliation using percentage or dollar amounts of the reported amount of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for the year to the amount of income tax expense that would result from applying domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations.

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Tabular disclosure of income before income tax between domestic and foreign jurisdictions.

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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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