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Regulatory assets and liabilities | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2020
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract] |
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities | Regulatory assets and liabilities The following table summarizes the individual components of unamortized regulatory assets and liabilities:
| Estimated Recovery Period as of March 31, 2020 | * | March 31, 2020 |  | March 31, 2019 |  | December 31, 2019 |
|  |  | (In thousands)
Regulatory assets: |  |  |  |  |
Current: |  |  |  |  |
Natural gas costs recoverable through rate adjustments | Up to 1 year |  | $ | 39,805 |  | $ | 61,236 |  | $ | 42,823 |
Cost recovery mechanisms | Up to 1 year |  | 6,686 |  | 6,661 |  | 6,288 |
Conservation programs | Up to 1 year |  | 6,303 |  | 5,613 |  | 6,963 |
Other | Up to 1 year |  | 2,412 |  | 984 |  | 7,539 |
|  |  | 55,206 |  | 74,494 |  | 63,613 |
Noncurrent: |  |  |  |  |
Pension and postretirement benefits | ** |  | 157,051 |  | 165,879 |  | 157,069 |
Asset retirement obligations | Over plant lives |  | 67,475 |  | 63,633 |  | 66,000 |
Plant to be retired | - |  | 41,080 |  | 6,691 |  | 32,931 |
Natural gas costs recoverable through rate adjustments | Up to 3 years |  | 33,027 |  | 30,229 |  | 46,381 |
Manufactured gas plant site remediation | - |  | 15,699 |  | 17,064 |  | 15,126 |
Cost recovery mechanisms | Up to 10 years |  | 11,891 |  | 11,174 |  | 13,108 |
Taxes recoverable from customers | Over plant lives |  | 11,082 |  | 11,858 |  | 11,486 |
Long-term debt refinancing costs | Up to 17 years |  | 4,133 |  | 4,746 |  | 4,286 |
Costs related to identifying generation development | Up to 7 years |  | 1,937 |  | 2,394 |  | 2,052 |
Other | Up to 19 years |  | 4,814 |  | 5,451 |  | 5,345 |
|  |  | 348,189 |  | 319,119 |  | 353,784 |
Total regulatory assets |  |  | $ | 403,395 |  | $ | 393,613 |  | $ | 417,397 |
Regulatory liabilities: |  |  |  |  |
Current: |  |  |  |  |
Natural gas costs refundable through rate adjustments |  |  | $ | 32,181 |  | $ | 29,739 |  | $ | 23,825 |
Taxes refundable to customers |  |  | 4,002 |  | 8,139 |  | 3,472 |
Other |  |  | 23,889 |  | 23,512 |  | 15,638 |
|  |  | 60,072 |  | 61,390 |  | 42,935 |
Noncurrent: |  |  |  |  |
Taxes refundable to customers |  |  | 240,148 |  | 259,638 |  | 246,034 |
Plant removal and decommissioning costs |  |  | 174,120 |  | 172,569 |  | 173,722 |
Pension and postretirement benefits |  |  | 18,040 |  | 15,239 |  | 18,065 |
Other |  |  | 10,897 |  | 9,638 |  | 9,549 |
|  |  | 443,205 |  | 457,084 |  | 447,370 |
Total regulatory liabilities |  |  | $ | 503,277 |  | $ | 518,474 |  | $ | 490,305 |
Net regulatory position |  |  | $ | (99,882 | ) | $ | (124,861 | ) | $ | (72,908 | )
* | Estimated recovery period for regulatory assets currently being recovered in rates charged to customers.
** | Recovered as expense is incurred or cash contributions are made.
A portion of the Company's regulatory assets are not earning a return; however, these regulatory assets are expected to be recovered from customers in future rates. As of March 31, 2020 and 2019, and December 31, 2019, approximately $285.8 million, $279.4 million and $276.5 million, respectively, of regulatory assets were not earning a rate of return. In 2019, the Company experienced increased natural gas costs in Washington from the rupture of the Enbridge pipeline in Canada in late 2018. As a result, the Company requested, and the WUTC approved, recovery of the balance of natural gas costs recoverable related to this period of time over three years rather than its normal one-year recovery period. In February 2019, the Company announced that it intends to retire three aging coal-fired electric generating units in early 2021 and early 2022. The Company has accelerated the depreciation related to these facilities in property, plant and equipment and has recorded the difference between the accelerated depreciation, in accordance with GAAP, and the depreciation approved for rate-making purposes as regulatory assets. The Company expects to recover the regulatory assets related to the plants to be retired in future rates. If, for any reason, the Company's regulated businesses cease to meet the criteria for application of regulatory accounting for all or part of their operations, the regulatory assets and liabilities relating to those portions ceasing to meet such criteria would be removed from the balance sheet and included in the statement of income or accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the period in which the discontinuance of regulatory accounting occurs.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for detailed information about regulatory assets and liabilities, including current and noncurrent assets created when regulatory agencies permit the deferral of costs to the balance sheet that would otherwise be required to appear on the company's income statement and would be charged against current expenses or revenues, as well as current and noncurrent liabilities created when regulatory agencies permit. + References No definition available. + Details
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