Employee Benefit Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

The components of net periodic benefit costs for Registrant’s pension plan, postretirement plan and SERP for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 were as follows:



	For The Three Months Ended September 30,
	Pension Benefits						Other Postretirement Benefits						SERP
(dollars in thousands)	2019			2018			2019			2018			2019		2018
Components of Net Periodic Benefits Cost:
Service cost	$	1,110		$	1,335		$	53		$	48		$	298	$	274
Interest cost	2,132			1,912			80			75			267		222
Expected return on plan assets	(2,594		)	(2,793		)	(112		)	(123		)	—		—
Amortization of prior service cost	109			—			—			—			—		—
Amortization of actuarial (gain) loss	355			314			(150		)	(212		)	118		262
Net periodic benefits costs under accounting standards	1,112			768			(129		)	(212		)	683		758
Regulatory adjustment - deferred	(160		)	—			—			—			—		—
Total expense (benefit) recognized, before surcharges and allocation to overhead pool	$	952		$	768		$	(129	)	$	(212	)	$	683	$	758



	For The Nine Months Ended September 30,
	Pension Benefits						Other Postretirement Benefits						SERP
(dollars in thousands)	2019			2018			2019			2018			2019		2018
Components of Net Periodic Benefits Cost:
Service cost	$	3,330		$	4,005		$	159		$	162		$	894	$	822
Interest cost	6,396			5,736			240			219			801		666
Expected return on plan assets	(7,782		)	(8,379		)	(336		)	(369		)	—		—
Amortization of prior service cost	327			—			—			—			—		—
Amortization of actuarial (gain) loss	1,065			942			(450		)	(576		)	354		786
Net periodic benefits costs under accounting standards	3,336			2,304			(387		)	(564		)	2,049		2,274
Regulatory adjustment - deferred	(502		)	—			—			—			—		—
Total expense (benefit) recognized, before surcharges and allocation to overhead pool	$	2,834		$	2,304		$	(387	)	$	(564	)	$	2,049	$	2,274

During the third quarter of 2019, Registrant contributed approximately $3.9 million to its pension plan.

As authorized by the CPUC in the water and electric general rate case decisions, GSWC utilizes two-way balancing accounts for its water and electric regions and the general office to track differences between the forecasted annual pension expenses in rates, or expected to be in rates, and the actual annual expense recorded by GSWC in accordance with the accounting guidance for pension costs. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, GSWC's actual pension expense was higher than the amounts included in water customer rates by $160,000 and $502,000 , respectively. As of September 30, 2019, GSWC had a $2.8 million net over-collection in the two-way pension balancing accounts included as part of the pension regulatory asset (Note 3).