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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2011
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Third-Party Power Purchase Agreements During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, additional renewable energy power purchase contracts became effective and were classified as operating leases. SCE's additional commitments under these contracts are estimated to be: $116 million each year in 2012 – 2015 and $1.9 billion for the period remaining thereafter. In October 2011, SCE completed its 2011 annual request for offers and entered into new power purchase contracts with commitments estimated to be: $5 million in 2012, $81 million in 2013, $178 million in 2014 and $240 million in 2015. Other Commitments During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, SCE had a firm transmission agreement with additional commitments estimated to be: $1 million in 2011, $4 million each year in 2012 - 2015 and $78 million for the period remaining thereafter. Indemnities Indemnity Provided as Part of the Acquisition of Mountainview In connection with the acquisition of the Mountainview power plant, SCE agreed to indemnify the seller with respect to specific environmental claims related to SCE's previously owned San Bernardino Generating Station, divested by SCE in 1998 and reacquired as part of the Mountainview acquisition. SCE retained certain responsibilities with respect to environmental claims as part of the original divestiture of the station. The aggregate liability for either party to the purchase agreement for damages and other amounts is a maximum of $60 million. This indemnification for environmental liabilities expires on or before March 12, 2033. SCE has not recorded a liability related to this indemnity. Mountainview Filter Cake Indemnity The Mountainview power plant utilizes water from on-site groundwater wells and City of Redlands ("City") recycled water for cooling purposes. Unrelated to the operation of the plant, the groundwater contains perchlorate. The pumping of the water removes perchlorate from the aquifer beneath the plant and concentrates it in the plant's wastewater treatment "filter cake." Use of this impacted groundwater for cooling purposes was mandated by Mountainview's California Energy Commission permit. SCE has indemnified the City for cleanup or associated actions related to groundwater contaminated by perchlorate due to the disposal of filter cake at the City's solid waste landfill. The obligations under this agreement are not limited to a specific time period or subject to a maximum liability. SCE has not recorded a liability related to this indemnity. Other Indemnities SCE provides other indemnifications through contracts entered into in the normal course of business. These are primarily indemnifications against adverse litigation outcomes in connection with underwriting agreements, and indemnities for specified environmental liabilities and income taxes with respect to assets sold. SCE's obligations under these agreements may or may not be limited in terms of time and/or amount, and in some instances SCE may have recourse against third parties. SCE has not recorded a liability related to these indemnities. The overall maximum amount of the obligations under these indemnifications cannot be reasonably estimated. Contingencies In addition to the matters disclosed in these Notes, SCE is involved in other legal, tax and regulatory proceedings before various courts and governmental agencies regarding matters arising in the ordinary course of business. SCE believes the outcome of these other proceedings will not materially affect its results of operations or liquidity. Four Corners New Source Review Litigation In October 2011, four private environmental organizations filed a CAA citizens' lawsuit against the co-owners of Four Corners. The complaint alleges that certain work performed at the Four Corners generating units 4 and 5, over the approximate periods of 1985-1986 and 2007-present, constituted plant “major modifications” for which the plant should have, but did not, obtain permits and install best available control technology ("BACT") in violation of the PSD requirements and of the New Source Performance Standards of the CAA. The complaint also alleges subsequent and continuing violation of BACT air emissions limits. The lawsuit seeks injunctive and declaratory relief, civil penalties, including a mitigation project and litigation costs. In November 2010, SCE entered into an agreement to sell its ownership interest in generating units 4 and 5 to APS. The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in late 2012. Under the agreement SCE would remain responsible for its pro rata share of certain environmental liabilities, including penalties arising from environmental violations prior to the sale, but SCE would not be liable for any costs of installing BACT or other costs related to continuing or extending Four Corners operations. SCE cannot predict the outcome of these matters or estimate the impact on its financial statements. Concurrently, the US EPA has proposed a regional haze federal implementation plan based on an APS proposal that would require shut down of units 1, 2 and 3 by 2016 and the installation of selective catalytic reduction technology on units 4 and 5 by 2018. APS' proposal contemplated that these actions would both satisfy the federal regional haze requirements and resolve any New Source Review claims the US EPA might have. A final federal implementation plan is expected in early 2012. Malibu Fire Order Instituting Investigation ("OII") Following a 2007 wildfire in Malibu, California, the CPUC issued an OII to determine if any statutes, CPUC general orders, rules or regulations were violated by SCE or telecomm providers (“OII Respondents”) that shared the use of three failed power poles in the wildfire area. The CPUC's Consumer Protection and Safety Division (“CPSD”) has alleged, among other things, that the poles were overloaded, that the OII Respondents violated the CPUC's rules governing the design, construction and inspection of poles and misled the CPUC during its investigation of the fire, and that SCE failed to preserve evidence relevant to the investigation. In October 2011, the CPSD proposed that the OII Respondents be assessed penalties of approximately $99 million, with SCE being allocated approximately $50 million of the total. SCE has denied the allegations and believes the proposed penalties are excessive. CPSD's allegations will likely be set for hearing in the first quarter of 2012. SCE cannot predict the amount, if any, of penalties that the CPUC may ultimately impose on SCE. Navajo Nation Litigation On August 1, 2011, SCE and the other defendants entered into a comprehensive settlement with the Navajo Nation of the litigation filed in June 1999 against SCE and others concerning royalty payments to the Navajo for the coal supplied to the Mohave Generating Station. Pursuant to the settlement, the Navajo Nation lawsuit was dismissed. The settlement agreement reached with the Navajo Nation did not have a material impact on SCE's financial statements. Environmental Remediation SCE records its environmental remediation liabilities when site assessments and/or remedial actions are probable and a range of reasonably likely cleanup costs can be estimated. SCE reviews its sites and measures the liability quarterly, by assessing a range of reasonably likely costs for each identified site using currently available information, including existing technology, presently enacted laws and regulations, experience gained at similar sites, and the probable level of involvement and financial condition of other potentially responsible parties. These estimates include costs for site investigations, remediation, operations and maintenance, monitoring and site closure. Unless there is a single probable amount, SCE records the lower end of this reasonably likely range of costs (reflected in "Other long-term liabilities") at undiscounted amounts as timing of cash flows is uncertain. As of September 30, 2011, SCE's recorded estimated minimum liability to remediate its 24 identified material sites (sites in which the upper end of the range of costs is at least $1 million) was $51 million, of which $15 million was related to San Onofre. In addition to its identified material sites, SCE also has 33 immaterial sites for which the total minimum recorded liability was $3 million. The ultimate costs to clean up SCE's identified sites may vary from its recorded liability due to numerous uncertainties inherent in the estimation process, such as: the extent and nature of contamination; the scarcity of reliable data for identified sites; the varying costs of alternative cleanup methods; developments resulting from investigatory studies; the possibility of identifying additional sites; and the time periods over which site remediation is expected to occur. SCE believes that, due to these uncertainties, it is reasonably possible that cleanup costs at these identified material sites and immaterial sites could exceed its recorded liability by up to $195 million and $7 million, respectively. The upper limit of this range of costs was estimated using assumptions least favorable to SCE among a range of reasonably possible outcomes. The CPUC allows SCE to recover 90% of its environmental remediation costs at certain sites, representing $32 million of its recorded liability, through an incentive mechanism (SCE may request to include additional sites). In addition, SCE expects to recover 100% of environmental remediation costs incurred at the majority of the remaining sites through customer rates, representing $18 million of its recorded liability. SCE has recorded a regulatory asset of $50 million at September 30, 2011 for its estimated minimum environmental cleanup costs expected to be recovered through customer rates. SCE's identified sites include several sites for which there is a lack of currently available information, including the nature and magnitude of contamination, and the extent, if any, that SCE may be held responsible for contributing to any costs incurred for remediating these sites. Thus, no reasonable estimate of cleanup costs can be made for these sites. SCE expects to clean up its identified sites over a period of up to 30 years. Remediation costs in each of the next several years are expected to range from $7 million to $17 million. Costs incurred for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, were $9 million and $7 million, respectively. Based upon the CPUC's regulatory treatment of environmental remediation costs, SCE believes that costs ultimately recorded will not materially affect its results of operations, financial position or cash flows. There can be no assurance, however, that future developments, including additional information about existing sites or the identification of new sites, will not require material revisions to estimates. Nuclear Insurance Federal law limits public liability claims from a nuclear incident to the amount of available financial protection, which is currently approximately $12.6 billion. SCE and other owners of San Onofre and Palo Verde have purchased the maximum private primary insurance available ($375 million). The balance is covered by a loss sharing program among nuclear reactor licensees. If a nuclear incident at any licensed reactor in the United States results in claims and/or costs which exceed the primary insurance at that plant site, all nuclear reactor licensees could be required to contribute their share of the liability in the form of a deferred premium. Based on its ownership interests, SCE could be required to pay a maximum of approximately $235 million per nuclear incident. However, it would have to pay no more than approximately $35 million per incident in any one year. If the public liability limit above is insufficient, federal law contemplates that additional funds may be appropriated by Congress. This could include an additional assessment on all licensed reactor operators as a measure for raising further federal revenue. Property damage insurance covers losses up to $500 million, including decontamination costs, at San Onofre and Palo Verde. Decontamination liability and property damage coverage exceeding the primary $500 million also has been purchased in amounts greater than federal requirements. Additional insurance covers part of replacement power expenses during an accident-related nuclear unit outage. A mutual insurance company owned by entities with nuclear facilities issues these policies. If losses at any nuclear facility covered by the arrangement were to exceed the accumulated funds for these insurance programs, SCE could be assessed retrospective premium adjustments of up to approximately $48 million per year. Insurance premiums are charged to operating expense. Spent Nuclear Fuel Under federal law, the Department of Energy ("DOE") is responsible for the selection and construction of a facility for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The DOE did not meet its contractual obligation to begin acceptance of spent nuclear fuel by January 31, 1998. Extended delays by the DOE have led to the construction of costly alternatives and associated siting and environmental issues. Currently, both San Onofre and Palo Verde have interim storage for spent nuclear fuel on site sufficient for the current license period. In June 2010, the United States Court of Federal Claims issued a decision granting SCE and its co-owners damages of approximately $142 million to recover costs incurred through December 31, 2005 for the DOE's failure to meet its obligation to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel from San Onofre. The DOE's appeal of the decision was denied in August 2011. Additional legal action would be necessary to recover damages incurred after December 31, 2005. Any damages recovered are subject to CPUC review as to what amounts would be returned to SCE ratepayers or used to offset past or future fuel decommissioning or storage costs for the benefit of ratepayers.

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