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Commitments and Contingencies | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2013
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Third-Party Power Purchase Agreements During the six months ended June 30, 2013, SCE had new power purchase contracts classified as operating leases. The additional commitments are estimated to be: $197 million for 2014, $198 million in 2015, $202 million in 2016, $264 million in 2017 and $1.8 billion for the period remaining thereafter. Other Commitments As of December 31, 2012, SCE had nuclear fuel supply commitments of $912 million for the 2013 – 2017 period and thereafter. As a result of the decision to permanently retire San Onofre Units 2 and 3, SCE has submitted fuel contract delivery cancellation notices for these contractual arrangements. As of June 30, 2013, SCE accrued a liability of $33 million related to estimated costs associated with the cancellation and management of future deliveries of nuclear fuel and recorded a regulatory asset for recovery of costs in the future. See Note 9 for further discussion of SCE's decision to permanently retire San Onofre. Indemnities Edison International and SCE have various financial and performance guarantees and indemnity agreements which are issued in the normal course of business. The contracts discussed below included performance guarantees. 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 in 2004 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 SCE has indemnified the City of Redlands, California in connection with Mountainview's California Energy Commission permit 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 Edison International and SCE provide 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. Edison International's and SCE's obligations under these agreements may or may not be limited in terms of time and/or amount, and in some instances Edison International and SCE may have recourse against third parties. Edison International and SCE have 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, Edison International and SCE are involved in other legal, tax and regulatory proceedings before various courts and governmental agencies regarding matters arising in the ordinary course of business. Edison International and SCE believe the outcome of these other proceedings will not, individually or in the aggregate, materially affect its results of operations or liquidity. San Onofre SCE believes that the actions taken and costs incurred in connection with the San Onofre replacement steam generators and outages have been prudent. Accordingly, SCE considers its operating, capital, and market power costs, recoverable through base rates and the ERRA balancing account, as offset by third-party recoveries where applicable. SCE cannot provide assurance that the CPUC will not disallow costs incurred or order refunds to customers of amounts collected in rates, or that SCE will be successful in recovering amounts from third parties. Disallowances of costs and/or refund of amounts received from customers could be material and adversely affect SCE's financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. SCE will pursue recoveries arising from available agreements, but there is no assurance that SCE will recover all of its applicable costs pursuant to these arrangements. See Note 9 for further details. EME Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing On the Petition Date, EME and certain of its wholly-owned subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court (see Note 16 for further details). Under the Support Agreement to which EME, Edison International and certain of EME's senior unsecured noteholders ("Consenting Noteholders") were parties, each of them had agreed to support Bankruptcy Court approval of the Settlement Transaction. EME was required to seek authority from the Bankruptcy Court to enter into the Settlement Transaction by the deadline set out in the Support Agreement and did not do so. EME's failure to meet this deadline rendered the Support Agreement terminable by Edison International or the Consenting Noteholders at any time, and on July 25, 2013, a requisite majority of the Consenting Noteholders provided Edison International and EME with a notice terminating the Support Agreement, effective August 1, 2013. As a result, the extension of the Tax Allocation Agreement contemplated by the Support Agreement has also terminated, and the Tax Allocation Agreement is now due to expire by its terms on December 31, 2013. Furthermore, claims, which Edison International submitted in the EME bankruptcy on a contingency basis, will not be released, and inasmuch as Edison International will not be entitled to the benefits of the Settlement Transaction, it will remain subject to any claims of EME and potentially its creditors, including claims relating to or arising out of any shared services, the Tax Allocation Agreement, and any other relationships or transactions between the companies. Edison International cannot, at this time, predict whether the parties will reach other agreements or if the termination of the Support Agreement will result in the pursuit of potential disputes among the parties. CPUC Safety and Enforcement Division Investigations San Gabriel Valley Windstorm Investigation In November 2011, a windstorm resulted in significant damage to SCE’s electric system and service outages for SCE customers primarily in the San Gabriel Valley. The CPUC directed its Safety and Enforcement Division (“SED”) to conduct an investigation focused on the cause of the outages, SCE’s service restoration effort, and SCE’s customer communications during the outages. The SED issued its final report on January 11, 2013. The report asserts that SCE and others with whom SCE shares utility poles violated certain CPUC safety rules applicable to overhead line construction, maintenance and operation, which may have caused the failures of affected poles and supporting cables. The report also concludes that SCE’s restoration time was not adequate and makes other assertions. Additionally, the report contends that SCE violated CPUC rules by failing to preserve evidence relevant to the investigation when it did not retain damaged poles that were replaced following the windstorm. If the CPUC issues an OII regarding this matter and SCE is found to have violated any CPUC rules, it could face penalties. SCE is unable to estimate a possible loss or range of loss associated with any penalties that may be imposed by the CPUC on SCE. Malibu Fire Order Instituting Investigation 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 SED 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 that SCE failed to preserve evidence relevant to the investigation and misled the CPUC during its investigation of the fire. In May 2013, SCE and the SED agreed to the terms of a proposed settlement that would cause SCE to pay a total of $37 million, $17 million of which will be allocated to pole safety studies and remediation in the Malibu area and $20 million of which will be a penalty paid to the State General Fund. The proposed settlement remains subject to CPUC approval. Four Corners New Source Review Litigation In October 2011, four private environmental organizations filed a CAA citizen 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 – 2010, constituted plant “major modifications” and the plant's failure to obtain permits and install best available control technology ("BACT") violated the PSD requirements and the New Source Performance Standards of the CAA. The complaint also alleges subsequent and continuing violations of BACT air emissions limits. The lawsuit seeks injunctive and declaratory relief, civil penalties, including a mitigation project and litigation costs. In November 2012, the parties requested a stay of the litigation to allow for settlement discussion, and the matter is currently stayed to August 2013. In November 2010, SCE entered into an agreement to sell its ownership interest in generating units 4 and 5 to APS. The sale remains contingent upon APS obtaining a long-term fuel supply agreement for the plant. As of January 2013, the sale agreement became terminable by either party, but as of the date of this report, the agreement has not been terminated. The purchase price is subject to certain adjustments under the sale agreement, which includes a reduction in the purchase price of $7.5 million for each month between October 1, 2012 and the closing date. 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. SCE is unable to estimate a possible loss or range of loss associated with this matter. Environmental Remediation Edison International 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. Edison International 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, operation and maintenance, monitoring and site closure. Unless there is a single probable amount, Edison International 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. At June 30, 2013, Edison International's recorded estimated minimum liability to remediate its 19 identified material sites (sites in which the upper end of the range of the costs is at least $1 million) at SCE was $122 million, including $90 million related to San Onofre. In addition to its identified material sites, SCE also has 39 immaterial sites for which the total minimum recorded liability was $4 million. Of the $126 million total environmental remediation liability for SCE, $122 million has been recorded as a regulatory asset. SCE expects to recover $30 million through an incentive mechanism that allows SCE to recover 90% of its environmental remediation costs at certain sites (SCE may request to include additional sites) and $91 million through a mechanism that allows SCE to recover 100% of the costs incurred at certain sites through customer rates. Edison International'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 Edison International 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. The ultimate costs to clean up Edison International'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. Edison International believes that, due to these uncertainties, it is reasonably possible that cleanup costs at the identified material sites and immaterial sites could exceed its recorded liability by up to $163 million and $8 million, respectively, all of which is related to SCE. The upper limit of this range of costs was estimated using assumptions least favorable to Edison International among a range of reasonably possible outcomes. SCE expects to clean up and mitigate its identified sites over a period of up to 30 years. Remediation costs for 2013 and in each of the next four years are expected to range from $6 million to $33 million. Costs incurred for the six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 was $3 million and $4 million, respectively. Based upon the CPUC's regulatory treatment of environmental remediation costs incurred at SCE, Edison International 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. NEIL, a mutual insurance company owned by entities with nuclear facilities, issues primary property damage, decontamination and excess property damage and accidental outage insurance policies. At San Onofre and Palo Verde, property damage insurance covers losses up to $500 million, including decontamination costs. Decontamination liability and excess property damage coverage exceeding the primary $500 million also has been purchased in amounts greater than the federal requirement of a minimum of approximately $1.1 billion. Property damage insurance also covers damages caused by acts of terrorism up to specified limits. Additional outage insurance covers part of replacement power expenses during an accident-related nuclear unit outage. 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 $52 million per year. Insurance premiums are charged to operating expense. Wildfire Insurance Severe wildfires in California have given rise to large damage claims against California utilities for fire-related losses alleged to be the result of the failure of electric and other utility equipment. Invoking a California Court of Appeal decision, plaintiffs pursuing these claims have relied on the doctrine of inverse condemnation, which can impose strict liability (including liability for a claimant's attorneys' fees) for property damage. On September 15, 2012, SCE's parent, Edison International, renewed its insurance coverage, which included coverage for SCE's wildfire liabilities up to a $550 million limit (with a self-insured retention of $10 million per wildfire occurrence). As of June 1, 2013, additional coverage for certain wildfire liabilities of $450 million was obtained. Various coverage limitations within the policies that make up the insurance coverage could result in additional self-insured costs in the event of multiple wildfire occurrences during the policy period (September 15, 2012 to August 31, 2013 and June 1, 2013 to May 31, 2014). SCE may experience coverage reductions and/or increased insurance costs in future years. No assurance can be given that future losses will not exceed the limits of SCE's insurance coverage. 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 the San Onofre 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. SCE received payment from the federal government in the amount of the damage award in November 2011. SCE has returned to the San Onofre co-owners their respective share of the damage award paid. SCE, as operating agent, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the San Onofre owners against the DOE in the Court of Federal Claims in December 2011 seeking damages of approximately $98 million for the period from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2010 for the DOE's failure to meet its obligation to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel. Additional legal action would be necessary to recover damages incurred after December 31, 2010. All damages recovered by SCE are subject to CPUC review as to how these amounts would be distributed among customers, shareholders, or to offset fuel decommissioning or storage costs.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name FASB Interpretation (FIN) -Number 14 -Paragraph 3 -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. Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.25) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6449706&loc=d3e16207-108621 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 460 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 8 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6398077&loc=d3e12565-110249 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6952336&loc=d3e14435-108349 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 440 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6394976&loc=d3e25287-109308 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 5 -Paragraph 9, 10, 11, 12 -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. + Details
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