v2.4.0.6

Income Taxes Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign

The jurisdictional components of income (loss) from continuing operations before income tax expense (benefit), attributable to Calpine, for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, are as follows (in millions):

	2011				2010				2009
U.S.	$	(232	)		$	(226	)		$	116
International	20				(4		)		13
Total	$	(212	)		$	(230	)		$	129

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

The components of income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, consisted of the following (in millions):

	2011				2010				2009
Current:
Federal	$	(16	)		$	(1	)		$	(2	)
State	12				10				(2		)
Foreign	3				3				3
Total current	(1		)		12				(1		)
Deferred:
Federal	(33		)		(70		)		13
State	9				—				4
Foreign	3				(10		)		(1		)
Total deferred	(21		)		(80		)		16
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	(22	)		$	(68	)	(1)	$	15

_________

(1) Includes approximately $13 million in intraperiod tax expense related to a prior period with an offsetting benefit in OCI.

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

A reconciliation of the federal statutory rate of 35% to our effective rate from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, is as follows:

	2011			2010			2009
Federal statutory tax expense (benefit) rate	(35.0	)%		(35.0	)%		35.0	%
State tax expense (benefit), net of federal benefit	6.5			2.8			1.0
Depletion in excess of basis	—			(1.3	)		—
Valuation allowances against future tax benefits	56.7			33.6			(139.2	)
Valuation allowances related to reconsolidation of CCFC	(36.0	)		—			—
Foreign taxes	(0.9	)		9.9			(9.2	)
Non-deductible reorganization items	0.5			0.3			1.3
Income from cancellation of indebtedness	—			—			69.0
Intraperiod allocation	19.9			(40.1	)		45.4
Bankruptcy settlement	(15.7	)		—			—
Change in unrecognized tax benefits	(6.6	)		0.6			1.4
Permanent differences and other items	0.2			(0.4	)		6.9
Effective income tax expense (benefit) rate	(10.4	)%		(29.6	)%		11.6	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of the deferred income taxes as of December 31, 2011 and 2010, are as follows (in millions):

	2011				2010
Deferred tax assets:
NOL and credit carryforwards	$	3,290			$	3,138
Taxes related to risk management activities and derivatives	58				18
Reorganization items and impairments	318				422
Foreign capital losses	24				25
Other differences	26				12
Deferred tax assets before valuation allowance	3,716				3,615
Valuation allowance	(2,336		)		(2,386		)
Total deferred tax assets	1,380				1,229
Deferred tax liabilities: property, plant and equipment	(1,364		)		(1,280		)
Net deferred tax asset (liability)	16				(51		)
Less: Current portion deferred tax asset (liability)	(2		)		(4		)
Less: Non-current deferred tax asset	18				30
Deferred income tax liability, non-current	$	—			$	(77	)

Schedule of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) Intraperiod Tax Allocation

The following table details the effects of our intraperiod tax allocations for the year ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 (in millions).

	2011				2010				2009
Intraperiod tax allocation expense (benefit) included in continuing operations	$	42			$	(86	)		$	43
Intraperiod tax allocation expense (benefit) included in discountinued operations	$	—			$	59			$	—
Intraperiod tax allocation expense (benefit) included in OCI	$	(45	)		$	27			$	(43	)

Schedule of Income Tax Contingencies

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of our unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, is as follows (in millions):

	2011				2010				2009
Balance, beginning of period	$	(88	)		$	(98	)		$	(90	)
Increases related to prior year tax positions	—				(1		)		(11		)
Decreases related to prior year tax positions	1				11				2
Settlements	—				—				1
Decrease related to lapse of statute of limitations	13				—				—
Balance, end of period	$	(74	)		$	(88	)		$	(98	)

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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 components of net deferred tax asset or liability recognized in an entity's statement of financial position, including the following: the total of all deferred tax liabilities, the total of all deferred tax assets, the total valuation allowance recognized for deferred tax assets.

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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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