v2.4.1.9

Income Taxes Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign

The jurisdictional components of income from continuing operations before income tax expense, attributable to Calpine, for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, are as follows (in millions):

	2014				2013				2012
U.S.	$	942			$	(13	)		$	194
International	26				29				24
Total	$	968			$	16			$	218

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

The components of income tax expense from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, consisted of the following (in millions):

	2014				2013				2012
Current:
Federal	$	(1	)		$	(2	)		$	(12	)
State	19				(9		)		16
Foreign	(1		)		(1		)		14
Total current	17				(12		)		18
Deferred:
Federal	—				1				11
State	(1		)		4				(5		)
Foreign	6				9				(5		)
Total deferred	5				14				1
Total income tax expense	$	22			$	2			$	19

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, 2014, 2013 and 2012, is as follows:

	2014			2013			2012
Federal statutory tax expense (benefit) rate	35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
State tax expense (benefit), net of federal benefit	1.9			(69.8	)		3.2
Depletion in excess of basis	(0.3	)		(14.7	)		(0.2	)
Federal refunds	—			—			(4.7	)
Valuation allowances against future tax benefits	(35.8	)		89.8			(30.3	)
Valuation allowance related to foreign taxes	—			(19.8	)		(8.2	)
Distributions from foreign affiliates and foreign taxes	1.2			(10.8	)		3.7
Intraperiod allocation	—			4.5			4.6
Change in unrecognized tax benefits	(0.4	)		(30.1	)		5.1
Disallowed compensation	0.1			11.7			0.4
Stock-based compensation	0.1			8.6			0.2
Lobbying contributions	0.1			3.3			0.3
Other differences	0.4			4.8			(0.4	)
Effective income tax expense rate	2.3	%		12.5	%		8.7	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of deferred income taxes as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, are as follows (in millions):

	2014				2013
Deferred tax assets:
NOL and credit carryforwards	$	2,873			$	3,120
Taxes related to risk management activities and derivatives	61				60
Reorganization items and impairments	216				262
Foreign capital losses	16				18
Other differences	—				104
Deferred tax assets before valuation allowance	3,166				3,564
Valuation allowance	(1,836		)		(2,246		)
Total deferred tax assets	1,330				1,318
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	(1,305		)		(1,310		)
Other differences	(21		)		—
Total deferred tax liabilities	(1,326		)		(1,310		)
Net deferred tax asset	4				8
Less: Current portion deferred tax asset (liability)	(14		)		12
Less: Non-current deferred tax asset	19				7
Deferred income tax liability, non-current	$	(1	)		$	(11	)

Schedule of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) Intraperiod Tax Allocation

The following table details the effects of our intraperiod tax allocations for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 (in millions).

	2014				2013				2012
Intraperiod tax allocation expense included in continuing operations	$	—			$	1			$	9
Intraperiod tax allocation benefit included in OCI	$	—			$	(1	)		$	(9	)

Schedule of Income Tax Contingencies

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of our unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, is as follows (in millions):

	2014				2013				2012
Balance, beginning of period	$	(68	)		$	(92	)		$	(74	)
Increases related to prior year tax positions	(4		)		(7		)		(19		)
Decreases related to prior year tax positions	8				8				1
Decreases related to settlements	8				10				—
Decrease related to lapse of statute of limitations	—				13				—
Balance, end of period	$	(56	)		$	(68	)		$	(92	)

X

- Definition

Schedule of Income Tax Expense Benefit Intraperiod Tax Allocation Table Text Block

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cpn_ScheduleOfIncomeTaxExpenseBenefitIntraperiodTaxAllocationTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	cpn_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

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.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 740

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 9

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32639-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfComponentsOfIncomeTaxExpenseBenefitTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

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.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 740

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32537-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfDeferredTaxAssetsAndLiabilitiesTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the reconciliation using percentage or dollar amounts of the reported amount of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for the year to the amount of income tax expense that would result from applying domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 740

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 12

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32687-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of income before income tax between domestic and foreign jurisdictions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 235

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)(1)(i))

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfIncomeBeforeIncomeTaxDomesticAndForeignTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

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.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 740

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 15

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32718-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SummaryOfIncomeTaxContingenciesTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration