Energy Transfer 2013 Annual Report Download - page 205

Table of Contents
subsidiaries made matching contributions of $38 million, $21 million and $11 million to these 401(k) savings plans for the years ended December 31,
2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
Southern Union
Southern Union has funded non-contributory defined benefit pension plans that cover substantially all employees of Southern Union’s distribution
operations. Normal retirement age is 65, but certain plan provisions allow for earlier retirement. Pension benefits are calculated under formulas
principally based on average earnings and length of service for salaried and non-union employees and average earnings and length of service or negotiated
non-wage based formulas for union employees.
The 2012 postretirement benefits expense for Southern Union reflects the impact of curtailment accounting as postretirement benefits for all active
participants who did not meet certain criteria were eliminated. Southern Union previously had postretirement health care and life insurance plans that
covered substantially of its distribution and transportation and storage operations employees as well as all corporate employees. The health care plans
generally provide for cost sharing between Southern Union and its retirees in the form of retiree contributions, deductibles, coinsurance, and a fixed cost
cap on the amount Southern Union pays annually to provide future retiree health care coverage under certain of these plans.
Sunoco
Sunoco has both funded and unfunded noncontributory defined benefit pension plans. Sunoco also has plans which provide health care benefits for
substantially all of its current retirees (“postretirement benefit plans”). The postretirement benefit plans are unfunded and the costs are shared by Sunoco
and its retirees. Prior to the Sunoco Merger on October 5, 2012, pension benefits under Sunoco’s defined benefit plans were frozen for most of the
participants in these plans at which time Sunoco instituted a discretionary profit-sharing contribution on behalf of these employees in its defined
contribution plan. Postretirement medical benefits were also phased down or eliminated for all employees retiring after July 1, 2010. Sunoco has
established a trust for its postretirement benefit liabilities by making a tax-deductible contribution of approximately $200 million and restructuring the
retiree medical plan to eliminate Sunoco’s liability beyond this funded amount. The retiree medical plan change eliminated substantially all of Sunoco’s
future exposure to variances between actual results and assumptions used to estimate retiree medical plan obligations.
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