Xcel Energy 2013 Annual Report Download - page 158

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In 2013, Xcel Energy revised asbestos, ash containment facilities, radiation sources, miscellaneous electric production, electric
transmission and distribution, natural gas transmission and distribution and general AROs due to revised estimated cash flows.
Additionally, in 2013, an ARO was recorded to reflect the expected costs with the retirement of certain gas gathering facilities at PSCo
and AROs were settled for the asbestos abatement at the Cameo and Riverview generating facilities at PSCo and SPS, respectively.
(Thousands of Dollars)
Beginning
Balance
Jan. 1, 2012 Liabilities Recognized Liabilities Settled Accretion
Revisions
to Prior
Estimates
Ending
Balance
Dec. 31, 2012
Electric plant
Nuclear production decommissioning . . . . . . . . . $1,482,741 $ — $ — $ 75,301 $ (11,684) $1,546,358
Steam and other production ash containment . . . . 41,278 — — 1,614 18,843 61,735
Steam and other production asbestos . . . . . . . . . . 54,342 1,962 (9,372) 3,417 (4,888) 45,461
Wind production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,515 2,928 — 2,068 (9,647) 35,864
Electric distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,592 — — 1,000 (4,442) 24,150
Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,390 — — 92 670 3,152
Natural gas plant
Gas transmission and distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,201 — — 73 (16) 1,258
Common and other property
Common general plant asbestos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,135 — — 62 — 1,197
Common miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 — — 22 — 621
Total liability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,651,793 $ 4,890 $ (9,372) $ 83,649 $ (11,164) $1,719,796
The aggregate fair value of NSP-Minnesota’s legally restricted assets, for purposes of funding future nuclear decommissioning, was
$1.5 billion as of Dec. 31, 2012, consisting of external investment funds.
In 2012, revisions were made for nuclear decommissioning, asbestos, ash-containment facilities, wind facilities and electric
transmission and distribution AROs due to revised estimated cash flows.
Indeterminate AROs — PSCo has underground natural gas storage facilities that have special closure requirements for which the final
removal date cannot be determined; therefore, an ARO has not been recorded.
Removal Costs — Xcel Energy records a regulatory liability for the plant removal costs of steam and other generation, transmission
and distribution facilities of its utility subsidiaries. Generally, the accrual of future non-ARO removal obligations is not required.
However, long-standing ratemaking practices approved by applicable state and federal regulatory commissions have allowed
provisions for such costs in historical depreciation rates. These removal costs have accumulated over a number of years based on
varying rates as authorized by the appropriate regulatory entities. Given the long time periods over which the amounts were accrued
and the changing of rates over time, the utility subsidiaries have estimated the amount of removal costs accumulated through historic
depreciation expense based on current factors used in the existing depreciation rates.
The accumulated balances by entity were as follows at Dec. 31:
(Millions of Dollars) 2013 2012
NSP-Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 378 $ 377
NSP-Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 114
PSCo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 365
SPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 67
Total Xcel Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 906 $ 923
Nuclear Insurance
NSP-Minnesota’s public liability for claims resulting from any nuclear incident is limited to $13.6 billion under the Price-Anderson
amendment to the Atomic Energy Act. NSP-Minnesota has secured $375 million of coverage for its public liability exposure with a
pool of insurance companies. The remaining $13.2 billion of exposure is funded by the Secondary Financial Protection Program,
available from assessments by the federal government in case of a nuclear accident. NSP-Minnesota is subject to assessments of up to
$127.3 million per reactor per accident for each of its three licensed reactors, to be applied for public liability arising from a nuclear
incident at any licensed nuclear facility in the United States. The maximum funding requirement is $19.0 million per reactor during
any one year. These maximum assessment amounts are both subject to inflation adjustment by the NRC and state premium taxes. The
NRC’s last adjustment was effective September 2013.