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10-K - SCANA Corporation

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Table of Contents<br />

Purchase Commitments<br />

The Company is obligated for purchase commitments that expire at various dates through 2034. Amounts expended under<br />

forward contracts for natural gas purchases, gas transportation capacity agreements, coal supply contracts, nuclear fuel contracts,<br />

construction projects and other commitments totaled $1.7 billion in 2011, $1.9 billion in 20<strong>10</strong> and $1.7 billion in 2009. Future<br />

payments under such purchase commitments are as follows:<br />

Forward contracts for natural gas purchases include customary “make-whole” or default provisions, but are not considered to<br />

be “take-or-pay” contracts.<br />

Guarantees<br />

Millions of dollars<br />

2012 $ 1,542<br />

2013 1,037<br />

2014 897<br />

2015 804<br />

2016 801<br />

Thereafter 1,<strong>10</strong>8<br />

Total $ 6,189<br />

The Company issues guarantees on behalf of its consolidated subsidiaries to facilitate commercial transactions with third<br />

parties. These guarantees are in the form of performance guarantees, primarily for the purchase and transportation of natural gas,<br />

standby letters of credit issued by financial institutions and credit support for certain tax-exempt bond issues. The Company is not<br />

required to recognize a liability for guarantees issued on behalf of its subsidiaries unless it becomes probable that performance under<br />

the guarantees will be required. The Company believes the likelihood that it would be required to perform or otherwise incur any<br />

losses associated with these guarantees is remote; therefore, no liability for these guarantees has been recognized. To the extent that a<br />

liability subject to a guarantee has been incurred, the liability is included in the consolidated financial statements. At December 31,<br />

2011, the maximum future payments (undiscounted) that the Company could be required to make under guarantees totaled $1.5<br />

billion.<br />

Asset Retirement Obligations<br />

The Company recognizes a liability for the fair value of an ARO when incurred if the fair value of the liability can be<br />

reasonably estimated. Uncertainty about the timing or method of settlement of a conditional ARO is factored into the measurement of<br />

the liability when sufficient information exists, but such uncertainty is not a basis upon which to avoid liability recognition.<br />

The legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived tangible assets that results from their acquisition,<br />

construction, development and normal operation relate primarily to the Company’s regulated utility operations. As of December 31,<br />

2011, the Company has recorded an ARO of approximately $124 million for nuclear plant decommissioning (see Note 1) and an ARO<br />

of approximately $349 million for other conditional obligations related to generation, transmission and distribution properties,<br />

including gas pipelines. All of the amounts recorded are based upon estimates which are subject to varying degrees of imprecision,<br />

particularly since such payments will be made many years in the future.<br />

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending aggregate carrying amount of asset retirement obligations is as follows:<br />

Millions of dollars 2011 20<strong>10</strong><br />

Beginning balance $ 497 $ 477<br />

Liabilities incurred 1 1<br />

Liabilities settled (4) (1)<br />

Accretion expense 23 25<br />

Revisions in estimated cash flows (44) (5)<br />

Ending Balance $ 473 $ 497<br />

86

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