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Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss (Notes)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss [Abstract]  
Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]
COMMON STOCK
The payment of dividends on common stock could be limited by:
•
certain covenants applicable to preferred stock (when outstanding) contained in the Company’s Restated Articles of Incorporation, as amended (currently there are no preferred shares outstanding),
•
certain covenants applicable to the Company's outstanding long-term debt and committed line of credit agreements,
•
the hydroelectric licensing requirements of section 10(d) of the FPA (see Note 1), and
•
certain requirements under the OPUC approval of the AERC acquisition in 2014. The OPUC's AERC acquisition order requires Avista Utilities to maintain a capital structure of no less than 40 percent common equity (inclusive of short-term debt). This limitation may be revised upon request by the Company with approval from the OPUC.
As of December 31, 2018, the acquisition of the Company by Hydro One had not yet been terminated. As such, the Merger Agreement was still in effect at that time. Under the Merger Agreement, the annual dividends were not to increase by more than $0.06 per year over the 2017 dividend rate, thus limiting annual dividends to $1.49 per share.
Now that the Merger Agreement has been terminated, the requirements of the OPUC approval of the AERC acquisition are the most restrictive. Under the OPUC restriction, the amount available for dividends at December 31, 2018 was limited to $231.1 million.
See the Consolidated Statements of Equity for dividends declared in the years 2018 through 2016.
The Company has 10 million authorized shares of preferred stock. The Company did not have any preferred stock outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.
Equity Issuances
The Company has entered into four separate sales agency agreements under which the sales agents may offer and sell new shares of the Company's common stock from time to time. No shares were issued under these agreements during 2018. These agreements provide for the offering of a maximum of 3.8 million shares, of which approximately 1.1 million remain unissued as of December 31, 2018. Subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions (including any required regulatory approvals), the Company has the right to increase the maximum number of shares that may be offered under these agreements.
ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, consisted of the following as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2018
 
2017
Unfunded benefit obligation for pensions and other postretirement benefit plans - net of taxes of $2,091 and $4,356, respectively (a)
$
7,866

 
$
8,090

(a)
Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASU No. 2018-02. As a result of the adoption of this new standard, $1.7 million in excess tax benefits was reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss to retained earnings. See Note 2 for additional discussion of the adoption of this standard.
The following table details the reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the years ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
 
Amounts Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
 
 
Details about Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss Components
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
 
Affected Line Item in Statement of Income
Amortization of defined benefit pension items
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amortization of net prior service cost
 
$
(904
)
 
$
(4,381
)
 
$
(1,171
)
 
(a)
Amortization of net loss
 
(15,554
)
 
36,833

 
(7,602
)
 
(a)
Adjustment due to effects of regulation (b)
 
18,947

 
(33,255
)
 
7,360

 
(a)
 
 
2,489

 
(803
)
 
(1,413
)
 
Total before tax
 
 
(523
)
 
281

 
495

 
Tax benefit (expense)
 
 
$
1,966

 
$
(522
)
 
$
(918
)
 
Net of tax
(a)
These accumulated other comprehensive loss components are included in the computation of net periodic pension cost (see Note 10 for additional details).
(b)
The adjustment for the effects of regulation during the year ended December 31, 2016 includes approximately $2.1 million related to the reclassification of a pension regulatory asset associated with one of our jurisdictions into accumulated other comprehensive loss.