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Pension and Postretirement Benefit Costs
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2022
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Pension and Postretirement Benefit Costs Pension and Postretirement Benefit Costs
The components of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit costs, excluding the service cost for benefits earned, are included in “Net periodic benefit credit, excluding service cost” in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations.
Net periodic pension credit included the following components:
Three Months Ended March 31,
20222021
 (Dollars in millions)
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation$5.3 $5.1 
Expected return on plan assets(5.9)(5.7)
Net periodic pension credit$(0.6)$(0.6)
Annual contributions to the qualified plans are made in accordance with minimum funding standards and the Company’s agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Funding decisions also consider certain funded status thresholds defined by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (generally 80%). As of March 31, 2022, the Company’s qualified plans were expected to be at or above the Pension Protection Act thresholds. The Company is not required to make any contributions to its qualified pension plans in 2022 based on minimum funding requirements and does not expect to make any discretionary contributions in 2022 at this time.
In March 2022, Peabody Investments Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into a commitment agreement relating to the Peabody Investments Corp. Retirement Plan (the Plan) with The Prudential Insurance Company of America (Prudential) and Fiduciary Counselors Inc., as independent fiduciary to the Plan. Under the commitment agreement, the Plan purchased a group annuity contract (Group Annuity Contract) from Prudential for approximately $500 million and Prudential will reimburse the Plan for future benefit payments to be made to the Plan’s participants. Under the terms of this transaction, the Plan will continue to administer and pay the retirement benefits of Plan participants but will be reimbursed by Prudential for the payment of all benefits covered by the Group Annuity Contract. The purchase of the Group Annuity Contract was funded directly by the Plan’s assets. There will be no impact on the monthly retirement benefits paid to Plan participants. In addition, there will be no material impact on discretionary contributions for the Plan in 2022 or on the Company’s earnings in 2022 as a result of this transaction.
Net periodic postretirement benefit credit included the following components:
Three Months Ended March 31,
20222021
 (Dollars in millions)
Service cost for benefits earned$0.2 $0.2 
Interest cost on accumulated postretirement benefit obligation1.7 2.9 
Expected return on plan assets(0.2)(0.2)
Amortization of prior service credit(13.4)(11.0)
Net periodic postretirement benefit credit$(11.7)$(8.1)
In October 2021, the Company announced changes to its postretirement health care benefit plan for certain represented retirees which reduced its accumulated postretirement benefit obligation, as further described in Note 14. “Postretirement Health Care and Life Insurance Benefits” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. The reduction in liability was recorded with an offsetting balance in “Accumulated other comprehensive income” and is being amortized to earnings.
The Company has established a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust to pre-fund a portion of benefits for non-represented retirees. The Company does not expect to make any discretionary contributions to the VEBA trust in 2022 and plans to utilize a portion of VEBA assets to make certain benefit payments.