EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

The components of net pension expense for the Company’s two defined benefit non-contributory pension plans and certain nonqualified supplemental pension plans were:



	Three months ended September 30,						Nine months ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2013			2012			2013			2012
Components of net periodic benefit cost:
Service cost	$	3,602		$	2,632		$	10,806		$	7,895
Interest cost	2,725			2,700			8,161			8,101
Expected long-term return on assets	(3,713		)	(3,563		)	(11,139		)	(10,689		)
Actuarial loss	3,597			2,099			10,962			6,297
Prior service cost amortization	123			129			367			388
Settlement charge	17			—			161			—
Net periodic expense	$	6,351		$	3,997		$	19,318		$	11,992

There are no required contributions to the qualified pension plans during 2013. Additionally, it is not anticipated that the funded status of the qualified pension plans will fall below statutory thresholds requiring accelerated funding or constraints on benefit levels or plan administration. The Company made a discretionary contribution of $9.0 million to the qualified pension plans in January 2013. No additional discretionary contributions are expected to be made to the pension plans during 2013. During 2014, the Company may make discretionary contributions to the qualified pension plans depending on the amount and timing of employee retirements and market conditions. For the three months and nine months ending September 30, 2013, the Company made benefit payments aggregating $0.2 million and $1.1 million, respectively, to retirees from the nonqualified supplemental retirement plans and expects to make additional benefit payments of approximately $36,000 through the remainder of 2013. In the first quarter of 2013, the Company incurred a settlement charge of $0.5 million for the payment of lump sums from the nonqualified supplemental retirement plans, of which $0.1 million was expensed and $0.4 million was recognized as a pension and postretirement asset in regulatory assets at Alagasco. In the third quarter of 2013, the Company incurred a settlement charge of $64,000 for the payment of lump sums from the nonqualified supplemental retirement plans, of which $18,000 was expensed and $46,000 was recognized as a pension and postretirement asset in regulatory assets at Alagasco.

The components of net periodic postretirement benefit expense for the Company’s postretirement benefit plans were:



	Three months ended September 30,						Nine months ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2013			2012			2013			2012
Components of net periodic benefit cost:
Service cost	$	444		$	463		$	1,333		$	1,390
Interest cost	869			1,062			2,605			3,186
Expected long-term return on assets	(1,242		)	(1,109		)	(3,727		)	(3,328		)
Actuarial loss	—			9			—			27
Transition amortization	324			479			973			1,438
Net periodic expense	$	395		$	904		$	1,184		$	2,713

For the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company made contributions aggregating $0.4 million and $1.2 million to the postretirement benefit plans. The Company expects to make additional discretionary contributions of approximately $0.4 million to the postretirement benefit plans through the remainder of 2013.