Palo Verde	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Palo Verde [Abstract]
Palo Verde	Palo Verde Spent Nuclear Fuel and Waste Disposal Pursuant to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended in 1987 (the "NWPA"), the United States Department of Energy ("DOE") is legally obligated to accept and dispose of all spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste generated by all domestic power reactors by 1998. The DOE's obligations are reflected in a contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High-Level Radioactive Waste (the "Standard Contract") with each nuclear power plant. The DOE failed to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel by 1998. On December 19, 2012, Arizona Public Service Company ("APS"), acting on behalf of itself and the participant owners of Palo Verde, filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the DOE in the United States Court of Federal Claims ("Court of Federal Claims"). On April 21, 2014, the Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of APS and awarded APS and the other Palo Verde Participants a one-time payment of approximately $57 million for its claim for spent nuclear fuel related damages from January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2011, and reimbursement for certain ongoing future spent nuclear fuel storage costs through at least 2016 through an annual claims submission process. The Company is expected to receive in the second half of 2014 approximately $9 million, representing its share of the award and anticipates that the majority of the award will be refunded to customers through the applicable fuel adjustment clauses. The One-Mill Fee. In 2011, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the Nuclear Energy Institute challenged DOE's 2010 determination of the adequacy of the one tenth of a cent per kWh fee (the "one-mill fee") paid by the nation's commercial nuclear power plant owners pursuant to their individual obligations under the Standard Contract. This fee is recovered by the Company through applicable fuel adjustment clauses. In June 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the "D.C. Circuit") held that DOE failed to conduct a sufficient fee analysis in making the 2010 determination. The D.C. Circuit remanded the 2010 determination to the Secretary of the DOE ("Secretary") with instructions to conduct a new fee adequacy determination within six months. In February 2013, upon completion of the DOE's revised one-mill fee adequacy determination, the court reopened the proceedings. On November 19, 2013, the D.C. Circuit ordered the Secretary to notify Congress of his intent to suspend collecting annual fees for nuclear waste disposal from nuclear power plant operators, as he is required to do pursuant to the NWPA and the court's order. On January 3, 2014, the Secretary notified Congress of his intention to suspend collection of the one-mill fee, subject to Congress' disapproval and on May 12, 2014, APS was notified by the DOE that, effective May 16, 2014, the one-mill fee would be suspended. Electricity generated and sold prior to May 16, 2014 remained subject to the one-mill fee.

Palo Verde

Spent Nuclear Fuel and Waste Disposal

Pursuant to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended in 1987 (the "NWPA"), the United States Department of Energy ("DOE") is legally obligated to accept and dispose of all spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste generated by all domestic power reactors by 1998. The DOE's obligations are reflected in a contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High-Level Radioactive Waste (the "Standard Contract") with each nuclear power plant. The DOE failed to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel by 1998. On December 19, 2012, Arizona Public Service Company ("APS"), acting on behalf of itself and the participant owners of Palo Verde, filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the DOE in the United States Court of Federal Claims ("Court of Federal Claims"). On April 21, 2014, the Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of APS and awarded APS and the other Palo Verde Participants a one-time payment of approximately $57 million for its claim for spent nuclear fuel related damages from January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2011, and reimbursement for certain ongoing future spent nuclear fuel storage costs through at least 2016 through an annual claims submission process. The Company is expected to receive in the second half of 2014 approximately $9 million, representing its share of the award and anticipates that the majority of the award will be refunded to customers through the applicable fuel adjustment clauses.

The One-Mill Fee. In 2011, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the Nuclear Energy Institute challenged DOE's 2010 determination of the adequacy of the one tenth of a cent per kWh fee (the "one-mill fee") paid by the nation's commercial nuclear power plant owners pursuant to their individual obligations under the Standard Contract. This fee is recovered by the Company through applicable fuel adjustment clauses. In June 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the "D.C. Circuit") held that DOE failed to conduct a sufficient fee analysis in making the 2010 determination. The D.C. Circuit remanded the 2010 determination to the Secretary of the DOE ("Secretary") with instructions to conduct a new fee adequacy determination within six months. In February 2013, upon completion of the DOE's revised one-mill fee adequacy determination, the court reopened the proceedings. On November 19, 2013, the D.C. Circuit ordered the Secretary to notify Congress of his intent to suspend collecting annual fees for nuclear waste disposal from nuclear power plant operators, as he is required to do pursuant to the NWPA and the court's order. On January 3, 2014, the Secretary notified Congress of his intention to suspend collection of the one-mill fee, subject to Congress' disapproval and on May 12, 2014, APS was notified by the DOE that, effective May 16, 2014, the one-mill fee would be suspended. Electricity generated and sold prior to May 16, 2014 remained subject to the one-mill fee.