Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Contractual Obligation, Fiscal Year Maturity Schedule

Management expects to recover these costs in future customer rates. As of December 31,2017, the future minimum commitments related to these purchase contracts were as follows:

(In thousands)		2018		2019		2020		2021		2022		Thereafter
Coal(a)	$	22,677	$	14,920	$	5,399	$	-	$	-	$	-
Natural gas
Transportation and storage(b)		20,981		20,830		20,830		20,830		20,830		74,141
Supply(c)		13,709		-		-		-		-		-
Purchase power(d)		44,350		32,444		31,479		32,120		18,887		44,641
Saratoga wind(e)		18,903		-		1,399		1,399		1,399		-
Other		7,444		1,371		1,241		935		890		837
	$	128,064	$	69,565	$	60,348	$	55,284	$	42,006	$	119,619

(a)Total coal commitments for the Columbia and Elm Road Units, including transportation. Fuel procurement for MGE's jointly owned Columbia and Elm Road Units is handled by WPL and WEPCO, respectively, who are the operators of those facilities.

(b)MGE's natural gas transportation and storage contracts require fixed monthly payments for firm supply pipeline transportation and storage capacity. The pricing components of the fixed monthly payments for the transportation and storage contracts are established by FERC but may be subject to change.

(c)These commitments include market-based pricing.

(d)MGE has several purchase power agreements to help meet future electric supply requirements. Management expects to recover these costs in future customer rates. In October 2008, MGE entered into a purchase power agreement to help meet future electric supply requirements. Under this agreement, MGE has agreed to purchase 50 MW of wind power from Osceola Windpower II, LLC, which is located in Iowa. This facility became operational in October 2008. MGE does not have any capacity payment commitments under this agreement. However, MGE is obligated to purchase its ratable share of the energy produced by the project. MGE's commitment related to its ratable share of energy produced by the project has been estimated and is included in the above numbers.

(e)The Saratoga Wind Farm is a planned 66 MW wind farm, consisting of 33 turbines, located near Saratoga, Iowa. The project was approved by the PSCW in December 2017, and construction is expected to begin in early 2018, with an estimated capital cost of $108 million.

Operating Leases, Future Minimum Rental Payments

Future minimum rental payments at December 31,2017, under agreements classified as operating leases with noncancelable terms in excess of one year are as follows:

(In thousands)		2018		2019		2020		2021		2022		Thereafter
Minimum lease payments	$	1,205	$	638	$	415	$	276	$	276	$	7,711

Other Commitments

MGE has several other commitments related to various projects. Payments for these commitments are expected to be as follows:

(In thousands)		2018		2019		2020		2021		2022		Thereafter
Other commitments	$	435	$	437	$	438	$	441	$	442	$	5,202