Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

The components of income tax expense were as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
	(in millions)
Federal
Current	$	69.6		$	66.5		$	1.3
Deferred	47.5			18.4			112.0
State
Current	6.9			10.7			—
Deferred	2.1			5.9			3.6
Deferred investment tax credits recognized	(0.2		)	(0.2		)	(0.4		)
Total income tax expense	$	125.9		$	101.3		$	116.5

The difference between the statutory federal income tax rate and the Company's effective income tax rate is explained as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Federal income taxes statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increase (decrease) in rate as a result of:
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	1.6		4.0		1.0
Tax benefits from dividends paid to employee stock plan	(1.0	)	(1.0	)	(0.5	)
Other	0.1		0.6		—
Effective income tax rate	35.7	%	38.6	%	35.5	%

Significant components of Questar's deferred income taxes were as follows:



	December 31,
	2014			2013
	(in millions)
Deferred income taxes - noncurrent
Deferred tax liabilities
Property, plant and equipment	$	827.0		$	797.5
Employee benefits	52.0			30.2
Other	0.5			4.9
Deferred tax liabilities - noncurrent	879.5			832.6
Deferred tax assets
Asset retirement obligations	22.5			22.7
Pension and other postretirement benefits	110.8			73.7
Deferred compensation	15.7			14.5
Hedging activities	13.2			13.4
State tax credits	3.3			3.4
Valuation allowance	(1.6		)	(2.3		)
Deferred tax assets, net of allowance - noncurrent	163.9			125.4
Net deferred income tax liability - noncurrent	$	715.6		$	707.2

Deferred income taxes - current
Deferred tax assets - current	$	15.7		$	10.1
Deferred tax liabilities - current	9.9			0.4
Net deferred income tax asset - current	$	5.8		$	9.7

The components of income tax expense were as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
	(in millions)
Federal
Current	$	(11.9	)	$	6.0		$	(18.7	)
Deferred	42.4			23.5			45.1
State
Current	(1.9		)	0.6			—
Deferred	3.6			2.0			1.2
Deferred investment tax credit recognized	(0.2		)	(0.2		)	(0.4		)
Total income tax expense	$	32.0		$	31.9		$	27.2

The difference between the statutory federal income tax rate and Questar Gas's effective income tax rate is explained as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Federal income taxes statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increase (decrease) in rate as a result of:
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	1.3		2.1		1.0
Amortization of investment tax credits related to rate-regulated assets	(0.2	)	(0.3	)	(0.4	)
Other	0.6		0.9		1.0
Effective income tax rate	36.7	%	37.7	%	36.6	%

Significant components of Questar Gas's deferred income taxes were as follows:



	December 31,
	2014			2013
	(in millions)
Deferred income taxes - noncurrent
Deferred tax liabilities
Property, plant and equipment	$	354.4		$	322.6
Employee benefits	23.5			14.0
Other	0.5			4.9
Deferred tax liabilities - noncurrent	378.4			341.5
Deferred tax assets
Deferred compensation	0.9			0.8
Deferred tax assets - noncurrent	0.9			0.8
Net deferred income tax liability - noncurrent	$	377.5		$	340.7

Deferred income taxes - current
Deferred tax assets - current	$	3.6		$	3.3
Deferred tax liabilities - current	9.9			0.4
Net deferred income tax asset (liability) - current	$	(6.3	)	$	2.9

The components of income tax expense were as follows:

The difference between the statutory federal income tax rate and Questar Pipeline's effective income tax rate is explained as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Federal income taxes statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increase in rate as a result of:
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	1.5		8.5		1.6
Other	0.5		2.6		—
Effective income tax rate	37.0	%	46.1	%	36.6	%

Significant components of Questar Pipeline's deferred income taxes were as follows:



	December 31,
	2014			2013
	(in millions)
Deferred income taxes - noncurrent
Deferred tax liabilities
Property, plant and equipment	$	246.1		$	237.1
Employee benefits	10.8			7.4
Deferred tax liabilities - noncurrent	256.9			244.5
Deferred tax assets
Deferred compensation	2.0			1.8
Hedging activities	13.2			13.4
State tax credits	0.7			0.7
Valuation allowance	(0.4		)	—
Deferred tax assets, net of allowance - noncurrent	15.5			15.9
Net deferred income tax liability - noncurrent	$	241.4		$	228.6

Net deferred income tax asset - current	$	1.9		$	1.8