Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income tax expense for continuing operations including noncontrolling interests

Details of income tax expense for continuing operations including noncontrolling interests were as follows:

	Dominion									Virginia Power									Dominion Gas
Year Ended December 31,	2014			2013			2012			2014			2013			2012			2014		2013		2012
(millions)
Current:
Federal	$	(11	)	$	317		$	43		$	85		$	357		$	70		$	86	$	158	$	(8	)
State	14			110			84			67			62			81			32		41		2
Total current expense (benefit)	3			427			127			152			419			151			118		199		(6		)
Deferred:
Federal
Taxes before operating loss carryforwards and investment tax credits	956			563			645			381			224			482			192		92		257
Tax benefit of operating loss carryforwards	(352		)	(18		)	—			—			—			—			—		—		—
Investment tax credits	(152		)	(48		)	—			—			—			—			—		—		—
State	(2		)	(31		)	40			16			17			21			24		10		37
Total deferred expense	450			466			685			397			241			503			216		102		294
Amortization of deferred investment tax credits	(1		)	(1		)	(1		)	(1		)	(1		)	(1		)	—		—		—
Total income tax expense	$	452		$	892		$	811		$	548		$	659		$	653		$	334	$	301	$	288

Effective income tax

For continuing operations including noncontrolling interests, the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate reconciles to the Companies' effective income tax rate as follows:

	Dominion						Virginia Power						Dominion Gas
Year Ended December 31,	2014		2013		2012		2014		2013		2012		2014		2013		2012
U.S. statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increases (reductions) resulting from:
State taxes, net of federal benefit	—		2.1		4.2		3.8		3.1		3.9		4.4		4.3		3.4
Investment tax credits	(8.6	)	(1.8	)	—		—		—		—		—		—		—
Production tax credits	(1.2	)	(0.6	)	(0.5	)	(0.6	)	(0.2	)	—		—		—		—
Valuation allowances	0.7		(0.1	)	(0.7	)	—		—		—		—		—		—
AFUDC - equity	—		(0.6	)	(0.9	)	—		(0.8	)	(0.9	)	—		(0.1	)	(0.6	)
Employee stock ownership plan deduction	(0.9	)	(0.6	)	(0.7	)	—		—		—		—		—		—
Other, net	0.4		(0.4	)	(0.6	)	0.8		(0.4	)	0.3		0.1		0.3		0.7
Effective tax rate	25.4	%	33.0	%	35.8	%	39.0	%	36.7	%	38.3	%	39.5	%	39.5	%	38.5	%

The Companies deferred income taxes components

The Companies' deferred income taxes consist of the following:

	Dominion						Virginia Power						Dominion Gas
At December 31,	2014			2013			2014			2013			2014			2013
(millions)
Deferred income taxes:
Total deferred income tax assets	$	2,023		$	2,142		$	500		$	462		$	227		$	216
Total deferred income tax liabilities	8,663			8,463			4,915			4,498			2,289			2,103
Total net deferred income tax liabilities	$	6,640		$	6,321		$	4,415		$	4,036		$	2,062		$	1,887
Total deferred income taxes:
Plant and equipment, primarily depreciation method and basis differences	$	5,895		$	5,383		$	3,965		$	3,628		$	1,417		$	1,266
Nuclear decommissioning	1,241			1,136			474			441			—			—
Deferred state income taxes	659			606			299			285			207			182
Federal benefit of deferred state income taxes	(231		)	(212		)	(105		)	(100		)	(72		)	(64		)
Deferred fuel, purchased energy and gas costs	27			(33		)	18			(50		)	7			13
Pension benefits	272			435			(77		)	(52		)	567			522
Other postretirement benefits	(17		)	(78		)	13			(3		)	(12		)	(13		)
Loss and credit carryforwards	(1,434		)	(797		)	(116		)	(106		)	(10		)	(10		)
Valuation allowances	87			69			—			—			—			—
Partnership basis differences	304			125			—			—			42			42
Other	(163		)	(313		)	(56		)	(7		)	(84		)	(51		)
Total net deferred income tax liabilities	$	6,640		$	6,321		$	4,415		$	4,036		$	2,062		$	1,887

Reconciliation of changes in the Companies unrecognized tax benefits

A reconciliation of changes in the Companies' unrecognized tax benefits follows:

	Dominion									Virginia Power									Dominion Gas
	2014			2013			2012			2014			2013			2012			2014		2013			2012
(millions)
Balance at January 1	$	222		$	293		$	347		$	39		$	57		$	114		$	29	$	30		$	30
Increases-prior period positions	24			17			28			2			12			4			—		—			—
Decreases-prior period positions	(26		)	(99		)	(106		)	(16		)	(42		)	(80		)	—		(1		)	—
Increases-current period positions	16			30			43			11			14			24			—		—			—
Decreases-current period positions	—			(5		)	—			—			—			—			—		—			—
Settlements with tax authorities	—			(2		)	(4		)	—			(2		)	(4		)	—		—			—
Expiration of statutes of limitations	(91		)	(12		)	(15		)	—			—			(1		)	—		—			—
Balance at December 31	$	145		$	222		$	293		$	36		$	39		$	57		$	29	$	29		$	30

Earliest tax year remaining

For each of the major states in which Dominion operates, the earliest tax year remaining open for examination is as follows:

State	Earliest Open Tax Year
Pennsylvania(1)	2010
Connecticut	2011
Virginia(2)	2011
West Virginia(1)	2011
New York(1)	2007

(1) Considered a major state for Dominion Gas' operations.

(2) Considered a major state for Virginia Power's operations.

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) from Discontinued Operations

Details of income tax expense for Dominion's discontinued operations were as follows:

Year Ended December 31,	2013		2012
(millions)
Current:
Federal	(274	)	(248	)
State	(41	)	(6	)
Total current benefit	(315	)	(254	)
Deferred:
Federal	232		(368	)
State	40		(70	)
Total deferred expense (benefit)	272		(438	)
Total income tax benefit	(43	)	(692	)