Nuclear Decommissioning Trust

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts

Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts

13. Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts

To fund the costs APS expects to incur to decommission Palo Verde, APS established external decommissioning trusts in accordance with NRC regulations.  Third-party investment managers are authorized to buy and sell securities per their stated investment guidelines.  The trust funds are invested in fixed income securities and equity securities.  APS classifies investments in decommissioning trust funds as available for sale.  As a result, we record the decommissioning trust funds at their fair value on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.  See Note 12 for a discussion of how fair value is determined and the classification of the nuclear decommissioning trust investments within the fair value hierarchy.  Because of the ability of APS to recover decommissioning costs in rates and in accordance with the regulatory treatment for decommissioning trust funds, we have deferred realized and unrealized gains and losses (including other-than-temporary impairments on investment securities) in other regulatory liabilities.  The following table includes the unrealized gains and losses based on the original cost of the investment and summarizes the fair value of APS’s nuclear decommissioning trust fund assets at March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012 (dollars in millions):

	Fair Value			Total Unrealized Gains		Total Unrealized Losses
March 31, 2013
Equity securities	$	226		$	87	$	—
Fixed income securities	379			21		(1		)
Net payables (a)	(9		)	—		—
Total	$	596		$	108	$	(1	)

(a) Net payables relate to pending securities sales and purchases.

	Fair Value			Total Unrealized Gains		Total Unrealized Losses
December 31, 2012
Equity securities	$	204		$	67	$	—
Fixed income securities	371			24		—
Net payables (a)	(4		)	—		—
Total	$	571		$	91	$	—

(a) Net payables relate to pending securities sales and purchases.

The costs of securities sold are determined on the basis of specific identification.  The following table sets forth approximate realized gains and losses and proceeds from the sale of securities by the nuclear decommissioning trust funds (dollars in millions):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2013			2012
Realized gains	$	2		$	2
Realized losses	(1		)	(1		)
Proceeds from the sale of securities (a)	135			92

(a) Proceeds are reinvested in the trust.

The fair value of fixed income securities, summarized by contractual maturities, at March 31, 2013 is as follows (dollars in millions):

	Fair Value
Less than one year	$	17
1 year - 5 years	105
5 years - 10 years	100
Greater than 10 years	157
Total	$	379