INCOME TAXES

Income tax expense (benefit) consists of the following (in millions):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2011		2010			2009
Current:
Federal	$	2	$	(20	)	$	(46	)
State and local	—		—			—
	2		(20		)	(46		)
Deferred:
Federal	43		61			78
State and local	13		12			6
	56		73			84
Investment tax credit adjustments	—		—			(2		)
Income tax expense	$	58	$	53		$	36

The significant differences between the U.S. federal statutory rate and PGE’s effective tax rate for financial reporting purposes are as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2011		2010		2009
Federal statutory tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Federal tax credits	(12.7	)	(10.4	)	(8.3	)
State and local taxes, net of federal tax benefit	2.6		4.4		3.4
Flow through depreciation and cost basis differences	2.1		0.1		(1.6	)
Investment tax credit amortization	—		—		(1.5	)
Other	1.3		1.2		1.8
Effective tax rate	28.3	%	30.3	%	28.8	%

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities consist of the following (in millions):



	As of December 31,
	2011			2010
Deferred income tax assets:
Price risk management	$	145		$	72
Employee benefits	135			98
Tax credits, net of valuation allowance	56			40
Regulatory liabilities	22			37
Tax loss carryforwards	1			17
Total deferred income tax assets	359			264
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Depreciation and amortization	572			534
Regulatory assets	274			175
Other	9			4
Total deferred income tax liabilities	855			713
Deferred income tax liability, net	$	(496	)	$	(449	)
Classification of net deferred income taxes:
Current deferred income tax asset ⁽¹⁾	$	33		$	—
Current deferred income tax liability ⁽²⁾	—			(4		)
Noncurrent deferred income tax liability	(529		)	(445		)
	$	(496	)	$	(449	)


(1)	Included in Other current assets in the consolidated balance sheets.


(2)	Included in Accrued expenses and other current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.

Certain reclassifications have been made to the 2010 deferred income tax assets and deferred income tax liabilities presented in the preceding table to conform with the 2011 presentation and include the following: (i) an increase in Depreciation and amortization and a decrease in Regulatory liabilities of $220 million related to asset retirement obligations; (ii) an increase in Price risk management and a decrease in Regulatory liabilities of $74 million related to fair value adjustments; (iii) an increase in Employee benefits and a decrease in Regulatory assets of $73 million related to actuarial adjustments; and (iv) an increase in Regulatory assets and a decrease in Other of $8 million related to reacquired long-term debt.

As of December 31, 2011, PGE had no federal loss carryforwards and state loss carryforwards of less than $1 million, which will expire at various dates from 2016 through 2031. In addition, PGE has federal and state tax credit carryforwards of $42 million and $14 million, respectively, which will expire at various dates from 2012 through 2031.

PGE believes that it is more likely than not that its deferred income tax assets as of December 31, 2011 will be realized; accordingly, no valuation allowance has been recorded. As of December 31, 2010, PGE believed the benefit from state credit carryforwards expiring in 2011 would not be realized and, in recognition of this risk, the Company recorded a valuation allowance of $2 million on the deferred tax assets relating to these state credit carryforwards. During 2011, these state credit carryforwards expired unused. The net change in the valuation allowance for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 were decreases of $2 million and $1 million, respectively.

As of December 31, 2010, the amount of the Company’s unrecognized tax benefit was $2 million, including interest, resulting from a gross increase in a position taken in a prior period. During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company recognized $1 million in interest and no penalties. During the first quarter of 2011, the unrecognized tax benefit of $2 million was recognized as a result of filing for a federal tax accounting method change. As of December 31, 2011, PGE has no unrecognized tax benefits.

PGE files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, the states of Oregon and Montana, and certain local jurisdictions. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) performed an examination of PGE’s income tax returns for 2007 and 2008 during 2010. This audit closed in the first quarter of 2011, with no material findings. In addition, the IRS commenced examination of the 2006, 2009, and 2010 income tax returns in the fourth quarter of 2011. The Company is not currently under examination by state or local tax authorities.