EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Pension and Other Postretirement Plans

Defined Benefit Pension Plan—PGE sponsors a non-contributory defined benefit pension plan. The plan has been closed to most new employees since January 31, 2009 and to all new employees since January 1, 2012. No changes were made to the benefits provided to existing participants when the plan was closed to new employees.

The assets of the pension plan are held in a trust and are comprised of equity and debt instruments, all of which are recorded at fair value. Pension plan calculations include several assumptions which are reviewed annually and are updated as appropriate, with the measurement date of December 31.

PGE made no contributions to the pension plan in 2015, 2014, and 2013. No contributions to the pension plan are expected in 2016.

In 2014, the Company offered certain eligible participants of the pension plan the option to select a lump sum distribution. As a result of this offering, PGE made lump sum distributions totaling $16 million on July 1, 2014.

Other Postretirement Benefits—PGE has non-contributory postretirement health and life insurance plans, as well as Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) for its employees (collectively, “Other Postretirement Benefits” in the following tables). Employees are covered under a Defined Dollar Medical Benefit Plan which limits PGE’s obligation pursuant to the postretirement health plan by establishing a maximum benefit per employee with employees paying the additional cost.

The assets of these plans are held in voluntary employees’ beneficiary association trusts and are comprised of money market funds, common stocks, common and collective trust funds, partnerships/joint ventures, and registered investment companies, all of which are recorded at fair value. Postretirement health and life insurance benefit plan calculations include several assumptions which are reviewed annually with PGE’s consulting actuaries and trust investment consultants and updated as appropriate, with measurement dates of December 31.

Contributions to the HRAs provide for claims by retirees for qualified medical costs. For bargaining employees, the participants’ accounts are credited with 58% of the value of the employee’s accumulated sick time as of April 30, 2004, a stated amount per compensable hour worked, plus 100% of their earned time off accumulated at the time of retirement. For active non-bargaining employees, the Company grants a fixed dollar amount that will become available for qualified medical expenses upon their retirement.

Non-Qualified Benefit Plans—The non-qualified benefit plans (NQBP) in the following tables include obligations for a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan, and a directors pension plan, both of which were closed to new participants in 1997. The NQBP also include pension make-up benefits for employees that participate in the unfunded Management Deferred Compensation Plan (MDCP). Investments in a non-qualified benefit plan trust, consisting of trust-owned life insurance policies and marketable securities, provide funding for the future requirements of these plans. These trust assets are included in the accompanying tables for informational purposes only and are not considered segregated and restricted under current accounting standards. The investments in marketable securities, consisting of money market, bond, and equity mutual funds, are classified as trading and recorded at fair value. The measurement date for the non-qualified benefit plans is December 31.

Other NQBP—In addition to the non-qualified benefit plans discussed above, PGE provides certain employees and outside directors with deferred compensation plans, whereby participants may defer a portion of their earned compensation. These unfunded plans include the MDCP and the Outside Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan. PGE holds investments in a non-qualified benefit plan trust which are intended to be a funding source for these plans.

Trust assets and plan liabilities related to the NQBP included in PGE’s consolidated balance sheets are as follows as of December 31 (in millions):



	2015						2014
	NQBP		Other NQBP		Total		NQBP		Other NQBP		Total
Non-qualified benefit plan trust	$	15	$	18	$	33	$	15	$	17	$	32
Non-qualified benefit plan liabilities *	25		81		106		25		80		105


*	For the NQBP, excludes the current portion of $2 million in 2015 and 2014, which is classified in Other current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.

See “Trust Accounts” in Note 3, Balance Sheet Components, for information on the Non-qualified benefit plan trust.

Investment Policy and Asset Allocation—The Board of Directors of PGE appoints an Investment Committee, which is comprised of officers of the Company. In addition, the Board also establishes the Company’s asset allocation. The Investment Committee is then responsible for implementation and oversight of the asset allocation. The Company’s investment policy for its pension and other postretirement plans is to balance risk and return through a diversified portfolio of equity securities, fixed income securities and other alternative investments. The commitments to each class are controlled by an asset deployment and cash management strategy that takes profits from asset classes whose allocations have shifted above their target ranges to fund benefit payments and investments in asset classes whose allocations have shifted below their target ranges.

The asset allocations for the plans, and the target allocation, are as follows:



	As of December 31,
	2015				2014
	Actual		Target *		Actual		Target *
Defined Benefit Pension Plan:
Equity securities	67	%	67	%	66	%	67	%
Debt securities	33		33		34		33
Total	100	%	100	%	100	%	100	%
Other Postretirement Benefit Plans:
Equity securities	60	%	64	%	66	%	67	%
Debt securities	40		36		34		33
Total	100	%	100	%	100	%	100	%
Non-Qualified Benefits Plans:
Equity securities	15	%	14	%	19	%	13	%
Debt securities	7		8		1		7
Insurance contracts	78		78		80		80
Total	100	%	100	%	100	%	100	%

The target for the Defined Benefit Pension Plan represents the mid-point of the investment target range. Due to the nature of the investment vehicles in both the Other Postretirement Benefit Plans and the Non-Qualified Benefit Plans, these targets are the weighted average of the mid-point of the respective investment target ranges approved by the Investment Committee. Due to the method used to calculate the weighted average targets for the Other Postretirement Benefit Plans and Non-Qualified Benefit Plans, reported percentages are affected by the fair market values of the investments within the pools.

The Company’s overall investment strategy is to meet the goals and objectives of the individual plans through a wide diversification of asset types, fund strategies, and fund managers. Equity securities primarily include investments across the capitalization ranges and style biases, both domestically and internationally. Fixed income securities include, but are not limited to, corporate bonds of companies from diversified industries, mortgage-backed securities, and U.S. Treasuries. Other types of investments include investments in hedge funds and private equity funds that follow several different strategies.

The fair values of the Company’s pension plan assets and other postretirement benefit plan assets by asset category are as follows (in millions):



	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
As of December 31, 2015:
Defined Benefit Pension Plan assets:
Money market funds	$	—	$	5	$	—	$	5
Equity securities:
Domestic	$	44	$	132	$	—	$	176
International	—		170		—		170
Debt securities:
Domestic government and corporate credit	—		177		—		177
Private equity funds	—		—		22		22
	$	44	$	484	$	22	$	550
Other Postretirement Benefit Plans assets:
Money market funds	$	—	$	7	$	—	$	7
Equity securities:
Domestic	—		10		—		10
International	8		—		—		8
Debt securities—Domestic government	—		5		—		5
	$	8	$	22	$	—	$	30
As of December 31, 2014:
Defined Benefit Pension Plan assets:
Money market funds	$	—	$	6	$	—	$	6
Equity securities:
Domestic	$	42	$	146	$	—	$	188
International	—		171		—		171
Debt securities:
Domestic government and corporate credit	—		197		—		197
Private equity funds	—		—		29		29
	$	42	$	520	$	29	$	591
Other Postretirement Benefit Plans assets:
Money market funds	$	—	$	6	$	—	$	6
Equity securities:
Domestic	10		1		—		11
International	10		—		—		10
Debt securities—Domestic government	5		—		—		5
	$	25	$	7	$	—	$	32

An overview of the identification of Level 1, 2, and 3 financial instruments is provided in Note 4, Fair Value of Financial Instruments. The following methods are used in valuation of each asset class of investments held in the pension and other postretirement benefit plan trusts.

Money market funds—PGE invests in money market funds that seek to maintain a stable net asset value. These funds invest in high-quality, short-term, diversified money market instruments, short term treasury bills, federal agency securities, certificates of deposit, and commercial paper. Money market funds held in the trusts are classified as Level 2 instruments as they are traded in an active market of similar securities but are not directly valued using quoted prices.

Equity securities—Equity mutual fund and common stock securities are classified as Level 1 securities as pricing inputs are based on unadjusted prices in an active market. Principal markets for equity prices include published exchanges such as NASDAQ and NYSE. Mutual fund assets included in commingled trusts or separately managed accounts are classified as Level 2 securities due to pricing inputs that are not directly or indirectly observable in the marketplace.

Debt securities—PGE invests in highly-liquid United States treasury and corporate credit mutual fund securities to support the investment objectives of the trusts. These securities are classified as Level 1 instruments due to the highly observable nature of pricing in an active market.

Fair values for Level 2 debt securities, including municipal debt and corporate credit securities, mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities are determined by evaluating pricing data, such as broker quotes, for similar securities adjusted for observable differences. Significant inputs used in valuation models generally include benchmark yield and issuer spreads. The external credit rating, coupon rate, and maturity of each security are considered in the valuation if applicable.

Private equity funds—PGE invests in a combination of primary and secondary fund-of-funds which hold ownership positions in privately held companies across the major domestic and international private equity sectors, including but not limited to, venture capital, buyout, and special situations. Private equity investments are classified as Level 3 securities due to fund valuation methodologies that utilize discounted cash flow, market comparable and limited secondary market pricing to develop estimates of fund valuation. PGE valuation of individual fund performance compares stated fund performance against published benchmarks.

Changes in the fair value of assets held by the pension plan classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy, which consists of Private equity funds, were as follows (in millions):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2015			2014
Level 3 balance as of beginning of year	$	29		$	31
Unrealized (losses) gains, net	(2		)	2
Realized gains, net	4			3
Sales, net	(9		)	(7		)
Level 3 balance as of end of year	$	22		$	29

The following tables provide certain information with respect to the Company’s defined benefit pension plan, other postretirement benefits, and non-qualified benefit plans as of and for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014. Information related to the Other NQBP is not included in the following tables (dollars in millions):



	Defined Benefit Pension Plan						Other Postretirement Benefits						Non-Qualified Benefit Plans
	2015			2014			2015			2014			2015			2014
Benefit obligation:
As of January 1	$	777		$	705		$	83		$	77		$	27		$	24
Service cost	18			15			2			2			—			—
Interest cost	31			34			3			4			1			1
Participants’ contributions	—			—			2			1			—			—
Actuarial (gain) loss	(31		)	72			(4		)	4			1			5
Contractual termination benefits	—			—			1			1			—			—
Benefit payments	(35		)	(48		)	(6		)	(6		)	(2		)	(3		)
Administrative expenses	(2		)	(1		)	—			—			—			—
As of December 31	$	758		$	777		$	81		$	83		$	27		$	27
Fair value of plan assets:
As of January 1	$	591		$	596		$	32		$	32		$	15		$	16
Actual return on plan assets	(4		)	44			(2		)	1			—			1
Company contributions	—			—			4			4			2			1
Participants’ contributions	—			—			2			1			—			—
Benefit payments	(35		)	(48		)	(6		)	(6		)	(2		)	(3		)
Administrative expenses	(2		)	(1		)	—			—			—			—
As of December 31	$	550		$	591		$	30		$	32		$	15		$	15
Unfunded position as of December 31	$	(208	)	$	(186	)	$	(51	)	$	(51	)	$	(12	)	$	(12	)
Accumulated benefit plan obligation as of December 31	$	681		$	691		N/A			N/A			$	27		$	27
Classification in consolidated balance sheet:
Noncurrent asset	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	15		$	15
Current liability	—			—			—			—			(2		)	(2		)
Noncurrent liability	(208		)	(186		)	(51		)	(51		)	(25		)	(25		)
Net liability	$	(208	)	$	(186	)	$	(51	)	$	(51	)	$	(12	)	$	(12	)
Amounts included in comprehensive income:
Net actuarial loss	$	13		$	67		$	—		$	5		$	1		$	5
Amortization of net actuarial loss	(20		)	(17		)	(1		)	(1		)	(1		)	(1		)
Amortization of prior service cost	—			—			(1		)	(1		)	—			—
	$	(7	)	$	50		$	(2	)	$	3		$	—		$	4
Amounts included in AOCL*:
Net actuarial loss	$	228		$	236		$	9		$	10		$	13		$	13
Prior service cost	—			—			1			1			—			—
	$	228		$	236		$	10		$	11		$	13		$	13



	Defined Benefit Pension Plan				Other Postretirement Benefits						Non-Qualified Benefit Plans
	2015		2014		2015			2014			2015		2014
Assumptions used:
Discount rate for benefit obligation	4.36	%	4.02	%	3.90	%	-	3.07	%	-	4.36	%	4.02	%
					4.45	%		4.10	%
Discount rate for benefit cost	4.02	%	4.84	%	3.07	%	-	3.46	%	-	4.02	%	4.84	%
					4.10	%		4.96	%
Weighted average rate of compensation increase for benefit obligation	3.65	%	3.65	%	4.58	%		4.58	%		N/A		N/A
Weighted average rate of compensation increase for benefit cost	3.65	%	3.65	%	4.58	%		4.58	%		N/A		N/A
Long-term rate of return on plan assets for benefit obligation	7.50	%	7.50	%	6.29	%		6.37	%		N/A		N/A
Long-term rate of return on plan assets for benefit cost	7.50	%	7.50	%	6.37	%		6.46	%		N/A		N/A


*	Amounts included in AOCL related to the Company’s defined benefit pension plan and other postretirement benefits are transferred to Regulatory assets due to the future recoverability from retail customers. Accordingly, as of the balance sheet date, such amounts are included in Regulatory assets.

Net periodic benefit cost consists of the following for the years ended December 31 (in millions):



	Defined Benefit Pension Plan									Other Postretirement Benefits									Non-Qualified Benefit Plans
	2015			2014			2013			2015			2014			2013			2015		2014		2013
Service cost	$	18		$	15		$	17		$	2		$	2		$	2		$	—	$	—	$	—
Interest cost on benefit obligation	31			34			30			3			4			3			1		1		1
Expected return on plan assets	(40		)	(39		)	(40		)	(2		)	(2		)	(1		)	—		—		—
Amortization of prior service cost	—			—			—			1			1			1			—		—		—
Amortization of net actuarial loss	20			17			24			1			1			1			1		1		1
Net periodic benefit cost	$	29		$	27		$	31		$	5		$	6		$	6		$	2	$	2	$	2

PGE estimates that $16 million will be amortized from AOCL into net periodic benefit cost in 2016, consisting of a net actuarial loss of $14 million for pension benefits, $1 million for non-qualified benefits, and $1 million for prior service costs for other postretirement benefits. Amounts related to the pension and other postretirement benefits are offset with the amortization of the corresponding regulatory asset.

The following table summarizes the benefits expected to be paid to participants in each of the next five years and in the aggregate for the five years thereafter (in millions):



	Payments Due
	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020		2021 - 2025
Defined benefit pension plan	$	37	$	38	$	40	$	41	$	42	$	226
Other postretirement benefits	5		5		5		5		5		26
Non-qualified benefit plans	2		2		2		3		2		10
Total	$	44	$	45	$	47	$	49	$	49	$	262

All of the plans develop expected long-term rates of return for the major asset classes using long-term historical returns, with adjustments based on current levels and forecasts of inflation, interest rates, and economic growth. Also included are incremental rates of return provided by investment managers whose returns are expected to be greater than the markets in which they invest.

For measurement purposes, the assumed health care cost trend rates, which can affect amounts reported for the health care plans, were as follows:


•	For 2015, 6.5% annual rate of increase in the per capita cost of covered health care benefits was assumed for 2016, decreasing to 6.0% in 2017, then decreasing 0.25% per year thereafter, reaching 5% in 2021;


•	For 2014, 7% annual rate of increase in the per capita cost of covered health care benefits was assumed for 2015, and assumed to decrease 0.5% per year thereafter, reaching 5% in 2019; and


•	For 2013, 7.5% annual rate of increase in the per capita cost of covered health care benefits was assumed for 2014, and assumed to decrease 0.5% per year thereafter, reaching 5% in 2019.

A one percentage point increase or decrease in the above health care cost assumption would have no material impact on total service or interest cost, or on the postretirement benefit obligation.

401(k) Retirement Savings Plan

PGE sponsors a 401(k) Plan that covers substantially all employees. For eligible employees who are covered by PGE’s defined benefit pension plan, the Company matches employee contributions up to 6% of the employee’s base pay. For eligible employees who are not covered by PGE’s defined benefit pension plan, the Company contributes 5% of the employee’s base salary, whether or not the employee contributes to the 401(k) Plan, and also matches employee contributions up to 5% of the employee’s base pay.

For the majority of bargaining employees who are subject to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125 agreements the Company contributes an additional 1% of the employee’s base salary, whether or not the employee contributes to the 401(k) Plan.

All contributions are invested in accordance with employees’ elections, limited to investment options available under the 401(k) Plan. PGE made contributions to employee accounts of $17 million in 2015, and $16 million in both 2014 and 2013.