Investments in Debt and Equity Securities

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Investments in Debt and Equity Securities

Investments in Debt and Equity Securities

(D)

Investments in Debt and Equity Securities.    Under the accounting guidance for Investments—Debt and Equity Securities, investment securities we hold are classified as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale securities are carried at market value with unrealized gains and losses, net of any tax effect, added to or deducted from other comprehensive margin, except that, in accordance with our rate-making treatment, unrealized gains and losses from investment securities held in the nuclear decommissioning trust fund are directly added to or deducted from the regulatory asset for asset retirement obligations. Realized gains and losses on the nuclear decommissioning trust fund are also recorded to the regulatory asset. All realized and unrealized gains and losses are determined using the specific identification method. Approximately 95% of these gross unrealized losses were in effect for less than one year.

• For those securities considered to be available-for-sale, the following table summarizes the activities for those securities as of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011:

		(dollars in thousands)
			Gross Unrealized
March 31, 2012	Cost		Gains		Losses			Fair Value
Equity	$	148,898	$	43,951	$	(3,804	)	$	189,045
Debt		165,476		9,843		(3,588	)		171,731
Other		3,447		—		(13	)		3,434
Total	$	317,821	$	53,794	$	(7,405	)	$	364,210

			Gross Unrealized
December 31, 2011		Cost		Gains		Losses			Fair Value
Equity	$	149,263	$	29,789	$	(9,996	)	$	169,056
Debt		160,218		18,021		(11,063	)		167,176
Other		15,646		1,035		(1,541	)		15,140
Total	$	325,127	$	48,845	$	(22,600	)	$	351,372