Regulatory Assets and Liabilities

Regulatory Assets

SCE's regulatory assets included on the consolidated balance sheets are:



(in millions)	September 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
Current:
Regulatory balancing accounts	$	216	$	135
Energy derivatives and other power contracts	203		150
Unamortized investments, net of accumulated amortization	12		49
Other	14		16
Total current	445		350
Long-term:
Deferred income taxes, net of liabilities	5,211		4,478
Pensions and other postretirement benefits	712		710
Energy derivatives and other power contracts	839		947
Unamortized investments, net of accumulated amortization	105		80
San Onofre	730		857
Unamortized loss on reacquired debt	172		184
Regulatory balancing accounts	86		66
Environmental remediation	124		126
Other	49		7
Total long-term	8,028		7,455
Total regulatory assets	$	8,473	$	7,805

Regulatory Liabilities

SCE's regulatory liabilities included on the consolidated balance sheets are:



(in millions)	September 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
Current:
Regulatory balancing accounts	$	1,188	$	736
San Onofre MHI arbitration award¹	47		—
Other	46		20
Total current	1,281		756
Long-term:
Costs of removal	2,736		2,847
Recoveries in excess of ARO liabilities²	1,719		1,639
Regulatory balancing accounts	1,344		1,180
Other	59		60
Total long-term	5,858		5,726
Total regulatory liabilities	$	7,139	$	6,482


¹	Represents SCE's net recovery from claims against MHI. See Note 11 for further discussion.

Represents the cumulative differences between ARO expenses and amounts collected in rates primarily for the decommissioning of SCE's nuclear generation facilities. Decommissioning costs recovered through rates are primarily placed in nuclear decommissioning trusts. This regulatory liability also represents the deferral of realized and unrealized gains and losses on the nuclear decommissioning trust investments. See Note 9 for further discussion.

Net Regulatory Balancing Accounts

The following table summarizes the significant components of regulatory balancing accounts included in the above tables of regulatory assets and liabilities:



(in millions)	September 30, 2017			December 31, 2016
Asset (liability)
Energy resource recovery account	$	190		$	(20	)
New system generation balancing account	(99		)	(6		)
Public purpose programs and energy efficiency programs	(1,178		)	(992		)
Tax accounting memorandum account and pole loading balancing account	(461		)	(142		)
Base rate recovery balancing account	(265		)	(426		)
Department of Energy litigation memorandum account	(156		)	(122		)
Greenhouse gas auction revenue	(63		)	31
FERC balancing accounts	(209		)	(69		)
Other	11			31
Liability	$	(2,230	)	$	(1,715	)

The tax accounting memorandum account (TAMA) provides that tax benefits or costs associated with certain events be tracked and adjusted annually in rates, including tax accounting method changes, changes in tax laws and regulations impacting depreciation or tax repair deductions, forecasted and actual differences in tax repair deductions, and the impact, if any, of a private letter ruling related to compliance with normalization regulations of the IRS. During the third quarter of 2017, SCE recorded $118 million of tax benefits related to tax accounting method changes resulting from the filing of SCE's 2016 tax returns in October 2017.