Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Future Minimum Rental Payments for Power Plant and Land and Other Operating Leases

Future minimum lease payments under these leases are as follows (in millions):



	Initial Year	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		Thereafter		Total
Land and other operating leases	various	$	12	$	11	$	11	$	14	$	14	$	431	$	493
Power plant operating leases:
Greenleaf	1998	$	7	$	7	$	3	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	17
KIAC	2000	24		24		24		23		22		74		191
Total power plant leases		$	31	$	31	$	27	$	23	$	22	$	74	$	208
Total leases		$	43	$	42	$	38	$	37	$	36	$	505	$	701

Schedule of Future Minimum Lease Payments for Office and Equipment Leases

Future minimum lease payments under these leases are as follows (in millions):



2012	$	13
2013	12
2014	10
2015	10
2016	9
Thereafter	32
Total	$	86

Schedule of Guarantor Obligations

At December 31, 2011, guarantees of subsidiary debt, standby letters of credit and surety bonds to third parties and guarantees of subsidiary operating lease payments and their respective expiration dates were as follows (in millions):



Guarantee Commitments	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		Thereafter		Total
Guarantee of subsidiary debt⁽¹⁾	$	76	$	73	$	272	$	36	$	36	$	236	$	729
Standby letters of credit⁽²⁾⁽⁴⁾	669		45		—		—		—		49		763
Surety bonds^(3)(4)(5)	—		—		—		—		—		4		4
Guarantee of subsidiary operating lease payments⁽⁴⁾	7		7		3		—		—		—		17
Total	$	752	$	125	$	275	$	36	$	36	$	289	$	1,513

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(1)	Represents Calpine Corporation guarantees of certain project debt, power plant capital leases and related interest. All guaranteed capital leases are recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.


(2)	The standby letters of credit disclosed above represent those disclosed in Note 6.


(3)	The majority of surety bonds do not have expiration or cancellation dates.


(4)	These are contingent off balance sheet obligations.


(5)	As of December 31, 2011, $4 million of cash collateral is outstanding related to these bonds.

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of each guarantee obligation, or each group of similar guarantee obligations, including (a) the nature of the guarantee, including its term, how it arose, and the events or circumstances that would require the guarantor to perform under the guarantee; (b) the maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) the guarantor could be required to make under the guarantee; (c) the current carrying amount of the liability, if any, for the guarantor's obligations under the guarantee; and (d) the nature of any recourse provisions under the guarantee, and any assets held either as collateral or by third parties, and any relevant related party disclosure. Excludes disclosures about product warranties.

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