Income Taxes Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign

The jurisdictional components of income (loss) from continuing operations before income tax expense (benefit), attributable to Calpine, for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, are as follows (in millions):

	2012		2011			2010
U.S.	$	194	$	(232	)	$	(226	)
International	24		20			(4		)
Total	$	218	$	(212	)	$	(230	)

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

The components of income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, consisted of the following (in millions):

	2012			2011			2010
Current:
Federal	$	(12	)	$	(16	)	$	(1	)
State	16			12			10
Foreign	14			3			3
Total current	18			(1		)	12
Deferred:
Federal	11			(33		)	(70		)
State	(5		)	9			—
Foreign	(5		)	3			(10		)
Total deferred	1			(21		)	(80		)
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	19		$	(22	)	$	(68	)	(1	)

_________

(1) Includes approximately $13 million in intraperiod tax expense related to a prior period with an offsetting benefit in OCI.

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

A reconciliation of the federal statutory rate of 35% to our effective rate from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, is as follows:

	2012		2011		2010
Federal statutory tax expense (benefit) rate	35.0	%	(35.0	)%	(35.0	)%
State tax expense, net of federal benefit	3.2		6.5		2.8
Depletion in excess of basis	(0.2	)	—		(1.3	)
Preferred interest expense	2.0		0.4		0.5
Federal refunds	(4.7	)	—		—
Valuation allowances against future tax benefits	(32.3	)	56.7		33.6
Valuation allowances related to reconsolidation of CCFC	—		(36.0	)	—
Valuation allowances related to foreign taxes	(8.2	)	—		—
Foreign taxes	3.7		(0.9	)	9.9
Non-deductible reorganization items	0.1		0.5		0.3
Intraperiod allocation	4.6		19.9		(40.1	)
Bankruptcy settlement	—		(15.7	)	—
Change in unrecognized tax benefits	5.1		(6.6	)	0.6
Permanent differences and other items	0.4		(0.2	)	(0.9	)
Effective income tax expense (benefit) rate	8.7	%	(10.4	)%	(29.6	)%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of the deferred income taxes as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, are as follows (in millions):

	2012			2011
Deferred tax assets:
NOL and credit carryforwards	$	3,073		$	3,290
Taxes related to risk management activities and derivatives	90			58
Reorganization items and impairments	315			318
Foreign capital losses	25			24
Other differences	60			26
Deferred tax assets before valuation allowance	3,563			3,716
Valuation allowance	(2,222		)	(2,336		)
Total deferred tax assets	1,341			1,380
Deferred tax liabilities: property, plant and equipment	(1,316		)	(1,364		)
Net deferred tax asset	25			16
Less: Current portion deferred tax liability	(3		)	(2		)
Less: Non-current deferred tax asset	28			18
Deferred income tax liability, non-current	$	—		$	—

Schedule of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) Intraperiod Tax Allocation

The following table details the effects of our intraperiod tax allocations for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 (in millions).

	2012			2011			2010
Intraperiod tax allocation expense (benefit) included in continuing operations	$	9		$	42		$	(86	)
Intraperiod tax allocation expense included in discountinued operations	$	—		$	—		$	59
Intraperiod tax allocation expense (benefit) included in OCI	$	(9	)	$	(45	)	$	27

Schedule of Income Tax Contingencies

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of our unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, is as follows (in millions):

	2012			2011			2010
Balance, beginning of period	$	(74	)	$	(88	)	$	(98	)
Increases related to prior year tax positions	(19		)	—			(1		)
Decreases related to prior year tax positions	1			1			11
Decrease related to lapse of statute of limitations	—			13			—
Balance, end of period	$	(92	)	$	(74	)	$	(88	)