IOUs tax records refute their claims. [Investor-owned utilities]

Journal Article · · Public Power; (United States)

OSTI ID:6595993

Kelly, J

Reports filed by investor-owned utilities (IOUs) with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reveal that their federal income taxes were only 7.5 percent of their 1981 before-tax incomes. The IOUs analyzed here are part of the 111 largest electric utility systems, having $250 million or more in total operating revenues. The electric revenues of these utilities represent about 93 percent of the electric revenues of all private electric utilities. IOUs contend their federal income tax expense for 1981 was much higher than the $1.3 billion in federal income tax charges they reported. This is because the $1.3 billion figure does not include deferred tax amounts which, they say, will eventually be paid. It will be shown that deferred taxes are, in effect, indefinitely postponed, and it is appropriate to ignore them when estimating the actual federal income taxes charged on IOU income. In fact, the reported charges ($1.3 billion), which exclude deferred taxes, may overstate the IOUs eventual tax liability for a given year.

• OSTI ID: 6595993
• Journal Information: Public Power; (United States), Journal Name: Public Power; (United States) Vol. 42:5; ISSN PUPOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200106* -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Economics
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
293000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation
296000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
DATA
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
INCOME
INFORMATION
LAWS
LEGISLATION
NORTH AMERICA
PUBLIC UTILITIES
TAX CREDITS
TAX LAWS
TAXES
USA