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IDACORP, Inc. (IDA)

Q4 2012 Earnings Call· Thu, Feb 21, 2013

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, and welcome, everyone, to IDACORP's Fourth Quarter 2012 Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded and webcast live. A complete replay will also be available from the end of the day for a period of 12 months on the company's website at www.idacorpinc.com [Operator Instructions] At this time, I would like to turn the call over to the Director of Investor Relations, Mr. Lawrence Spencer. Please go ahead, sir.

Lawrence F. Spencer

Analyst

Thank you, Tahisha, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarter 2012 earnings release conference call. We issued our earnings release before the markets opened today, and that document, along with our SEC Form 10-K, is now posted to our website at www.idacorpinc.com. We will be using a few slides to supplement today's call, and these are also located on our website. We'll refer to specific slide numbers as we work our way through today's presentation. Now moving to Slide 2. On the call today, we have LaMont Keen, IDACORP's President and Chief Executive Officer; Darrel Anderson, Idaho Power's President and Chief Financial Officer; and Steve Keen, Idaho Power's Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer. We also have other individuals available to help answer questions during the Q&A period. Before turning the presentation over to Darrel, I'll cover a few details with you. First, our Safe Harbor statements is on Slide 3. Our presentation today contains forward-looking statements. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment or opinion of what the future holds, these statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from statements made today. As a result, we caution you against placing undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. A discussion of the factors and events that could cause future results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements can be found on Slide 3, and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we encourage you to review. Second, on Slide 4, we present the quarterly and year-to-date financial results. As you can see, IDACORP's fourth quarter 2012 earnings per diluted share were $0.33, which was $0.15 per diluted share more than last year's fourth quarter. On an annual basis, IDACORP's 2012 earnings per diluted share were $3.37 compared to $3.36 per diluted share in 2011. I'll now turn the presentation over to Darrel to discuss our results in greater detail and review our 2013 key operating and financial metrics.

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Thanks, Larry, and welcome. I'll start today with a reconciliation of our earnings from 2011 to 2012. On Slide 5, we present a reconciliation of net income attributable to IDACORP from 2011 to 2012. The schedule reflects an increase in net income of $2.1 million from $166.7 million to $168.8 million. A full reconciliation table is included in the Form 10-K we filed this morning. Operating income increased $86.3 million over last year and was positively impacted by $65.2 million due to more timely recovery of revenue requirements through rates due to increases related to the Langley Gulch power plant and certain of our regulatory adjustment mechanisms. Higher sales volume driven, primarily by a warmer common dryer spring in 2012 that caused significant increases in irrigation usage when compared to the prior year, increased operating income by $16.1 million. Cooling degree days were up 18.4% over last year and were more than 35% greater than normal. On July 12, 2012, Idaho Power reached a new system peak of 3,245 megawatts. The previous peak has been set on June 30, 2008. Precipitation during 2012, on the other hand, was very close to normal. Both factors influenced our general business customer usage, especially in the third quarter, when rates were higher under our tiered and seasonal rate structure for our residential and small commercial customers. Irrigation usage per customer increased due to agriculture growing conditions including warmer temperatures that allowed our earlier planting of crops and due to lower relative springtime precipitation. Payroll-related expenses decreased income by $6.8 million. Changes in depreciation, property tax and others coupled with the change in the allowance for funds used during construction lowered operating income by $13.2 million. As a result of the impact on 2012 earnings of the rate and sales volume increases, Idaho Power…

Steven R. Keen

Analyst

Thanks, Darrel, and good afternoon, everyone. On Slide 7, we show IDACORP's annual cash flows and liquidity position at December 31. Cash flow from operations for 2012 was $249 million, a decrease of $61 million from 2011. The reduction was primarily due to $26 million more in pension plan contributions this year compared to 2011 and $14 million more in cash outflows related to income tax payments. Changes in the timing of actual collections from our power cost adjustment mechanisms also reduced cash flows. While the cash benefits relating to our recent tax method changes were primarily recognized in prior years, bonus depreciation continued to be available during 2012 and it's currently in place for 2013. IDACORP finished 2012 with a federal net operating loss carryforward of $156 million, federal general business tax credit carryforward of $107 million and a $38 million Idaho investment tax credit carryforward. These amounts are expected to provide future cash flows. IDACORP and Idaho Power currently have in place credit facilities of $125 million and $300 million, respectively. Commercial paper outstanding at IDACORP as of year end was $69.7 million compared to $54.2 million at December 31, 2011. Idaho Power had no commercial paper outstanding as of December 31, 2012 or 2011. We also have a $24.2 million amount of contingent bond purchase obligations at Idaho Power, which could potentially utilize available credit. As a result, at December 31, 2012, IDACORP and Idaho Power had $55.3 million and $275.8 million, respectively, in available liquidity under the credit facility. Also as of December 31, 2012, there were 3 million IDACORP common shares available for issuance under IDACORP continuous equity program with no shares issued during 2012 and none expected to be issued during 2015. Recall that last year, we also seized original issuance of IDACORP common…

J. LaMont Keen

Analyst

Thanks, Steve, and good afternoon, everyone. Last year marked our fifth consecutive year of solid earnings performance and growth. As a company, we provided security to our customers and owners during unsettled market conditions by accomplishing earnings, regulatory and operational successes. As indicated on Slide 10, the state's economy continued its upward trend in the fourth quarter and that momentum appears to be continuing in 2013. Idaho seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped in December to 6.6%, the lowest rate in nearly 4 years. Exports last year were up 3.5% over 2011 and set a new record at $6.1 billion. In Boise, 2 big downtown construction projects, the $70 million multi-acre jump, multipurpose center and the 253,000 square foot $76 million 18-story office and retail tower with Zions Bank as the anchor business are well underway. These 2 projects will bring jobs and maintain the vibrancy of the downtown core. In the growing Boise suburb of Meridian, the new headquarters for fast-growing, international home fragrance company, Scentsy, continue to expand. Ultimately, the company has stated that it will have a 50-acre campus with the 157,000 square foot office tower, 159,000 square foot distribution center and 105,000 square foot warehouse, driving jobs, tax space and energy use. In the Eastern and Southern parts of Idaho Power service area, there was also expansion in a variety of industries. In the Southern region, the most significant economic development success by far was the Chobani Yogurt Plant built in Twin Falls. From groundbreaking to the first cup of yogurt, the plant was constructed in 326 days and now already employs more than 400 people. In the Eastern region, Allstate Insurance's customer contact center appears on track to add 120 additional people during the first quarter of this year, and the company recently announced that it…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Brian Russo from Ladenburg Thalmann. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Just the midpoint of your 2013 guidance. What kind of low growth assumption is embedded in that?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Brian, this is Darrel. That number is just slightly less than 1%. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: And is there any way you could split up the '14 and '15 CapEx outlook by year? Or should we just assume 50-50?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Yes, the number really is because we kind of look at all of our projects and so we put them together because sometimes they will move from '14 then to '15 or from '15 back into '14. We try to manage the total spend as we look at that so there's some flexibility in how we manage the spend in each of those years. And we actually do the same thing for '13, but we figured because it is the proxy year, we'll go ahead and we'll give you our range for 2013. But we manage that capital spend on an ongoing basis, month-to-month, as we kind of see what's happening. And with some things you can do that, with some things you can't. So we kind of put '14 and '15 together. The best thing to probably look at is if there was a major project in either one of those that would overshadow one, we would have to be able to tell you about that. But really, when you look at our schedule there, it's a lot of guarantying of the systems, some major -- no Langley Gulch projects are in those numbers today. So that's why we kind of keep those together. It allows us the flexibility in how we manage our business. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. And I apologize for not reviewing the IRP draft, but the deficit that you mentioned in 2016, how many megawatts of deficit is that and how do you plan on bridging the gap between that time period and when the B2H line would be up and running?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

That number is 84 megawatts. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. Okay, so that's manageable without any new build?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

It's manageable. And again, that's 2016. And as I said in my comments, the assumption is that we're using the 1% on an annual basis and 1.4% on peak. Those things will move around and we'll have our '13 IRP and then we'll have our 2015 IRP and we'll continue to look at how things are moving along. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. And then could you just convey your thoughts on the expiration of the current rate structure 9.5% year end out of your jurisdictional Shareholder equity in '14? Can we expect you to file for an extension of the existing plan or can we expect you to file a general rate case in '14 for the rates in '15?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Brian, this is Darrel again. We're looking at all of those options as we sit here today. Again, we're in the year 2 of that particular 3-year agreement. And obviously, we're early into year 2 of that deal. And so we are going to continue to look at what our options are as to first of all, how many credits will we ultimately utilize between this year and next year? How many might otherwise be available for us to look to through 2015? So we're going to be weighing potential extension. We'll be looking at general rate cases. We'll be looking at other ways that we can balance the impact to the customers and the needs of our owners. And the other thing too, I think -- and LaMont talked about this a little bit in some detail, about some of the growth that's taking place in our service territory and some of it will be dependent on how much growth occurs because that will also be a factor because there is that possibility that you can grow yourself such that you don't have to do anything. And we are seeing positive signs. We have an IRP whose assumptions are set early in or mid to late 2012 and as things move around. That could have an impact not only on the next IRP, but also as it relates to what we might file for. Just to give you -- I want to share this. Some of you guys have been to Boise. But I've been with Idaho Power for 17 years now and as I look out my window, this is the first time ever, at least in my 17-year career, that I see 2 cranes on the skyline. And for those who have been to Boise they know that that's a big deal for us and so there's -- to me, that's a nice sign of what is happening in our region. And again, we'll see what happens on the West Coast and what kind of things happen in California, in Oregon, in Washington. But we are looking to be geared up to meet those needs should they come. And so that's something we'll continue to work with the state on and the economic development activities. But one of the things we're here to provide energy services, and that's what we want to be able to do. And so while we go through this period of '14 and '15, we're going to look at all those things that are there -- excuse me, in '13 and '14 to put us in a position to make some decisions of what we'll do in 2015 and beyond. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay, so just technically or procedurally, you either have to file for an extension of this existing case or you have to give advance notice of filing a general rate case. Is that how we should look at it?

J. LaMont Keen

Analyst

Yes. Brian, I'm going to have Greg Said, who heads up our regulatory side, talk to you a little bit about what our process might look like as we sit here today versus what steps we would take going forward.

Gregory W. Said

Analyst

Yes, you've stated it correctly. In order to file a general rate case, we do have to notify the public of our intent to file a case. That comes 60 days before we file a general. Any attempts to extend existing stipulations would not require a 60-day notification necessarily, but would require some sort of notification to the public of our intent to engage with other interested parties to examine the possibility for such extension.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Sarah Akers from Wells Fargo.

Sarah Akers - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

Analyst

Can you repeat what you said about the 400 megawatts of demand response, and specifically, kind how that relates to the 2016 projected deficit? Is that 400 megawatts, if I heard it correctly, already embedded in the supply demand analysis there or a certain level was suspended with whatever amount that was -- or might be suspended, will that be available to meet the '16 deficit?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Yes, Sarah, this is Darrel. I'm going to have Mark Stokes, who leads our IRP process. He's with us this afternoon. So I'm going to let him talk a little bit about what's in the IRP and how we're looking at the demand response program as it relates to IRP. So I'll let Mark kind of talk to that right now.

Mark Stokes

Analyst

This is Mark. For our 2013 IRP, the 400 megawatts demand response that you're referencing, we're not including that in our load and resource balance, in that 84-megawatt deficit. And the main reason for that is that there's some uncertainty of what those programs will look like going forward, how they'll operate and be set up. And we're working through those issues both with the Idaho Commission and the Oregon Commission in separate dockets outside of the IRP itself. So depending on the outcome of those cases, what those programs look like going forward, we'll determine the amount and size of those programs and really how they fit into the rest of our operations.

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Looking at it, how do they dispatch? What's the price in which they patch at in those particular program? And how do those programs compared to other resource options that we have? So that's why we ask for the suspension of the program so we have time to evaluate those programs in light of all the other resources that might otherwise be available.

Sarah Akers - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

Analyst

Okay, so those demand response programs are one option to meet that deficit, but you're going to compare them with other options as well?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

That's right.

Sarah Akers - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

Analyst

Got it. And then separately, given the environmental CapEx that you have through 2015 or so, curious if you've had any discussions with the regulators regarding any kind of writer tight mechanism for recovery of the mandated environmental spend or if that something you think they'd be open to and that you might think about pursuing?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

We have -- as you know, Sarah, we do have free approval available to us if we wanted to go and ask for pre-approval on certain projects. And we want to elect early do that on one project at this point, which is Langley Gulch. We haven't necessarily approached them specifically on environmental writers related to CapEx expenditures. We're continuing to assess that the level of CapEx that we have. And as you see, we have -- we do have a table in the 10-K, I believe, on and around Page 16 that kind of details at least for the next 3 years what the anticipated environmental CapEx spend is expected to be. It's not significant in the total of our total spend right now, at least over the next 3 years. And so that's something we will continue to look at options that we have if those numbers experience growth significantly greater than where they are right now. And they do -- we do anticipate in some of the outer years as you -- if you take a look at some of the discussions we have around the CapEx programs around our environmental equipment under the Bridger disclosure out in 2021, in some of those years you'll see some increased potential expenditures out there. Now we'll have to take a look what our options are.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Michael Klein from Sidoti & Company. Michael Klein - Sidoti & Company, LLC: What's your outlook for irrigation sales for 2013?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Michael, this is Darrel. What I'll do is I'll start it and I might flip it over to someone else here. But the first and foremost, irrigation sales are a really difficult area to predict because right now the ag community is evaluating what is that they're going to plant, how much are they're going to plant. And obviously, and our demand, which is one of the reasons we initiated our demand reduction filings and we did is because in those cases, the ag community need to understand what potential might be out there for any demand reduction programs that might be taking place. So that's one of the reasons we initiated that in December. And so there's just a lot of things out there that go into that. And as you know, I mean, it's really difficult to predict the weather side of things and as we talked about the impact on irrigation this last year was significant primarily because of weather-related activities. And so it's really hard to tell you. I'll -- Mark, you want to try?

Mark Stokes

Analyst

Yes. Michael, I don't have that level of detail of information with me, but what I can do is comment just in general. Irrigation sales that we have forecasted in the past have been anywhere in the range of basically flat to maybe about 0.3% kind of a growth rate. So they've been relatively flat, which I think in a lot of ways is probably tied to a lot of the water issues in the state really hampering any kind of expansion in agricultural industry.

Steven R. Keen

Analyst

Michael, this is Steve Keen. If your question is around the unusually high amount of sales this year that was weather driven, I would say and Mark can back me up here or change, but we don't factor in or repeat necessarily temperatures like that. We do tend to revert to a more normal level when we're looking a year ahead. Michael Klein - Sidoti & Company, LLC: Right because obviously, irrigation sales were high in 2012. And then the update to the IRP, you cited, I guess, a slightly improved outlook for irrigation sales and obviously that's over the long-term. So I'm just trying to tie that back together to maybe the more immediate term, I guess.

Steven R. Keen

Analyst

Yes, like Steve said, our forecast don't go up to where -- for instance, anticipate the same level of weather-related variances what you might have seen on the actuals in '12, so there is more moderate outlook. Michael Klein - Sidoti & Company, LLC: Okay. Okay, that's helpful. And, I guess, if the IRP update or just the IRP in general is more indicative of the long-term, should we assume load growth greater than 1.1% in the near-term? Is that the way to think about it?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Michael, that's a tough one to answer. I mean, I think we won't know that until it actually happens I mean we're seeing I think what we're trying to communicate earlier in LaMont's comment, is we're seeing a lot of positive economic activity in our service territory and we would anticipate translates into load growth, but that's offset somewhat by again some reductions in usage per customer. And so overall, we're using the 1 -- the 1 point, the 1% plus increase, but it's really hard to say what's going to happen specifically in 2013. We think there are really good indicators right now. But until we see that, it's and weather is a factor for us, I mean, it's extra comment, January, this January of '13 we've gotten off to a good start because it has been one of the coldest January on record in our service territory and we only had handful of days, for instance, that are above freezing in January. And so loads were high in January. And so from that standpoint, it does have an impact. When you look at February, it moderated a little bit. So again, weather does have an impact and to try to say what is the -- look at other economic factors and drivers. It's really kind of hard -- to pin point that, but our goal is to make sure we have adequate resource in which to meet whatever the growth needs are going to happen in our service territory. And that's Mark's challenge with the IRP. It's matching the near-term up with the long-term.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Paul Ridzon from KeyBanc.

Paul T. Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Analyst

What effective tax rate on a consolidated basis are you assuming in your guidance?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Paul, this is Darrel. When you look at our 10-K, our effective rate is around -- at Idaho Power, I think it was around 17% or so, when you take a look at the 10-K in Note 2. And that spend probably impacted downward a little bit because of some of the tax benefits that we recognized in 2012. We would expect that number to go up slightly higher, assuming more normalized tax items. So something in the low 20s is probably something is where we would probably ultimately can get back to.

Steven R. Keen

Analyst

Paul, this is Steve. Paul, if you look at Note 2, when you got back there, certainly the items that are singled out are like CapEx, tax method changes, the uncertain tax position. Those lines are things that you wouldn't necessarily expect to repeat. And as you get to the very bottom of the table, there's a line called Other net, and I would say that line has a lot of variability in it. It's a little harder to trend or predict anything on that line. It sometimes has true-up type items for tax issues. So if you'd factor those kind of things out and take a look at that table, I think you would get to at least a reasonable estimate of what the history has been on the rate and then use that to look ahead.

Paul T. Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Analyst

And if I understood your comments, year-end '13 share count should be very close to year-end '12? Is that correct?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

That's correct. That's right.

Paul T. Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Analyst

And then just back to the IRP, I mean, ultimately, I guess, the fixed fern [ph] shortfall is Boardman to Hemingway. Is that right way of looking at it?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Sorry, Paul. Could you say that again? Sorry.

Paul T. Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Analyst

The ultimate fix to the growing shortfall '16 and beyond will be getting Boardman to Hemingway online, is that correct?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

That will be one of the options that will be evaluated in the IRP. I mean, obviously that was the outcome of our 2011 IRP. Boardman to Hemingway was our highest priority resource again. So they will update that. That's what Mark and his crew are doing right now. He's going through that process. And we kind of really have to wait for the outcome. But anyway, our expectation is that Boardman to Hemingway is a resource that will allow us additional capacity to access resources in a region where we think there will be competitive price resource to acquire and bring home.

Paul T. Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Analyst

So regardless of DTA choosing us ida as a preferred solution to their view of the world, I mean, could you walk away from Boardman to Hemingway?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

I think right now -- I mean, I think that you can always walk away from a project at some point. I mean, it was all said and done. But I think based on what we know today and what's out there, we still believe that that's a preferred resource. Again, we have to wait for the outcome of the '13 and obviously,potentially even a '15 IRP as we go through that, but that's where we stand today and we still think it's a very viable project.

Paul T. Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Analyst

So you're still in the process of thinking how -- if you go forward with B2H, you still have a shortfall and that's where you're right now in your current IRP, if I address that?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Sorry, Paul, I'm not sure I understand your comment. Go ahead again. We're not hearing you very well, sorry.

Paul T. Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Analyst

It sounds like B2H is very much strong on the table, but it still out there. So the next IRP in '13 is probably taking a look at how to address the shortfall between '16 when ultimately B2H could be in place?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Okay. Mark will comment on that. I understand what your question is now.

Mark Stokes

Analyst

Yes, Paul, this is Mark again. Kind of going back to I think it was Sarah that asked the question about the demand response. What we end up doing with demand response programs going forward I think is going to be an important part of bridging that gap. Like we said, our first deficit we're projecting right now is in July of '16. Where we can't get B2H online potentially any earlier than '18, I think we'd be looking at demand response programs to carry us through a couple of those summers until we could get B2H online. Of course, all that's caveated with fact we do the IRP every 2 years and things are bound to change. So as we pointed out, we'll do another IRP in '15, take a look at it then and see what makes sense.

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Paul, this is Darrel. I just want to follow-up on the B2H comment because I think it's also key to understand is our agreement with Bonneville and [indiscernible] is really we're all in through permitting and fighting. And we need to get through that process. And once we get to permitting, deciding and depending on what that outcome is they may be other decisions that are made.

Operator

Operator

And you have a follow-up question from the line of Brian Russo from Ladenburg Thalmann. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Could you just give us a sense of your outlook for Bridger coal, what that unit actually provides in earnings or margins? And then just any level of comfort that the evaluation of environmental spend at the plant that the coal mine supplies. It's not at risk of any retirement?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Brian, this is Darrel. I'm going to start and I'm going to have Lisa Grow comment on. She heads up our power supply segment. One of the things you have to remember about Bridger is it is our least-cost resource from a coal perspective. It is a very competitive resource. As you might have recalled it's a mine mouth facility. So you have the coals right there at the plant, and it's been very efficient facility for us. Yet as we've indicated in our coal study, it will require certain upgrades to certain of the facilities there to meet environmental requirement. But even after assessing all of those issues, it continues to be a competitive resource for us, again, meeting all known standards and requirements as we know them today. And so we believe that there, they continue to evaluate new reserves on site at that facility. So from that standpoint, it continues to be something that's squarely in our resource portfolio as we look forward. And Lisa, I'm not sure if you want to comment on anything.

Lisa A. Grow

Analyst

[indiscernible]

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Okay. So I don't know if that answers your question, Brian. But I mean, that's how we look at that resource. You cannot predict what future regulatory or environmental requirements come down the pipe, but that's a pretty competitive resource today. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. No, I appreciate the comments. And could you just update us on what your most currently updated rate base is?

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Steve?

Steven R. Keen

Analyst

That's not a number that we really kicked out. I think Darrel and I talked about this earlier, and we didn't publish anything that has that it in. And I guess, I might refer back to how Darrel answered earlier that for late this year and next year, we'll be looking to the year-end equity numbers. We'll be watching rate base. And it has grown substantially with the addition of Langley Gulch and a pretty substantial spend each year over the next couple of years. But we'll be watching that, and it will part of what we factor into the plant and how we address 2015. And watching the combination of what the engine produces with whatever growth comes through the system versus what we might do from a regulatory standpoint, it certainly -- we were very successful the last time that we made an attempt to keep our rates current, to have new rates online as we were going to be coming out of the last tax credit agreement. And that's certainly a viable scenario that we'll be looking at again.

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

Brian, this is Darrel. One of the things you should at least think about -- I guess, if you think about it from the numbers we've given you before is you think about last year, in 2012, we spent about $240 million or so on property plant and equipment and we had depreciation of about $130 million. So there you've got about $100 million or so of new rate base that's going net of whatever deferred taxes might be associated with those investments. So it is -- we are adding rate base at kind of at around that level. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. So just when we do our own forecasting of what your rate base might look like in a few years, should we be aware of any kind of a meaningful deferred tax adjustment or a reduction in kind of the ongoing rate base?

Steven R. Keen

Analyst

There is an element of that, Brian. Certainly, the most significant one is if you look at the Langley Gulch plant, I didn't bring my -- it's out in our investment books that we've got on posted. We actually have the rate base off of Langley, and rather than being $400 million, it's like $330 million, $340 million, something like was the rate base we posted for Langley. It being a very large plant that landed in a year with bonus depreciation had a little more impact. So I think that one's worthy of note. And there would be some impacts from the annual depreciation off of our normal plant as well. But there's also a lot of deferred tax turning around annually as the plant goes away. So you can't just look at one and not pick up the other. But I would say Langley is worthy of note. You can't describe the $400 million and assume it all went into rate base. Brian J. Russo - Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. So that adjustment in rate base, that can kind of reflect maybe the deferred tax, not you guys being under budget?

Steven R. Keen

Analyst

Right. No, that was a good part of what Langley [indiscernible] we have it in our books.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] That concludes the question-and-answer session for today. Mr. Anderson, I will turn the conference back to you.

Darrel T. Anderson

Analyst

I'd to thank everybody for participating on our call this afternoon and your continued interest in IDACORP. Thanks a lot.

J. LaMont Keen

Analyst

Have a good day.

Operator

Operator

That concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.