Sec. 181.12. Employee pensions and benefits

(a) All costs of employee pensions and benefits, whether such costs represent pensions payable currently to retired employees or their beneficiaries, advance provision for future payments, or both, are includible in the charges of each accounting period, provided:

(1) the pension program under which the costs are determined is reasonable;

(2) amounts paid are irrevocably dedicated to pension purposes; and

(3) any program of systematic advance provision is based on actuarial studies or other recognized and acceptable systematic method of computation and allocation.

Pension payments and accruals are includible in account 1800, Other General Expenses; however, a utility may distribute to construction and retirement projects and to clearing and other accounts an applicable portion of the pension and benefits costs.

(b) No charge shall be made to any account in this system of accounts to reflect the advance provision for employee pension and benefits costs or to augment incomplete provision at a given date for amounts computed in relation to service prior to that date, unless full particulars of the program shall have been filed with the commission together with copies of supporting documents. Filings shall be promptly made also of any material changes in pension or other benefits programs subsequent to the initial presentation to the commission. Acceptance by the commission of such data, as filed, shall not be interpreted as constituting approval of a pension and employee benefits program, or of documents associated therewith, or of any accounting made thereunder by the utility.

(c) The utility shall keep supporting records which will disclose as of the end of each account period:

(1) the amounts disbursed by the company during the period, direct to pensioners or their beneficiaries;

(2) the amounts paid into the fund dedicated to future pension payments; and for each of such classes of disbursements, the accumulated total from the beginning of the year;

(3) the amount accumulated in the pension fund as provision for future pension payments; and

(4) at each year end the amount by which pension commitments under the plan as then in effect, even though subject to future amendment or termination, computed in relation to employee service to that date, (generally the “actuarial liability”) exceed the amount in the pension fund.