DTE Energy 2014 Annual Report Download - page 38

We expect to issue equity of approximately $200 million in 2015 through our dividend reinvestment plan and pension and other employee benefit
plans.
At the discretion of management, and depending upon financial market conditions, we anticipate making 2015 contributions to the pension plans of up
to $180 million and up to $200 million to the other postretirement benefit plans. The planned contributions will be made in cash or a combination of cash
and DTE Energy common stock.
Various subsidiaries of the Company have entered into contracts which contain ratings triggers and are guaranteed by DTE Energy. These contracts
contain provisions which allow the counterparties to require that the Company post cash or letters of credit as collateral in the event that DTE Energy’s credit
rating is downgraded below investment grade. Certain of these provisions (known as “hard triggers”) state specific circumstances under which the Company
can be required to post collateral upon the occurrence of a credit downgrade, while other provisions (known as “soft triggers”) are not as specific. For
contracts with soft triggers, it is difficult to estimate the amount of collateral which may be requested by counterparties and/or which the Company may
ultimately be required to post. The amount of such collateral which could be requested fluctuates based on commodity prices (primarily natural gas, power
and coal) and the provisions and maturities of the underlying transactions. As of December 31, 2014, DTE Energy's contractual obligation to post collateral
in the form of cash or letter of credit in the event of a downgrade to below investment grade, under both hard trigger and soft trigger provisions, was
approximately $349 million.
We believe we have sufficient operating flexibility, cash resources and funding sources to maintain adequate amounts of liquidity and to meet our
future operating cash and capital expenditure needs. However, virtually all of our businesses are capital intensive or require access to capital, and the
inability to access adequate capital could adversely impact earnings and cash flows.
See Notes 8, 9, 13, 15 and 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Report, "Regulatory Matters", "Income Taxes", "Long-Term
Debt", "Short-Term Credit Arrangements and Borrowings" and "Retirement Benefits and Trusteed Assets".

The following table details our contractual obligations for debt redemptions, leases, purchase obligations and other long-term obligations as of
December 31, 2014:







Long-term debt:
Mortgage bonds, notes and other (a) $ 8,035
$ 161
$ 474
$ 834
$ 6,566
Securitization bonds 105
105
—
—
—
Junior subordinated debentures 480
—
—
—
480
Capital lease obligations 11
8
3
—
—
Interest 6,660
455
711
712
4,782
Operating leases 219
42
62
37
78
Electric, gas, fuel, transportation and storage purchase obligations (b) 8,896
2,326
1,971
895
3,704
Other long-term obligations (c)(d)(e) 119
57
30
13
19
Total obligations $ 24,525
$ 3,154
$ 3,251
$ 2,491
$ 15,629
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(a) Excludes $14 million of unamortized discount on debt.
(b) Excludes amounts associated with full requirements contracts where no stated minimum purchase volume is required.
(c) Includes liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits of $9 million.
(d) Excludes other long-term liabilities of $192 million not directly derived from contracts or other agreements.
(e) At December 31, 2014, we met the minimum pension funding levels required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Pension Protection
Act of 2006 for our defined benefit pension plans. We may contribute more than the minimum funding requirements for our pension plans and may also make contributions to
our other postretirement benefit plans; however, these amounts are not included in the table above as such amounts are discretionary. Planned funding levels are disclosed in the
Capital Resources and Liquidity and Critical Accounting Estimates sections herein and in Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Report, "Retirement
Benefits and Trusteed Assets".
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