text: ***Property, plant and equipment:***Property, plant and equipment is stated at cost. The Company capitalizes all costs 
  associated with the purchase, deployment and installation of property, plant and equipment, including interest on major 
  capital projects during the period of their construction. Expenditures, including those on leased assets, which extend 
  the useful life or increase its utility, are capitalized. Maintenance expense is recognized when repairs are performed. 
  Depreciation is calculated on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Depreciation 
  expense for continuing operations was approximately 8.7%, 8.6% and 8.3% of average depreciable assets for the years 
  2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively. Depreciation lives are assigned to assets based on their estimated useful lives in 
  conjunction with industry and regulatory guidelines, where applicable. Such lives, while similar, may exceed the lives 
  that would have been used if the Company did not operate certain segments of the business in a regulated environment. 
  The Company takes technology changes into consideration as it assigns the estimated useful lives, and monitors the 
  remaining useful lives of asset groups to reasonably match the remaining economic life with the useful life and makes 
  adjustments when necessary. 