COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS

In addition to those reported in its 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, TEP entered into the following long-term commitments through September 30, 2018:



(in millions)	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022		Thereafter		Total
Fuel, Including Transportation	$	4	$	5	$	5	$	5	$	5	$	1	$	25

Fuel, Including Transportation

TEP has firm transportation agreements with capacity sufficient to meet its load requirements. These agreements expire in various years between 2019 and 2040. In January 2018, TEP entered into a transportation agreement with El Paso Natural Gas Company, LLC, extending the expiration date of the existing agreement from April 2018 to April 2023.

In October 2018, Westmoreland Coal Company (WCC), the owner of San Juan Coal Company’s (SJCC), filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), the operator of San Juan, has an existing Coal Supply Agreement (CSA) with WCC to supply coal from SJCC's San Juan Mine to San Juan. TEP is not a party to the CSA, but has minimum purchase obligations under a joint participation agreement. WCC is expected to provide adequate liquidity to support continued operations at the San Juan Mine throughout the restructuring process. TEP believes it has adequate resource capacity to meet its near-term load obligations in the event WCC’s operations at the San Juan Mine are curtailed. TEP cannot currently predict the outcome of this matter or the long-term impacts on operations at San Juan.

CONTINGENCIES

Legal Matters

TEP is party to a variety of legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. TEP believes such normal and routine litigation will not have a material impact on its operations or financial results. TEP is also involved in other kinds of legal actions, some of which assert or may assert claims or seek to impose fines, penalties, and other costs in substantial amounts on TEP and are disclosed below.

Claims Related to San Juan Generating Station

WildEarth Guardians

In 2013, WildEarth Guardians (WEG) filed a Petition for Review in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) challenging several unrelated mining plan modification approvals, including two issued in 2008 related to SJCC's San Juan Mine. The petition alleges various National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) violations against the OSM, including: (i) failure to provide requisite public notice and participation, and (ii) failure to analyze certain environmental impacts. WEG’s petition seeks various forms of relief, including voiding and remanding the various mining modification approvals, enjoining the federal defendants from re-issuing the approvals until they can demonstrate compliance with the NEPA, and enjoining operations at the affected mines. SJCC intervened in this matter and was granted its motion to sever its claims from the lawsuit and transfer venue to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, where this matter is now pending. In July 2016, the federal defendants filed a motion asking that the matter be voluntarily remanded to the OSM so the OSM may prepare a new environmental impact statement (EIS) under the NEPA regarding the impacts of the San Juan Mine mining plan approval. In August 2016, the court issued an order granting the motion for remand to conduct further environmental analysis and complete an EIS by August 31, 2019. The order provides that: (i) the OSM's decision approving the mining plan will remain in effect during this process; or (ii) if the EIS is not completed by August 31, 2019, then the approved mine plan will immediately be vacated, absent further court order. In May 2018, the OSM released a draft EIS for public comment which was open through July 2018. TEP cannot currently predict the outcome of this matter or the range of its potential impact.

Mine Reclamation at Generation Facilities Not Operated by TEP

TEP pays ongoing mine reclamation costs related to coal mines that supply generation facilities in which TEP has an ownership interest but does not operate. TEP is also liable for a portion of final mine reclamation costs upon closure of the mines servicing Navajo, San Juan, and Four Corners. TEP’s share of reclamation costs at all three mines is expected to be $65 million upon expiration of the coal supply agreements, which expire between 2019 and 2031. The balance sheet reflected a total liability related to reclamation of $35 million as of September 30, 2018, and $34 million as of December 31, 2017.

Amounts recorded for final mine reclamation are subject to various assumptions, such as estimations of reclamation costs, the dates when final reclamation will occur, and the expected inflation rate. As these assumptions change, TEP will prospectively adjust the expense amounts for final reclamation over the remaining coal supply agreements’ terms. TEP does not believe that recognition of its final reclamation obligations will be material to TEP in any single year because recognition will occur over the remaining terms of its coal supply agreements.

TEP’s PPFAC allows the Company to pass through final mine reclamation costs, as a component of fuel costs, to retail customers. Therefore, TEP classifies these costs as a regulatory asset by increasing the regulatory asset and the reclamation liability over the remaining life of the coal supply agreements and recovers the regulatory asset through the PPFAC as final mine reclamation costs are paid to the coal suppliers.

Performance Guarantees

TEP has joint participation agreements with participants at Navajo, San Juan, Four Corners, and Luna Generating Station (Luna). The participants in each of the generation facilities, including TEP, have guaranteed certain performance obligations. Specifically, in the event of payment default, each non-defaulting participant has agreed to bear its proportionate share of expenses otherwise payable by the defaulting participant. In exchange, the non-defaulting participants are entitled to receive their proportionate share of the generation capacity of the defaulting participant. With the exception of Four Corners, there is no maximum potential amount of future payments TEP could be required to make under the guarantees. The maximum potential amount of future payments is $250 million at Four Corners. As of September 30, 2018, there have been no such payment defaults under any of the participation agreements. The Navajo participation agreement expires in 2019, San Juan in 2022, Four Corners in 2041, and Luna in 2046.

Environmental Matters

TEP is subject to federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations regarding air and water quality, renewable portfolio standards, emissions performance standards, climate change, coal combustion byproduct disposal, hazardous and solid waste disposal, protected species, and other environmental matters that have the potential to impact TEP's current and future operations. Environmental laws and regulations are subject to a range of interpretations, which may ultimately be resolved by the courts. Because these laws and regulations continue to evolve, TEP is unable to predict the impact of the changing laws and regulations on its operations and financial results. TEP expects to recover the cost of environmental compliance from its ratepayers. TEP believes it is in compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations.