Note 22 - Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

NOTE 22 — COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Geothermal resources

The Company, through its project subsidiaries in the United States, controls certain rights to geothermal fluids through certain leases with the BLM or through private leases. Royalties on the utilization of the geothermal resources are computed and paid to the lessors as defined in the respective agreements. Royalty expense under the geothermal resource agreements were $21.7 million, $21.6 million and $19.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Letters of credit

In the ordinary course of business with customers, vendors, and lenders, the Company is contingently liable for performance under letters of credit totaling $213.8 million at December 31, 2019. Management does not expect any material losses to result from these letters of credit because performance is not expected to be required, and, therefore, is of the opinion that the fair value of these instruments is zero.

Purchase commitments

The Company purchases raw materials for inventories, construction-in-process and services from a variety of vendors. During the normal course of business, in order to manage manufacturing lead times and help assure adequate supply, the Company enters into agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers that either allow them to procure goods and services based upon specifications defined by the Company, or that establish parameters defining the Company’s requirements.

At December 31, 2019, total obligations related to such supplier agreements were approximately $185.0 million (out of which approximately $59.5 million relate to construction-in-process). All such obligations are payable in 2019.

Grants and royalties

The Company, through Ormat Systems, had historically, through December 31, 2003, requested and received grants for research and development from the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Government. Ormat Systems is required to pay royalties to the Israeli Government at a rate of 3.5% to 5.0% of the revenues derived from products and services developed using these grants. No royalties were paid for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017. The Company is not liable for royalties if the Company does not sell such products and services. Such royalties are capped at the amount of the grants received plus interest at LIBOR. The cap at December 31, 2019 and 2018, amounted to $2.1 million and $2.0 million, respectively, of which approximately $1.1 million and $1.0 million, respectively, represents interest based on the LIBOR rate, as defined above.

Lease commitments

The Company's lease commitments are detailed under Note 23, Leases to the consolidated financial statements.

Contingencies

● On May 21, 2018, a motion to certify a class action was filed in Tel Aviv District Court against Ormat Technologies, Inc. and 11 officers and directors.  The alleged class is defined as "All persons who purchased Ormat shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange between August 3, 2017 and May 13, 2018". The motion alleges that the Company violated  Sections 31(a)(1) and 38C of the Israeli Securities Law because it allegedly: (1) misled investors by stating in its financial statements that it maintains effective internal controls over its accounting policies and procedures, however the Company's internal controls had material weaknesses which led to erroneous accounting in its 2017 unaudited quarterly reports that had to be restated, including adjustments to the Company’s net income and shareholders’ equity; and (2) failed to issue an immediate report in Israel until May 16, 2018, analogous to the report that was released in the United States on May 11, 2018 stating, inter alia, that the errors in its financial reports affected its balance sheet and would be remedied in its 2017 annual report. The Company filed an agreed motion to the Tel Aviv District Court to stay the proceedings in Israel until a final decision in the U.S. case (Mac Costas) is adjudicated.

● On June 11, 2018, a putative class action was filed by Mac Costas on behalf of alleged shareholders that purchased or acquired the Company's ordinary shares between August 8, 2017 and May 15, 2018 was commenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against the Company and its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, which was subsequently amended by a consolidated complaint filed by lead plaintiff Phoenix Insurance in May 13, 2019.  The complaint asserts claim against all defendants pursuant to Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, as amended, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and against its officers pursuant to Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act.  The complaint alleges that the Company's Form 10-K for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, and Form 10-Qs for each of the quarters in the nine months ended September 30, 2017 contained material misstatements or omissions, among other things, with respect to the Company’s tax provisions and the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting, and that, as a result of such alleged misstatements and omissions, the plaintiffs suffered damages. On December 6, 2019 the Company’s motion to dismiss was denied by the court. The Company believes that it has valid defenses under law and intends to defend itself vigorously.

● On September 11, 2018, the Klein derivative action (“Klein Action”) was filed against the Company, its board and its CEO and CFO in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, and on October 22, 2018, the Matthew derivative action (“Matthew Action”) was filed against the company, certain named present and former board members (Barniv, Beck, Boehm, Clark, Falk, Freeland, Granot, Joyal, Nishigori, Sharir, Stern and Wong) in the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada. The Klein complaint asserts four derivative causes of action generally arising from Ormat's restatement of its financial statements: (i) the individual defendants allegedly breached their fiduciary duties by allowing the company to improperly report its financials; (ii) the individual defendants allegedly were unjustly enriched by being compensated while breaching their fiduciary duties; (iii) the individual defendants allegedly committed corporate waste in paying officers and directors and by incurring legal costs and potential liability; and (iv) the director defendants allegedly breached Section 14(a) of the Exchange Act in connection with the issuance of 2018 proxy. The Matthew complaint similarly alleges derivatively a breach of fiduciary duties, abuse of control, gross mismanagement, and corporate waste by the named directors. On January 24, 2019, the Nevada Court entered an order consolidating the Klein Action and Matthew Action, and staying all deadlines and hearings in the consolidated action pending entry of an order on the motion to dismiss in the Mac Costas putative class action. Pursuant to the court’s denial of the motion to dismiss in the Mac Costas putative class action, the parties have stipulated a delay in the scheduling and meet to enable out of court discussions of a possible resolution.

● Following the announcement of the Company’s acquisition of USG, a number of putative shareholder class action complaints were initially filed on behalf of USG shareholders between March 8, 2018 and March 30, 2018 against USG and the individual members of the USG board of directors.  All of the purported class action suits filed in Federal Court in Idaho have been voluntarily dismissed.  The single remaining class action complaint is a purported class action filed in the Delaware Chancery Court, entitled Riche v. Pappas, et al., Case No. 2018-0177 (Del. Ch., Mar. 12, 2018). An amended complaint was filed on May 24, 2018 under seal, under a confidentiality agreement that was executed by plaintiff.   The amended Riche complaint alleges state law claims for breach of fiduciary duty against former USG directors and seeks post-closing damages. The Company believes that it has valid defenses under law and intends to defend itself vigorously.

● On August 5, 2016, George Douvris, Stephanie Douvris, Michael Hale, Cheryl Cacocci, Hillary E. Wilt and Christina Bryan, acting for themselves and on behalf of all other similarly situated residents of the lower Puna District, filed a complaint in the Third Circuit Court for the State of Hawaii seeking certification of a class action for preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, consequential and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and statutory interest against PGV and other presently unknown defendants. HELCO and other parties were later joined as co-defendants. The Parties have reached an amicable settlement in an immaterial amount which, on April 4, 2019, was recorded by the Court, and the claim dismissed.

● On March 29, 2016, a former local sales representative in Chile, Aquavant, S.A., filed a claim on the basis of unjust enrichment against Ormat’s subsidiaries in the 27th Civil Court of Santiago, Chile. The claim requests that the court order Ormat to pay Aquavant $4.6 million in connection with its activities in Chile, including the EPC contract for the Cerro Pabellon project and various geothermal concessions, plus 3.75% of Ormat geothermal products sales in Chile over the next 10 years. Pursuant to various motions submitted by the defendants and the plaintiffs to various courts, including the Court of Appeals, the case was removed from the original court and then refiled before the 11th Civil Court of Santiago.   The Civil Court has heard oral testimonies and the “factual” stage of the proceedings are completed. The Company believes that it has valid defenses under law and intends to defend itself vigorously.

In addition, from time to time, the Company is named as a party to various other lawsuits, claims and other legal and regulatory proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of the Company’s business. These actions typically seek, among other things, compensation for alleged personal injury, breach of contract, property damage, punitive damages, civil penalties or other losses, or injunctive or declaratory relief. With respect to such lawsuits, claims and proceedings, the Company accrues reserves when a loss is probable and the amount of such loss can be reasonably estimated. It is the opinion of the Company’s management that the outcome of these proceedings, individually and collectively, will not be material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements as a whole.