NEXTERA ENERGY PARTNERS, LP NextEra Energy Partners, LP Media Line: (561) 694-4442
Oct. 28, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Remains on track to meet distribution per unit expectations for the full year
Increases quarterly distribution to $0.27 per common unit
Plans to pursue at-the-market equity issuance program
NextEra Energy, Inc. authorizes program to purchase up to $150 million of outstanding common units
JUNO BEACH, Fla. - NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) today reported 2015 third-quarter net income attributable to NextEra Energy Partners of $1 million. NextEra Energy Partners also reported 2015 third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $99 million. For the third quarter of 2015, cash available for distribution (CAFD) was $15 million.
NextEra Energy Partners' management uses adjusted EBITDA and CAFD, which are non-GAAP financial measures, internally for financial planning, for analysis of performance and for reporting of results to the board of directors of its general partner. NextEra Energy Partners also uses these measures when communicating its financial results and earnings outlook to analysts and investors. The attachments to this news release include a reconciliation of historical adjusted EBITDA and CAFD to net income, which is the most directly comparable GAAP measure.
'Although the quarter's results were slightly below our expectations because of weak wind resource, NextEra Energy Partners' portfolio performed well and remains on track to achieve the distribution per unit expectations that we have shared by the end of the year,' said Jim Robo, chairman and chief executive officer. 'We recently completed the acquisitions of seven natural gas pipelines in Texas and the Jericho wind project in Canada. The partnership's sponsor, NextEra Energy Resources, continues to expand its development pipeline of contracted assets, which gives NextEra Energy Partners even greater visibility into its long-term growth potential. I also am pleased to announce that the board of directors of our general partner has approved putting in place an up to $150 million at-the-market equity issuance or 'dribble' program, which gives the partnership the flexibility to issue new units when the price supports new issuance. In addition, NextEra Energy has authorized a program to purchase, from time to time, up to $150 million of NextEra Energy Partners' outstanding common units, which gives NextEra Energy the ability to demonstrate its commitment to the partnership by purchasing units when they are undervalued. We continue to view NextEra Energy Partners as a best-in-class YieldCo.'
The board of directors of the general partner of NextEra Energy Partners declared a quarterly distribution of $0.27 per common unit (corresponding to an annualized rate of $1.08 per common unit) to the unitholders of NextEra Energy Partners. The distribution increased $0.14 per common unit on an
annualized basis from the second quarter of 2015. The distribution will be payable on Nov. 13, 2015, to unitholders of record as of Nov. 5, 2015.
NextEra Energy Partners plans to put in place an up to $150 million at-the-market equity issuance or 'dribble' program. In addition, NextEra Energy Partners has been advised that NextEra Energy has authorized a program to purchase, from time to time, subject to market conditions and other considerations, up to $150 million of NextEra Energy Partners' outstanding common units. The common unit purchase program will not require NextEra Energy to acquire any specific number of common units and may be modified or terminated by NextEra Energy at any time.
For the full year 2015, NextEra Energy Partners continues to expect the portfolio to grow to support a distribution level at an annualized rate of $1.23 per unit by the end of 2015. After 2015, the partnership expects 12 to 15 percent per year growth in limited partner distributions through 2020.
NextEra Energy Partners' 2015 expectations remain unchanged for adjusted EBITDA of $400 million to
$440 million and CAFD of $100 million to $120 million. NextEra Energy Partners' Dec. 31, 2015, run rate expectations for adjusted EBITDA of $540 million to $580 million and CAFD of $190 million to $220 million reflect calendar year 2016 expectations for the portfolio at year-end Dec. 31, 2015. The Dec. 31, 2016, run rate expectations for adjusted EBITDA of $640 million to $760 million and CAFD of $210 million to $290 million reflect calendar year 2017 expectations for the forecasted portfolio at year-end Dec. 31, 2016. These expectations are net of expected IDR fees, as these fees are expected to be treated as an operating expense.
Adjusted EBITDA and CAFD expectations assume, among other things, normal weather and operating conditions, public policy support for wind and solar development and construction, market demand and transmission expansion support for wind and solar development and access to capital at reasonable cost and terms. Please see the accompanying cautionary statements for a list of the risk factors that may affect future results. Adjusted EBITDA and CAFD do not represent substitutes for net income, as prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The adjusted EBITDA and CAFD run rate expectations have not been reconciled to GAAP net income because NextEra Energy Partners did not prepare estimates of the effect of the acquisitions on certain GAAP line items that would be necessary to provide a forward-looking estimate of GAAP net income, and the information necessary to provide such a forward-looking estimate is not available without unreasonable effort.
As previously announced, NextEra Energy Partners' third-quarter conference call is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET today. Also discussed during the call will be the third-quarter financial results for NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). The webcast will be available on the website of NextEra Energy Partners by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com/Earnings. The news release and the slides accompanying the presentation may be downloaded at www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com/Earnings, beginning at 7:30 a.m. today. A replay will be available by accessing the same link as listed above.
NextEra Energy Partners, LPNextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) to acquire, manage and own contracted clean energy projects with stable, long-term cash flows. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Fla., NextEra Energy Partners owns interests in wind and solar projects in North America, as well as natural gas infrastructure assets in Texas. The renewable energy projects are fully contracted, use industry-leading technology and are located in regions that are favorable for generating energy from the wind and sun. The seven natural gas pipelines in the portfolio are all strategically located, serving power producers and municipalities in South Texas, processing plants and producers in the Eagle Ford Shale, and residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Houston area. The NET Mexico Pipeline, the largest pipeline in the portfolio, provides a critical source of natural gas transportation for low-cost, U.S.-sourced shale gas to Mexico. For more information about NextEra Energy Partners, please visit: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com.
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This news release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (together with its subsidiaries, NEP) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NEP's control. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements concerning cash available for distributions expectations and future operating performance. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as 'will,' 'may result,' 'expect,' 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'intend,' 'plan,' 'seek,' 'aim,' 'potential,' 'projection,' 'forecast,' 'predict,' 'goals,' 'target,' 'outlook,' 'should,' 'would' or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NEP and its business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause NEP's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require it to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: NEP has a limited operating history and its projects may not perform as expected; NEP's ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders is affected by wind and solar conditions at its projects; operation and maintenance of energy projects involve significant risks that could result in unplanned power outages or reduced output; the wind turbines at some of NEP's projects and at some of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC's (NEER) right of first offer projects (ROFO Projects) are not generating the amount of energy estimated by their manufacturers' original power curves, and the manufacturers may not be able to restore energy capacity at the affected turbines; NEP depends on certain of the projects in its portfolio for a substantial portion of its anticipated cash flows; terrorist or similar attacks could impact NEP's projects or surrounding areas and adversely affect its business; NEP's energy production may be substantially below its expectations if a natural disaster or meteorological conditions damage its turbines, solar panels, other equipment or facilities; NEP is not able to insure against all potential risks and it may become subject to higher insurance premiums; warranties provided by the suppliers of equipment for NEP's projects may be limited by the ability of a supplier to satisfy its warranty obligations or if the term of the warranty has expired or liability limits, which could reduce or void the warranty protections, or the warranties may be insufficient to compensate NEP's losses; supplier concentration at certain of NEP's projects may expose it to significant credit or performance risks; NEP relies on interconnection and transmission facilities of third parties to deliver energy from its projects and, if these facilities become unavailable, NEP's projects may not be able to operate or deliver energy; NEP's business is subject to liabilities and operating restrictions arising from environmental, health and safety laws and regulations; NEP's projects may be adversely affected by legislative changes or a failure to comply with applicable energy regulations; NEP's partnership agreement restricts the voting rights of unitholders owning 20% or more of its common units, and under certain circumstances this could be reduced to 10%; NEP does not own all of the land on which the projects in its portfolio are located and its use and enjoyment of the property may be adversely affected to the extent that there are any lienholders or leaseholders that have rights that are superior to NEP's rights or the BLM suspends its federal rights-of-way grants; NEP is subject to risks associated with litigation or administrative proceedings that could materially impact its operations, including future proceedings related to projects it subsequently acquires; the Summerhaven, Conestogo and Bluewater projects are subject to Canadian domestic content requirements under their Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) contracts; NEP's cross-border operations require NEP to comply with anti-corruption laws and regulations of the U.S. government and non-U.S. jurisdictions; NEP is subject to risks associated with its ownership or acquisition of projects that remain under construction, which could result in its inability to complete construction projects on time or at all, and make projects too expensive to complete or cause the return on an investment to be less than expected; NEP relies on a limited number of energy sale counterparties and NEP is exposed to the risk that they are unwilling or unable to fulfill their contractual obligations to NEP or that they otherwise terminate their agreements with NEP; NEP may not be able to extend, renew or replace expiring or terminated agreements, such as its power purchase agreements (PPAs), Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) Contracts and FIT Contracts, at favorable rates or on a long-term basis; if the energy production by or availability of NEP's U.S. projects is less than expected, they may not be able to satisfy minimum production or availability obligations under NEP's U.S. project entities' PPAs; NEP's growth strategy depends on locating and acquiring interests in additional projects consistent with its business strategy at favorable prices; NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP's (NEP OpCo) partnership agreement requires that it distribute its available cash,
which could limit its ability to grow and make acquisitions; lower prices for other fuel sources reduce the demand for wind and solar energy; government regulations providing incentives and subsidies for clean energy could change at any time and such changes may negatively impact NEP's growth strategy; NEP's growth strategy depends on the acquisition of projects developed by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) and third parties, which face risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, the environment, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements; NEP's ability to consummate future acquisitions will depend on NEP's ability to finance those acquisitions; acquisitions of existing clean energy projects involve numerous risks; renewable energy procurement is subject to U.S. state and Canadian provincial regulations, with relatively irregular, infrequent and often competitive procurement windows; NEP may acquire other sources of clean energy, including natural gas and nuclear projects, and may expand to include other types of assets including transmission projects, and any future acquisition of non-renewable energy projects, including transmission projects, may present unforeseen challenges and result in a competitive disadvantage relative to NEP's more-established competitors. A failure to successfully integrate such acquisitions with NEP's then-existing projects as a result of unforeseen operational difficulties or otherwise, could have a
material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to grow its business and make cash distributions to its unitholders; NEP faces substantial competition primarily from regulated utilities, developers, independent power producers (IPPs), pension funds and private equity funds for opportunities in North America; restrictions in NEP OpCo's subsidiaries' revolving credit facility could adversely affect NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders; NEP's cash distributions to its unitholders may be reduced as a result of restrictions on NEP's subsidiaries' cash distributions to NEP under the terms of their indebtedness; NEP's subsidiaries' substantial amount of indebtedness may adversely affect NEP's ability to operate its business and its failure to comply with the terms of its subsidiaries' indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on NEP's financial condition; currency exchange rate fluctuations may affect NEP's operations; NEP is exposed to risks inherent in its use of interest rate swaps; NEP's failure to remediate a material weakness in internal controls, and to maintain effective internal controls in the future, could have a material adverse effect on its business; NEE exercises substantial influence over NEP and NEP is highly dependent on NEE and its affiliates; NEP is highly dependent on credit support from NEE and its affiliates; NEP's subsidiaries may default under contracts or become subject to cash sweeps if credit support is terminated, if NEE or its affiliates fail to honor their obligations under credit support arrangements, or if NEE or another credit support provider ceases to satisfy creditworthiness requirements, and NEP will be required in certain circumstances to reimburse NEE for draws that are made on credit support; NEER or one of its affiliates is permitted to borrow funds received by NEP's subsidiaries, including NEP OpCo, as partial consideration for its obligation to provide credit support to NEP, and NEER will use these funds for its own account without paying additional consideration to NEP and is obligated to return these funds only as needed to cover project costs and distributions or as demanded by NEP OpCo; NEP's financial condition and ability to make distributions to its unitholders, as well as its ability to grow distributions in the future, is highly dependent on NEER's performance of its obligations to return a portion of these funds; NEP may not be able to consummate future acquisitions from NEER; NextEra Energy Partners GP, Inc. (NEP GP), NEP's general partner, and its affiliates, including NEE, have conflicts of interest with NEP and limited duties to NEP and its unitholders and they may favor their own interests to the detriment of NEP and holders of NEP's common units; NEE and other affiliates of NEP GP are not restricted in their ability to compete with NEP; NEP may be unable to terminate the management services agreement among NEP, NextEra Energy Management Partners, LP (NEE Management), NEP OpCo and NEP GP (Management Services Agreement); if NEE Management terminates the Management Services Agreement, NEER terminates the management services subcontract between NEE Management and NEER (Management Sub-Contract) or either of them defaults in the performance of its obligations thereunder, NEP may be unable to contract with a substitute service provider on similar terms, or at all; NEP's arrangements with NEE limit NEE's liability, and NEP has agreed to indemnify NEE against claims that it may face in connection with such arrangements, which may lead NEE to assume greater risks when making decisions relating to NEP than it otherwise would if acting solely for its own account; the credit and risk profile of NEP GP and its owner, NEE, could adversely affect any NEP credit ratings and risk profile, which could increase NEP's borrowing costs or hinder NEP's ability to raise capital; NEP's ability to make distributions to its unitholders depends on the ability of NEP OpCo to make cash distributions to its limited partners; if NEP incurs material tax liabilities, NEP's distributions to its unitholders may be reduced, without any corresponding reduction in the amount of the IDR fee (as defined in the Management Services Agreement) payable to NEE Management under the Management Services Agreement; holders of NEP's common units have limited voting rights and are not entitled to elect its general partner or its general partner's directors; NEP's partnership agreement restricts the remedies available to holders of NEP's common units for actions taken by its general partner that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duties; NEP's partnership agreement replaces NEP GP's fiduciary duties to holders of NEP's common units with contractual standards governing its duties; even if holders of NEP's common units are dissatisfied, they cannot initially remove NEP GP, as NEP's general partner, without NEE's consent; NEP GP's interest in NEP and the control of NEP GP may be transferred to a third party without unitholder consent; the IDR fee may be transferred to a third party without unitholder consent; NEP may issue additional units without unitholder approval, which would dilute unitholder interests; reimbursements and fees owed to NEP GP and its affiliates for services provided to NEP or on NEP's behalf will reduce cash distributions to or from NEP OpCo and from NEP to NEP's unitholders, and the amount and timing of such reimbursements and fees will be determined by NEP GP and there are no limits on the amount that NEP OpCo may be required to pay; discretion in establishing cash reserves by NextEra Energy Operating Partners GP, LLC (NEE Operating GP), the general partner of NEP OpCo, may reduce the amount of cash distributions to NEP's unitholders; while NEP's partnership agreement requires NEP to distribute its available cash, NEP's partnership agreement, including provisions requiring NEP to make cash distributions, may be amended; NEP OpCo can borrow money to pay distributions, which would reduce the amount of credit available to operate NEP's business; increases in interest rates could adversely impact the price of NEP's common units, NEP's ability to issue equity or incur debt for acquisitions or other purposes and NEP's ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders; the price of NEP's common units may fluctuate significantly and unitholders could lose all or part of their investment and a market that will provide unitholders with adequate
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