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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2018
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Palo Verde Generating Station Spent Nuclear Fuel and Waste Disposal On December 19, 2012, APS, acting on behalf of itself and the participant owners of Palo Verde, filed a second breach of contract lawsuit against the DOE in the United States Court of Federal Claims ("Court of Federal Claims"). The lawsuit sought to recover damages incurred due to the DOE’s breach of the Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High Level Radioactive Waste ("Standard Contract") for failing to accept Palo Verde's spent nuclear fuel and high level waste from January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2011, as it was required to do pursuant to the terms of the Standard Contract and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. On August 18, 2014, APS and the DOE entered into a settlement agreement, stipulating to a dismissal of the lawsuit and payment of $57.4 million by the DOE to the Palo Verde owners for certain specified costs incurred by Palo Verde during the period January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2011. APS’s share of this amount is $16.7 million. Amounts recovered in the lawsuit and settlement were recorded as adjustments to a regulatory liability and had no impact on the amount of reported net income. In addition, the settlement agreement, as amended, provides APS with a method for submitting claims and getting recovery for costs incurred through December 31, 2019. APS has submitted four claims pursuant to the terms of the August 18, 2014 settlement agreement, for four separate time periods during July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2018. The DOE has approved and paid $74.2 million for these claims (APS’s share is $21.6 million). The amounts recovered were primarily recorded as adjustments to a regulatory liability and had no impact on reported net income. In accordance with the 2017 Rate Case Decision, this regulatory liability is being refunded to customers (see Note 3). APS's next claim pursuant to the terms of the August 18, 2014 settlement agreement was submitted to the DOE on October 31, 2018 in the amount of $10.2 million (APS's share is $3.0 million). This claim is pending DOE review. Nuclear Insurance Public liability for incidents at nuclear power plants is governed by the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act ("Price-Anderson Act"), which limits the liability of nuclear reactor owners to the amount of insurance available from both commercial sources and an industry-wide retrospective payment plan. In accordance with the Price-Anderson Act, the Palo Verde participants are insured against public liability for a nuclear incident of up to approximately $14.1 billion per occurrence. Palo Verde maintains the maximum available nuclear liability insurance in the amount of $450 million, which is provided by American Nuclear Insurers ("ANI"). The remaining balance of approximately $13.6 billion of liability coverage is provided through a mandatory industry-wide retrospective premium program. If losses at any nuclear power plant covered by the program exceed the accumulated funds, APS could be responsible for retrospective premiums. The maximum retrospective premium per reactor under the program for each nuclear liability incident is approximately $137.6 million, subject to a maximum annual premium of approximately $20.5 million per incident. Based on APS’s ownership interest in the three Palo Verde units, APS’s maximum retrospective premium per incident for all three units is approximately $120.1 million, with a maximum annual retrospective premium of approximately $17.9 million. The Palo Verde participants maintain insurance for property damage to, and decontamination of, property at Palo Verde in the aggregate amount of $2.8 billion. APS has also secured accidental outage insurance for a sudden and unforeseen accidental outage of any of the three units. The property damage, decontamination, and accidental outage insurance are provided by Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited ("NEIL"). APS is subject to retrospective premium adjustments under all NEIL policies if NEIL’s losses in any policy year exceed accumulated funds. The maximum amount APS could incur under the current NEIL policies totals approximately $24.8 million for each retrospective premium assessment declared by NEIL’s Board of Directors due to losses. In addition, NEIL policies contain rating triggers that would result in APS providing approximately $71.2 million of collateral assurance within 20 business days of a rating downgrade to non-investment grade. The insurance coverage discussed in this and the previous paragraph is subject to certain policy conditions, sublimits and exclusions. Fuel and Purchased Power Commitments and Purchase Obligations APS is party to various fuel and purchased power contracts and purchase obligations with terms expiring between 2019 and 2043 that include required purchase provisions. APS estimates the contract requirements to be approximately $622 million in 2019; $555 million in 2020; $558 million in 2021; $563 million in 2022; $560 million in 2023; and $5.9 billion thereafter. However, these amounts may vary significantly pursuant to certain provisions in such contracts that permit us to decrease required purchases under certain circumstances. These amounts include estimated commitments relating to purchased power lease contracts, see Note 8. Of the various fuel and purchased power contracts mentioned above, some of those contracts for coal supply include take-or-pay provisions. The current coal contracts with take-or-pay provisions have terms expiring through 2031. The following table summarizes our estimated coal take-or-pay commitments (dollars in thousands):
| Years Ended December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2021 |  | 2022 |  | 2023 |  | Thereafter
Coal take-or-pay commitments (a) | $ | 179,879 |  |  | $ | 181,059 |  |  | $ | 184,944 |  |  | $ | 186,244 |  |  | $ | 187,518 |  |  | $ | 1,422,253 |
(a) | Total take-or-pay commitments are approximately $2.3 billion. The total net present value of these commitments is approximately $1.7 billion.
APS may spend more to meet its actual fuel requirements than the minimum purchase obligations in our coal take-or-pay contracts. The following table summarizes actual amounts purchased under the coal contracts which include take-or-pay provisions for each of the last three years (dollars in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
Total purchases | $ | 206,093 |  |  | $ | 165,220 |  |  | $ | 160,066 |
Renewable Energy Credits APS has entered into contracts to purchase renewable energy credits to comply with the RES. APS estimates the contract requirements to be approximately $37 million in 2019; $36 million in 2020; $34 million in 2021; $31 million in 2022; $30 million in 2023; and $155 million thereafter. These amounts do not include purchases of renewable energy credits that are bundled with energy. Coal Mine Reclamation Obligations APS must reimburse certain coal providers for amounts incurred for final and contemporaneous coal mine reclamation. We account for contemporaneous reclamation costs as part of the cost of the delivered coal. We utilize site-specific studies of costs expected to be incurred in the future to estimate our final reclamation obligation. These studies utilize various assumptions to estimate the future costs. Based on the most recent reclamation studies, APS recorded an obligation for the coal mine final reclamation of approximately $213 million at December 31, 2018 and $216 million at December 31, 2017. Under our current coal supply agreements, APS expects to make payments for the final mine reclamation as follows: $32 million in 2019; $21 million in 2020; $21 million in 2021; $22 million in 2022; $24 million in 2023; and $167 million thereafter. Any amendments to current coal supply agreements may change the timing of the contribution. Portions of these funds will be held in an escrow account and distributed to certain coal providers under the terms of the applicable coal supply agreements. Superfund-Related Matters The Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA" or "Superfund") establishes liability for the cleanup of hazardous substances found contaminating the soil, water or air. Those who released, generated, transported to, or disposed of hazardous substances at a contaminated site are among the parties who are potentially responsible ("PRPs"). PRPs may be strictly, and often are jointly and severally, liable for clean-up. On September 3, 2003, EPA advised APS that EPA considers APS to be a PRP in the Motorola 52 nd Street Superfund Site, Operable Unit 3 ("OU3") in Phoenix, Arizona. APS has facilities that are within this Superfund site. APS and Pinnacle West have agreed with EPA to perform certain investigative activities of the APS facilities within OU3. In addition, on September 23, 2009, APS agreed with EPA and one other PRP to voluntarily assist with the funding and management of the site-wide groundwater remedial investigation and feasibility study ("RI/FS"). Based upon discussions between the OU3 working group parties and EPA, along with the results of recent technical analyses prepared by the OU3 working group to supplement the RI/FS for OU3, APS anticipates finalizing the RI/FS in the fall or winter of 2019. We estimate that our costs related to this investigation and study will be approximately $2 million. We anticipate incurring additional expenditures in the future, but because the overall investigation is not complete and ultimate remediation requirements are not yet finalized, at the present time expenditures related to this matter cannot be reasonably estimated. On August 6, 2013, Roosevelt Irrigation District ("RID") filed a lawsuit in Arizona District Court against APS and 24 other defendants, alleging that RID’s groundwater wells were contaminated by the release of hazardous substances from facilities owned or operated by the defendants. The lawsuit also alleges that, under Superfund laws, the defendants are jointly and severally liable to RID. The allegations against APS arise out of APS’s current and former ownership of facilities in and around OU3. As part of a state governmental investigation into groundwater contamination in this area, on January 25, 2015, ADEQ sent a letter to APS seeking information concerning the degree to which, if any, APS’s current and former ownership of these facilities may have contributed to groundwater contamination in this area. APS responded to ADEQ on May 4, 2015. On December 16, 2016, two RID environmental and engineering contractors filed an ancillary lawsuit for recovery of costs against APS and the other defendants in the RID litigation. That same day, another RID service provider filed an additional ancillary CERCLA lawsuit against certain of the defendants in the main RID litigation, but excluded APS and certain other parties as named defendants. Because the ancillary lawsuits concern past costs allegedly incurred by these RID vendors, which were ruled unrecoverable directly by RID in November of 2016, the additional lawsuits do not increase APS's exposure or risk related to these matters. On April 5, 2018, RID and the defendants in that particular litigation executed a settlement agreement, fully resolving RID's CERCLA claims concerning both past and future cost recovery. APS's share of this settlement was immaterial. In addition, the two environmental and engineering vendors voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit against APS and the other named defendants without prejudice. An order to this effect was entered on April 17, 2018. With this disposition of the case, the vendors may file their lawsuit again in the future. In addition, APS and certain other parties not named in the remaining RID service provider lawsuit may be brought into the litigation via third-party complaints filed by the current direct defendants. We are unable to predict the outcome of these matters; however, we do not expect the outcome to have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Environmental Matters APS is subject to numerous environmental laws and regulations affecting many aspects of its present and future operations, including air emissions of both conventional pollutants and greenhouse gases, water quality, wastewater discharges, solid waste, hazardous waste, and CCRs. These laws and regulations can change from time to time, imposing new obligations on APS resulting in increased capital, operating, and other costs. Associated capital expenditures or operating costs could be material. APS intends to seek recovery of any such environmental compliance costs through our rates, but cannot predict whether it will obtain such recovery. The following proposed and final rules involve material compliance costs to APS. Regional Haze Rules. APS has received the final rulemaking imposing new pollution control requirements on Four Corners and the Navajo Plant. EPA will require these plants to install pollution control equipment that constitutes BART to lessen the impacts of emissions on visibility surrounding the plants. In addition, EPA issued a final rule for Regional Haze compliance at Cholla that does not involve the installation of new pollution controls and that will replace an earlier BART determination for this facility. See below for details of the Cholla BART approval. Four Corners. Based on EPA’s final standards, APS's 63% share of the cost of required controls for Four Corners Units 4 and 5 is approximately $400 million, the majority of which has already been incurred. In addition, APS and El Paso entered into an asset purchase agreement providing for the purchase by APS, or an affiliate of APS, of El Paso's 7% interest in Four Corners Units 4 and 5. 4CA purchased the El Paso interest on July 6, 2016. NTEC purchased the interest from 4CA on July 3, 2018. See "Four Corners Coal Supply Agreement - 4CA Matter" below for a discussion of the NTEC purchase. The cost of the pollution controls related to the 7% interest is approximately $45 million, which was assumed by NTEC through its purchase of the 7% interest. Navajo Plant. APS estimates that its share of costs for upgrades at the Navajo Plant, based on EPA’s Federal Implementation Plan ("FIP"), could be up to approximately $200 million; however, given the future plans for the Navajo Plant, we do not expect to incur these costs. See "Navajo Plant" in Note 3 for information regarding future plans for the Navajo Plant. Cholla. APS believed that EPA’s original 2012 final rule establishing controls constituting BART for Cholla, which would require installation of SCR controls, was unsupported and that EPA had no basis for disapproving Arizona’s State Implementation Plan ("SIP") and promulgating a FIP that was inconsistent with the state’s considered BART determinations under the regional haze program. In September 2014, APS met with EPA to propose a compromise BART strategy, whereby APS would permanently close Cholla Unit 2 and cease burning coal at Units 1 and 3 by the mid-2020s. (See Note 3 for details related to the resulting regulatory asset.) APS made the proposal with the understanding that additional emission control equipment is unlikely to be required in the future because retiring and/or converting the units as contemplated in the proposal is more cost effective than, and will result in increased visibility improvement over, the BART requirements for oxides of nitrogen ("NOx") imposed through EPA's BART FIP. In early 2017, EPA approved a final rule incorporating APS's compromise proposal, which took effect for Cholla on April 26, 2017. Coal Combustion Waste. On December 19, 2014, EPA issued its final regulations governing the handling and disposal of CCR, such as fly ash and bottom ash. The rule regulates CCR as a non-hazardous waste under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA") and establishes national minimum criteria for existing and new CCR landfills and surface impoundments and all lateral expansions consisting of location restrictions, design and operating criteria, groundwater monitoring and corrective action, closure requirements and post closure care, and recordkeeping, notification, and internet posting requirements. The rule generally requires any existing unlined CCR surface impoundment that is contaminating groundwater above a regulated constituent’s groundwater protection standard to stop receiving CCR and either retrofit or close, and further requires the closure of any CCR landfill or surface impoundment that cannot meet the applicable performance criteria for location restrictions or structural integrity. Such closure requirements are deemed "forced closure" or "closure for cause" of unlined surface impoundments, and are the subject of recent regulatory and judicial activities described below. On December 16, 2016, President Obama signed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation ("WIIN") Act into law, which contains a number of provisions requiring EPA to modify the self-implementing provisions of the Agency's current CCR rules under Subtitle D. Such modifications include new EPA authority to directly enforce the CCR rules through the use of administrative orders and providing states, like Arizona, where the Cholla facility is located, the option of developing CCR disposal unit permitting programs, subject to EPA approval. For facilities in states that do not develop state-specific permitting programs, EPA is required to develop a federal permit program, pending the availability of congressional appropriations. By contrast, for facilities located within the boundaries of Native American tribal reservations, such as the Navajo Nation, where the Navajo Plant and Four Corners facilities are located, EPA is required to develop a federal permit program regardless of appropriated funds. ADEQ has initiated a process to evaluate how to develop a state CCR permitting program that would cover electric generating units ("EGUs"), including Cholla. While APS has been working with ADEQ on the development of this program, we are unable to predict when Arizona will be able to finalize and secure EPA approval for a state-specific CCR permitting program. With respect to the Navajo Nation, APS has sought clarification as to when and how EPA would be initiating permit proceedings for facilities on the reservation, including Four Corners. We are unable to predict at this time when EPA will be issuing CCR management permits for the facilities on the Navajo Nation. At this time, it remains unclear how the CCR provisions of the WIIN Act will affect APS and its management of CCR. Based upon utility industry petitions for EPA to reconsider the RCRA Subtitle D regulations for CCR, which were premised in part on the CCR provisions of the 2016 WIIN Act, on September 13, 2017 EPA agreed to evaluate whether to revise these federal CCR regulations. On July 17, 2018, EPA finalized a revision to its RCRA Subtitle D regulations for CCR, the "Phase I, Part I" revision to its CCR regulations, deferring for future action a number of other proposed changes contemplated in a March 1, 2018 proposal. For the final rule issued on July 17, 2018, EPA established nationwide health-based standards for certain constituents of CCR subject to groundwater corrective action and delayed the closure deadlines for certain unlined CCR surface impoundments by 18 months (for example, those disposal units required to undergo forced closure). These changes to the federal regulations governing CCR disposal are unlikely to have a material impact on APS. As for those aspects of the March 2018 rulemaking proposal for which EPA has yet to take final action, it remains unclear which specific provisions of the federal CCR rules will ultimately be modified, how they will be modified, or when such modification will occur. Pursuant to a June 24, 2016 order by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in the litigation by industry- and environmental-groups challenging EPA’s CCR regulations, EPA is required to complete a rulemaking proceeding in the near future concerning whether or not boron must be included on the list of groundwater constituents that might trigger corrective action under EPA’s CCR rules. Simultaneously with the issuance of EPA's proposed modifications to the federal CCR rules in response to industry petitions, on March 1, 2018, EPA issued a proposed rule seeking comment as to whether or not boron should be included on this list. EPA is not required to take final action approving the inclusion of boron. Should EPA take final action adding boron to the list of groundwater constituents that might trigger corrective action, any resulting corrective action measures may increase APS's costs of compliance with the CCR rule at our coal-fired generating facilities. At this time APS cannot predict the eventual results of this rulemaking proceeding concerning boron. On August 21, 2018, the D.C. Circuit Court issued its decision on the merits in this litigation. The Court upheld the legality of EPA’s CCR regulations, though it vacated and remanded back to EPA a number of specific provisions, which are to be corrected in accordance with the Court’s order. Among the issues affecting APS’s management of CCR, the D.C. Circuit’s decision vacated and remanded those provisions of the EPA CCR regulations that allow for the operation of unlined CCR surface impoundments, even where those unlined impoundments have not otherwise violated a regulatory location restriction or groundwater protection standard (i.e., otherwise triggering forced closure). At this time, it remains unclear how this D.C. Circuit Court decision will affect APS’s operations or any financial impacts, as EPA has yet to take regulatory action on remand to revise its 2015 CCR regulations consistent with the Court’s order. Based on this decision, on December 17, 2018, certain environmental groups filed an emergency motion with the D.C. Circuit to either stay or summarily vacate EPA's July 17, 2018 final rule extending the closure-initiation deadline for certain unlined CCR surface impoundments until October 2020. In response, EPA filed a motion to remand but not vacate that deadline extension regulation. We cannot predict the outcome of the D.C. Circuit's consideration of these dueling motions, and whether or how such a ruling would affect APS's operations. APS currently disposes of CCR in ash ponds and dry storage areas at Cholla and Four Corners. APS estimates that its share of incremental costs to comply with the CCR rule for Four Corners is approximately $22 million and its share of incremental costs to comply with the CCR rule for Cholla is approximately $20 million. The Navajo Plant currently disposes of CCR in a dry landfill storage area. APS estimates that its share of incremental costs to comply with the CCR rule for the Navajo Plant is approximately $1 million. Additionally, the CCR rule requires ongoing, phased groundwater monitoring. By October 17, 2017, electric utility companies that own or operate CCR disposal units, such as APS, must have collected sufficient groundwater sampling data to initiate a detection monitoring program. To the extent that certain threshold constituents are identified through this initial detection monitoring at levels above the CCR rule’s standards, the rule required the initiation of an assessment monitoring program by April 15, 2018. APS recently completed the statistical analyses for its CCR disposal units that triggered assessment monitoring. APS determined that several of its CCR disposal units at Cholla and Four Corners will need to undergo corrective action. In addition, all such units must cease operating and initiate closure by October of 2020. APS currently estimates that the additional incremental costs to complete this corrective action and closure work, along with the costs to develop replacement CCR disposal capacity, could be approximately $5 million for both Cholla and Four Corners. APS initiated an assessment of corrective measures on January 14, 2019, and anticipates completing this assessment during the summer of 2019. During this assessment, APS will gather additional groundwater data, solicit input from the public, host public hearings, and select remedies. As such, this $5 million cost estimate may change based upon APS’s performance of the CCR rule’s corrective action assessment process. Given uncertainties that may exist until we have fully completed the corrective action assessment process, we cannot predict any ultimate impacts to the Company; however, at this time we do not believe any potential change to the cost estimate would have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Clean Power Plan. On June 2, 2014, EPA issued two proposed rules to regulate greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions from modified and reconstructed EGUs pursuant to Section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act and existing fossil fuel-fired power plants pursuant to Clean Air Act Section 111(d). On August 3, 2015, EPA finalized carbon pollution standards for EGUs, the "Clean Power Plan". On October 10, 2017, EPA issued a proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan and proposed replacement regulations on August 21, 2018. In addition, judicial challenges to the Clean Power Plan are pending before the D.C. Circuit, though that litigation is currently in abeyance while EPA develops regulatory action to potentially repeal and replace that regulation. EPA's pending proposal to regulate carbon emissions from EGUs replaces the Clean Power Plan with standards that are based entirely upon measures that can be implemented to improve the heat rate of steam-electric power plants, specifically coal-fired EGUs. In contrast with the Clean Power Plan, EPA's proposed "Affordable Clean Energy Rule" would not involve utility-level generation dispatch shifting away from coal-fired generation and toward renewable energy resources and natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants. In addition, to address the New Source Review ("NSR") implications of power plant upgrades potentially necessary to achieve compliance with the proposed Affordable Clean Energy Rule standards, EPA also proposed to revise EPA's NSR regulations to more readily authorize the implementation of EGU efficiency upgrades. We cannot predict the outcome of EPA's regulatory actions related to the August 2015 carbon pollution standards for EGU's, including any actions related to EPA's repeal proposal for the Clean Power Plan or additional rulemaking actions to approve the EPA's recently proposed Affordable Clean Energy Rule. In addition, we cannot predict whether the D.C. Circuit Court will continue to hold the litigation challenging the original Clean Power Plan in abeyance in light of EPA's repeal proposal, which is still pending. Other environmental rules that could involve material compliance costs include those related to effluent limitations, the ozone national ambient air quality standard and other rules or matters involving the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, RCRA, Superfund, the Navajo Nation, and water supplies for our power plants. The financial impact of complying with current and future environmental rules could jeopardize the economic viability of our coal plants or the willingness or ability of power plant participants to fund any required equipment upgrades or continue their participation in these plants. The economics of continuing to own certain resources, particularly our coal plants, may deteriorate, warranting early retirement of those plants, which may result in asset impairments. APS would seek recovery in rates for the book value of any remaining investments in the plants as well as other costs related to early retirement, but cannot predict whether it would obtain such recovery. Federal Agency Environmental Lawsuit Related to Four Corners On April 20, 2016, several environmental groups filed a lawsuit against OSM and other federal agencies in the District of Arizona in connection with their issuance of the approvals that extended the life of Four Corners and the adjacent mine. The lawsuit alleges that these federal agencies violated both the Endangered Species Act ("ESA") and the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") in providing the federal approvals necessary to extend operations at the Four Corners Power Plant and the adjacent Navajo Mine past July 6, 2016. APS filed a motion to intervene in the proceedings, which was granted on August 3, 2016. On September 15, 2016, NTEC, the company that owns the adjacent mine, filed a motion to intervene for the purpose of dismissing the lawsuit based on NTEC's tribal sovereign immunity. On September 11, 2017, the Arizona District Court issued an order granting NTEC's motion, dismissing the litigation with prejudice, and terminating the proceedings. On November 9, 2017, the environmental group plaintiffs appealed the district court order dismissing their lawsuit. Oral argument for this appeal has been scheduled for March 2019. We cannot predict whether this appeal will be successful and, if it is successful, the outcome of further district court proceedings. Four Corners National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") Permit On July 16, 2018, several environmental groups filed a petition for review before the EPA Environmental Appeals Board ("EAB") concerning the NPDES wastewater discharge permit for Four Corners, which was reissued on June 12, 2018. The environmental groups allege that the permit was reissued in contravention of several requirements under the Clean Water Act and did not contain required provisions concerning EPA’s 2015 revised effluent limitation guidelines for steam-electric EGUs, 2014 existing-source regulations governing cooling-water intake structures, and effluent limits for surface seepage and subsurface discharges from coal-ash disposal facilities. To address certain of these issues through a reconsidered permit, EPA took action on December 19, 2018 to withdraw the NPDES permit reissued in June 2018. Withdrawal of the permit moots the EAB appeal, and EPA filed a motion to dismiss on that basis. EPA indicated that it anticipates proposing a replacement NPDES permit by March 2019 and, depending on the extent of public comments concerning that proposal, taking final action on a new NPDES permit by June 2019. At this time, we cannot predict the outcome of EPA's reconsideration of the NPDES permit and whether reconsideration will have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Four Corners Coal Supply Agreement Arbitration On June 13, 2017, APS received a Demand for Arbitration from NTEC in connection with the Coal Supply Agreement, dated December 30, 2013, under which NTEC supplies coal to APS and the other Four Corners owners (collectively, the “Buyer”) for use at the Four Corners Power Plant (the "2016 Coal Supply Agreement"). NTEC was originally seeking a declaratory judgment to support its interpretation of a provision regarding uncontrollable forces in the agreement that relates to annual minimum quantities of coal to be purchased by the Buyer. NTEC also alleged a shortfall in the Buyer’s purchases for the initial contract year of approximately $30 million. APS’s share of this amount is approximately $17 million. On September 20, 2017, NTEC amended its Demand for Arbitration, removing its request for a declaratory judgment and at such time was only seeking relief for the alleged shortfall in the Buyer's purchases for the initial contract year. On June 29, 2018, the parties settled the dispute for $45 million, which includes settlement for the initial contract year and the current contract year. APS’s share of this amount is approximately $34 million. In connection with the settlement, the parties amended the 2016 Coal Supply Agreement, including modifying the provisions that gave rise to this dispute. (See “4CA Matter” below for additional matters agreed to between 4CA and NTEC in the settlement arrangement.) The arbitration was dismissed on July 9, 2018. Coal Advance Purchase On March 12, 2018, APS paid to NTEC approximately $24 million as an advance payment for APS’s share of coal under the 2016 Coal Supply Agreement. The coal inventory purchased represents an amount that APS expects to use for its plant operations within the next year. 4CA Matter On July 6, 2016, 4CA purchased El Paso’s 7% interest in Four Corners. NTEC had the option to purchase the 7% interest within a certain timeframe pursuant to an option granted to NTEC. On December 29, 2015, NTEC provided notice of its intent to exercise the option. The purchase did not occur during the originally contemplated timeframe. Concurrent with the settlement of the 2016 Coal Supply Agreement matter described above, NTEC and 4CA agreed to allow for the purchase by NTEC of the 7% interest, consistent with the option. On June 29, 2018, 4CA and NTEC entered into an asset purchase agreement providing for the sale to NTEC of 4CA's 7% interest in Four Corners. Completion of the sale was subject to the receipt of approval by FERC, which was received on July 2, 2018, and the sale transaction closed on July 3, 2018. NTEC purchased the 7% interest at 4CA’s book value, approximately $70 million, and will pay 4CA the purchase price over a period of four years pursuant to a secured interest-bearing promissory note. In connection with the sale, Pinnacle West guaranteed certain obligations that NTEC will have to the other owners of Four Corners, such as NTEC's 7% share of capital expenditures and operating and maintenance expenses. Pinnacle West's guarantee is secured by a portion of APS's payments to be owed to NTEC under the 2016 Coal Supply Agreement. The 2016 Coal Supply Agreement contained alternate pricing terms for the 7% interest in the event NTEC did not purchase the interest. Until the time that NTEC purchased the 7% interest, the alternate pricing provisions were applicable to 4CA as the holder of the 7% interest. These terms included a formula under which NTEC must make certain payments to 4CA for reimbursement of operations and maintenance costs and a specified rate of return, offset by revenue generated by 4CA’s power sales. Such payments are due to 4CA at the end of each calendar year. A $10 million payment was due to 4CA at December 31, 2017, which NTEC satisfied by directing to 4CA a prepayment from APS of a portion of a future mine reclamation obligation. The balance of the amount under this formula due December 31, 2018 for calendar year 2017 is approximately $20 million, which was paid to 4CA on December 14, 2018. The balance of the amount under this formula at December 31, 2018 for calendar year 2018 (up to the date that NTEC purchased the 7% interest) is approximately $10 million, which is due to 4CA at December 31, 2019. Financial Assurances In the normal course of business, we obtain standby letters of credit and surety bonds from financial institutions and other third parties. These instruments guarantee our own future performance and provide third parties with financial and performance assurance in the event we do not perform. These instruments support certain commodity contract collateral obligations and other transactions. As of December 31, 2018, standby letters of credit totaled $0.2 million and will expire in 2019. As of December 31, 2018, surety bonds expiring through 2019 totaled $17 million. The underlying liabilities insured by these instruments are reflected on our balance sheets, where applicable. Therefore, no additional liability is reflected for the letters of credit and surety bonds themselves. We enter into agreements that include indemnification provisions relating to liabilities arising from or related to certain of our agreements. Most significantly, APS has agreed to indemnify the equity participants and other parties in the Palo Verde sale leaseback transactions with respect to certain tax matters. Generally, a maximum obligation is not explicitly stated in the indemnification provisions and, therefore, the overall maximum amount of the obligation under such indemnification provisions cannot be reasonably estimated. Based on historical experience and evaluation of the specific indemnities, we do not believe that any material loss related to such indemnification provisions is likely. Pinnacle West has issued parental guarantees and has provided indemnification under certain surety bonds for APS which were not material at December 31, 2018. Since July 6, 2016, Pinnacle West has issued five parental guarantees for 4CA relating to payment obligations arising from 4CA’s acquisition of El Paso’s 7% interest in Four Corners, and pursuant to the Four Corners participation agreement payment obligations arising from 4CA’s ownership interest in Four Corners, four of which terminated following the sale of 4CA's 7% interest to NTEC. (See "Four Corners Coal Supply Agreement - 4CA Matter" above for information related to this sale.) In connection with the sale of 4CA's 7% interest to NTEC, Pinnacle West is guaranteeing certain obligations that NTEC will have to the other owners of Four Corners. (See "Four Corners Coal Supply Agreement - 4CA Matter" above for information related to this guarantee.) A maximum obligation is not explicitly stated in the guarantee and, therefore, the overall maximum amount of the obligation under such guarantee cannot be reasonably estimated; however, we consider the fair value of this guarantee to be immaterial.

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