Variable Interest Entities

GAAP determines how an enterprise evaluates and accounts for its involvement with variable interest entities, including determining the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity, by focusing primarily on whether the enterprise has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of a variable interest entity. GAAP also requires continual reassessment of the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity. Additional information concerning PNM's variable interest entities is contained in Note 9 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the 2011 Annual Reports on Form 10-K.

PNM has a PPA to purchase all of the electric capacity and energy from Valencia, a 145 MW natural gas-fired power plant near Belen, New Mexico through May 2028. A third-party built, owns, and operates the facility while PNM is the sole purchaser of the electricity generated. PNM is obligated to pay fixed O&M and capacity charges in addition to variable O&M charges under this PPA. For each of the three month periods ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, PNM paid $4.6 million for fixed charges and $0.1 million for variable charges. PNM does not have any other financial obligations related to Valencia. The assets of Valencia can only be used to satisfy obligations of Valencia and creditors of Valencia do not have any recourse against PNM’s assets. PNM has concluded that the third party entity that owns Valencia is a variable interest entity and that PNM is the primary beneficiary of the entity under GAAP. As the primary beneficiary, PNM consolidates the entity in its financial statements. The assets and liabilities of Valencia set forth below are immaterial to PNM and, therefore, not shown separately on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The owner's equity and net income of Valencia are considered attributable to non-controlling interest.

Summarized financial information for Valencia is as follows:

Results of Operations



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2012			2011
	(In thousands)
Operating revenues	$	4,670		$	4,670
Operating expenses	(1,405		)	(1,487		)
Earnings attributable to non-controlling interest	$	3,265		$	3,183

Financial Position



	March 31, 2012		December 31, 2011
	(In thousands)
Current assets	$	3,308	$	2,405
Net property, plant, and equipment	80,077		80,785
Total assets	83,385		83,190
Current liabilities	1,706		767
Owners’ equity – non-controlling interest	$	81,679	$	82,423

PNM leases interests in Units 1 and 2 of PVNGS under arrangements, which were entered into in 1985 and 1986, that are accounted for as operating leases. PNM is not the legal or tax owner of the leased assets. PNM has an option to purchase the leased assets at appraised value at the end of the leases, but does not have a fixed price purchase option and does not provide residual value guarantees. PNM has options to renew the leases at fixed rates set forth in the leases for two years beyond the termination of the original lease terms. The option periods on certain leases may be further extended for up to an additional six years if the appraised remaining useful lives and fair value of the leased assets are greater than parameters set forth in the leases. PNM is only obligated to make payments to the trusts for the scheduled semi-annual lease payments, which, net of amounts that will be returned to PNM through its ownership in related lessor notes, aggregate $93.7 million as of March 31, 2012 over the remaining terms of the leases. Under certain circumstances (for example, final shutdown of the plant, the NRC issuing specified violation orders with respect to PVNGS, or the occurrence of specified nuclear events), PNM would be required to make specified payments to the beneficial owners and take title to the leased interests. If such an event had occurred as of March 31, 2012, PNM could have been required to pay the beneficial owners up to approximately $174.2 million, which would result in PNM taking ownership of the leased assets and termination of the leases. PNM has no other financial obligations or commitments to the trusts or the beneficial owners. Creditors of the trusts have no recourse to PNM’s assets other than with respect to the contractual lease payments. PNM has no additional rights to the assets of the trusts other than the use of the leased assets. PNM has evaluated the PVNGS lease arrangements and concluded that it does not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the trusts and, therefore, is not the primary beneficiary of the trusts under GAAP. PNM has recorded no assets or liabilities related to the trusts other than the accrual of lease payments between the scheduled payment dates, which were $11.8 million at March 31, 2012 and $26.0 million at December 31, 2011 and are included in other current liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. For additional information regarding these leases, see Risk Factors, MD&A – Off Balance Sheet Arrangements and Note 7 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the 2011 Annual Reports on Form 10-K.

PNM has a PPA covering the entire output of Delta, which is a variable interest under GAAP. This arrangement was entered into prior to December 31, 2003 and PNM has been unsuccessful in obtaining the information necessary to determine if it is the primary beneficiary of the entity that owns Delta, or to consolidate that entity if it were determined that PNM is the primary beneficiary. Accordingly, PNM is unable to make those determinations and, as provided in GAAP, continues to account for this PPA as an operating lease. PNM makes fixed and variable payments to Delta under the PPA. For the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, PNM incurred fixed payments of $1.5 million and $1.5 million and variable payments of $0.1 million and $0.2 million under the PPA. PNM’s only quantifiable obligation under the PPA is to make the fixed payments, which as of March 31, 2012, aggregated $49.6 million through the end of the PPA in 2020. PNM will also pay variable costs, which cannot be quantified since the amounts are based on how much the generating plant is in operation. PNM has no other obligations or commitments with respect to Delta.