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Construction Program and Jointly-Owned Electric Generating Plants
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Construction Program and Jointly-Owned Electric Generating Plants [Abstract]  
Construction Program and Jointly-Owned Electric Generating Plants
Construction Program and Jointly-Owned Electric Generating Plants
PNM is a participant in several jointly-owned power plant projects. The primary operating or participation agreements for the joint projects expire in July 2022 for SJGS, July 2041 for Four Corners, December 2046 for Luna, and November 2047 for PVNGS.
PNM’s expenditures for additions to utility plant were $445.5 million in 2016, including expenditures on jointly-owned projects. TNMP does not participate in the ownership or operation of any generating plants, but incurred expenditures for additions to utility plant of $122.5 million during 2016. On a consolidated basis, PNMR’s expenditures for additions to utility plant were $600.1 million in 2016.
 
Joint Projects

Under the agreements for the jointly-owned projects, PNM has an undivided interest in each asset and liability of the project and records its pro-rata share of each item in the corresponding asset and liability account on PNM’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. Likewise, PNM records its pro-rata share of each item of operating and maintenance expenses for its jointly-owned plants within the corresponding operating expense account in its Consolidated Statements of Earnings. PNM is responsible for financing its share of the capital and operating costs of the joint projects.
At December 31, 2016, PNM’s interests and investments in jointly-owned generating facilities are:
Station (Fuel Type)
Plant in
Service
 
Accumulated
Depreciation(1)
 
Construction
Work in
Progress
 
Composite
Interest
 
(In thousands)
SJGS (Coal) (2)
$
1,082,537

 
$
(445,597
)
 
$
4,406

 
46.30
%
PVNGS (Nuclear) (3)
$
797,793

 
$
(334,887
)
 
$
38,946

 
10.20
%
Four Corners Units 4 and 5 (Coal)
$
188,026

 
$
(103,584
)
 
$
52,869

 
13.00
%
Luna (Gas)
$
69,678

 
$
(25,386
)
 
$
259

 
33.33
%
(1) 
Includes cost of removal.
(2) 
As discussed in Note 16, the NMPRC has approved the shutdown of SJGS Units 2 and 3 as of December 31, 2017. At December 31, 2016, PNM’s carrying value for its current ownership share of SJGS Units 2 and 3 included plant in service of $471.8 million and accumulated depreciation and amortization (including cost of removal) of $203.9 million for a net undepreciated net book value of $267.9 million, which amounts are included in the table above. At December 31, 2015, PNM recorded a regulatory disallowance of $127.6 million representing its estimate of the portion of the December 31, 2017 net book value of SJGS Units 2 and 3 that will not be recovered from ratepayers, which is reflected as a reduction of plant in service on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(3) 
Includes interest in PVNGS Unit 3, interest in common facilities for all PVNGS units, and owned interests in PVNGS Units 1 and 2.
San Juan Generating Station
PNM operates and jointly owns SJGS. Currently, SJGS Units 1 and 2 are owned on a 50% shared basis with Tucson; SJGS Unit 3 is owned 50% by PNM, 41.8% by SCPPA, and 8.2% by Tri-State; and SJGS Unit 4 is owned 38.457% by PNM, 28.8% by MSR, 10.04% by Anaheim, 8.475% by Farmington, 7.2% by Los Alamos, and 7.028% by UAMPS. See Note 16 for additional information about SJGS, including the agreement for restructuring of SJGS ownership. Under the restructuring agreement, PNM would own 64.5% of Unit 4, PNMR Development would own 12.8% of Unit 4, and SCPPA, Tri-State, MSR, and Anaheim would no longer have any ownership interest in SJGS following the December 31, 2017 restructuring. PNMR anticipates that the interest of PNMR Development will be transferred to PNM, as authorized by the NMPRC, prior to the December 31, 2017 restructuring date.
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station
PNM is a participant in the three units of PVNGS, also known as the Arizona Nuclear Power Project, with APS (the operating agent), SRP, EPE, SCE, SCPPA, and The Department of Water and Power of the City of Los Angeles. PNM has a 10.2% undivided interest in PVNGS, with portions of its interests in Units 1 and 2 held under leases. See Note 7 for additional information concerning the PVNGS leases, including PNM’s purchase of the assets underlying certain of the leases at the expiration of the leases on January 15, 2016, and Note 17 for the NMPRC’s treatment of those purchases in the ratemaking process.
Operation of each of the three PVNGS units requires an operating license from the NRC. The NRC issued full power operating licenses for Unit 1 in June 1985, Unit 2 in April 1986, and Unit 3 in November 1987. The full power operating licenses were originally for a period of 40 years and authorize APS, as operating agent for PVNGS, to operate the three PVNGS units. In April 2011, the NRC approved extensions in the operating licenses for the plants for 20 years through June 2045 for Unit 1, April 2046 for Unit 2, and November 2047 for Unit 3. In April 2010, APS entered into a Municipal Effluent Purchase and Sale Agreement that provides effluent water rights necessary for cooling purposes at PVNGS through 2050.
Four Corners Power Plant
PNM is a participant in two units of Four Corners with APS (the operating agent), an affiliate of APS, SRP, and Tucson. PNM has a 13.0% undivided interest in Units 4 and 5 of Four Corners. The Four Corners plant site is leased from the Navajo Nation and is also subject to an easement from the federal government. APS, on behalf of the Four Corners participants, negotiated amendments to an existing facility lease with the Navajo Nation, which extends the Four Corners leasehold interest from 2016 to 2041. See Note 16 for additional information about Four Corners.
Luna Energy Facility
Luna is a combined-cycle power plant near Deming, New Mexico. Luna is owned equally by PNM, Tucson, and Samchully Power & Utilities 1, LLC. The operation and maintenance of the facility has been contracted to North American Energy Services.
Construction Program
The Company anticipates making substantial capital expenditures for the construction and acquisition of utility plant and other property and equipment. An unaudited summary of the budgeted construction expenditures, including expenditures for jointly-owned projects, and nuclear fuel, is as follows:
 
2017
 
2018
 
2019
 
2020
 
2021
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
(In millions)
 
 
 
 
PNM
$
308.1

 
$
231.0

 
$
282.2

 
$
252.5

 
$
190.7

 
$
1,264.5

TNMP
151.0

 
134.3

 
137.1

 
136.2

 
126.2

 
684.8

Corporate and Other
58.2

 
29.7

 
15.3

 
15.2

 
15.4

 
133.8

Total PNMR
$
517.3

 
$
395.0

 
$
434.6

 
$
403.9

 
$
332.3

 
$
2,083.1


 
The construction expenditure estimates are under continuing review and subject to ongoing adjustment, as well as to Board review and approval. The above construction expenditures include $44.2 million for environmental upgrades at Four Corners, $46.9 million for 30MW of new solar capacity to supply power to a new data center being constructed by Facebook Inc., and $43.7 million for a 40 MW gas-fired peaking generating facility to be completed in 2020.