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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies

Contracts - At March 31, 2018, NEP and its subsidiaries have entered into contracts with expiration dates ranging from 2018 through 2065 for the sale of differential membership interests related to certain wind generation facilities, engineering, procurement and construction contracts and agreements that provide for the right to use the land upon which certain projects are located.

At March 31, 2018, payments under these contracts were estimated as follows:
Year Ending December 31,
 
Commitments
 
 
(millions)
Remainder of 2018
 
$
33

2019
 
36

2020
 
36

2021
 
37

2022
 
37

Thereafter
 
575

Total estimated payments
 
$
754



One of NEP’s solar project's land use agreements includes a right-of-way lease/grant that provides for payments to the BLM for the right to use the public lands upon which the project is located. The lease may be renewed at expiration at the solar project's option and will be subject to the regulations existing at the time of renewal. In connection with the terms of the lease, the solar project obtained a surety bond from a non-affiliated party in favor of the BLM for approximately $23 million. The surety bond remains in effect until the BLM is satisfied that there is no outstanding liability on the bond or satisfactory replacement bond coverage is furnished.

Letter of Credit Facilities - Two of NEP’s projects entered into letter of credit (LOC) facilities under which the LOC lenders may issue standby letters of credit not to exceed approximately $82 million in the aggregate. These LOC facilities have maturity dates of June 2022 and July 2022. At March 31, 2018, approximately $68 million of LOCs was outstanding primarily related to debt service reserves and as security for certain of the projects' agreements, including a PPA.

Canadian FIT Contracts -The FIT contracts relating to NEP's wind projects located in Canada (Canadian projects) require suppliers to source a minimum percentage of their equipment and services from Ontario resident suppliers to meet the minimum required domestic content level (MRDCL). The MRDCL for two projects is 25% and the MRDCL for the other two projects is 50%. Following their respective CODs, the Canadian projects submitted reports to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) summarizing how they achieved the MRDCL for their respective projects (domestic content reports) and the IESO issued letters to the Canadian projects acknowledging the completeness of their domestic content reports. The IESO has the right to audit the Canadian projects for a period of up to 7 years post-COD to confirm that they complied with the domestic content requirements under their respective FIT contracts and achieved their respective MRDCLs. The failure by any of these projects to achieve its MRDCL could result in a default by such project under its FIT contract, which default may not be possible to cure and could result in a termination of its FIT contract, without compensation, by the IESO. A termination of the FIT contract for any of these Canadian projects could negatively affect revenues generated by such project and have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Acquisition Holdback - At December 31, 2016, the condensed consolidated balance sheets included an acquisition holdback related to the satisfaction of any indemnification obligations of the Texas pipelines sellers through April 2017 (indemnity holdback). During the three months ended March 31, 2017 the indemnity holdback was released under the terms of the Texas pipelines acquisition agreement and approximately $200 million was paid to the sellers.