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Tax Equity Financing | 9 Months Ended
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Jul. 31, 2023
Tax Equity Financing. |
Tax Equity Financing | Note 3. Tax Equity Financings ​ Groton Tax Equity Financing Transaction ​ The Company closed on a tax equity financing transaction in August 2021 with East West Bancorp, Inc. (“East West Bank”) for the 7.4 MW fuel cell project (the “Groton Project”) located on the U.S. Navy Submarine Base in Groton, CT. East West Bank’s tax equity commitment totals $15 million. ​ This transaction was structured as a “partnership flip”, which is a structure commonly used by tax equity investors in the financing of renewable energy projects. Under this partnership flip structure, a partnership, in this case Groton Station FuelCell Holdco, LLC (the “Groton Partnership”), was organized to acquire from FuelCell Energy Finance II, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, all outstanding equity interests in Groton Station Fuel Cell, LLC (the “Groton Project Company”) which in turn owns the Groton Project and is the party to the power purchase agreement and all project agreements. At the closing of the transaction, the Groton Partnership is owned by East West Bank, holding Class A Units, and FuelCell Energy Finance Holdco, LLC, a subsidiary of FuelCell Energy Finance, LLC, holding Class B Units. The acquisition of the Groton Project Company by the Groton Partnership was funded in part by an initial draw from East West Bank and funds contributed downstream to the Groton Partnership by the Company. The initial closing occurred on August 4, 2021, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent (including the receipt of an appraisal and confirmation that the Groton Project would be eligible for the investment tax credit under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended). In connection with the initial closing, the Company drew down $3.0 million, of which approximately $0.8 million was used to pay closing costs including appraisal fees, title insurance expenses and legal and consulting fees. Under the original terms of the Company’s agreement with East West Bank, the Company would have been eligible to draw the remaining amount of the commitment, approximately $12 million, once the Groton Project achieved commercial operation. In addition, under the original terms of the Company’s agreement with East West Bank, the Groton Project had a required commercial operations deadline of October 18, 2021. The significance of the commercial operations deadline is that, if commercial operations were not achieved by such deadline, East West Bank would have the option to require an amount equal to 101% of its investment to be returned. East West Bank granted several extensions of the commercial operations deadline, which collectively extended the deadline to May 15, 2022, in exchange for the Company’s agreement to pay fees of $0.4 million in the aggregate. ​ On July 7, 2022, the Company and East West Bank amended their tax equity financing agreement and extended the commercial operations deadline to September 30, 2022. In addition, in the July 7, 2022 amendment to the tax equity financing agreement, the terms of East West Bank’s remaining investment commitment of $12.0 million were modified such that East West Bank will contribute $4.0 million on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of the Groton Project achieving commercial operations, rather than contributing the full $12.0 million when the Groton Project achieved commercial operations. Such contributions are subject to certain customer conditions precedent, including a third-party certification by an independent engineer that the plant is operating in conformance with the amended and restated power purchase agreement. When such contributions are made by East West Bank, the funds will be distributed upstream to the Company, as a reimbursement of prior construction costs incurred by the Company. In conjunction with this amendment, the Company agreed to pay aggregate fees of $0.5 million (which are inclusive of the fees from the previous extensions described above), which were payable by the Company upon commencement of commercial operations of the plant. ​ On October 4, 2022, the Company and East West Bank further amended their tax equity financing agreement to extend the deadline by which commercial operations were to be achieved at the Groton Project from September 30, 2022 to November 30, 2022. In addition, modifications to the Groton Project documents between Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (“CMEEC”) and the Company as a result of the agreement between those parties to commence operations at less than 7.4 MW required the approval of East West Bank as part of East West Bank’s rights under the agreement between East West Bank and the Company. On December 16, 2022, the Company and CMEEC agreed that, for all purposes, the commercial operations date had occurred, and, accordingly, East West Bank no longer had a right to have its investment returned as a result of the Company’s failure to achieve commercial operations in a timely fashion, and this investment became a non-redeemable noncontrolling interest as of December 16, 2022. In addition, on December 16, 2022, the Company paid the aggregate fees of $0.5 million described above to East West Bank. ​ On December 16, 2022, the Company declared and, per the terms of the Amended and Restated Power Purchase Agreement between the Company and CMEEC entered into on that date (the “Amended and Restated PPA”), CMEEC agreed that the Groton Project is commercially operational at 6 MW. As of December 16, 2022, the Groton Project is reported as a part of the Company’s generation operating portfolio. The Amended and Restated PPA allows the Company to operate the plants at a reduced output of approximately 6 MW while a Technical Improvement Plan (“TIP”) is implemented over the next year with the goal of bringing the platform to its rated capacity of 7.4 MW by December 31, 2023. In conjunction with entering into the Amended and Restated PPA, the Navy also provided its authorization to proceed with commercial operations at 6 MW. The Company paid CMEEC an amendment fee of $1.2 million and is incurring and will continue to incur performance guarantee fees under the Amended and Restated PPA as a result of operating at an output below 7.4 MW during implementation of the TIP. Although the Company believes it will successfully implement the TIP and bring the plants up to their nominal output of 7.4 MW by December 31, 2023, no assurance can be provided that such work will be successful. In the event that the plants do not reach an output of 7.4 MW by December 31, 2023, the Amended and Restated PPA will continue in effect, and the Company will be subject to ongoing performance guarantee fees as set forth in the Amended and Restated PPA. ​ With the declaration of commercial operations, East West Bank’s investment in the project was reclassified, as of December 16, 2022, from a redeemable noncontrolling interest to non-redeemable noncontrolling interests within the Total equity section of the Consolidated Balance Sheets. ​ Under most partnership flip structures, tax equity investors agree to receive a minimum target rate of return, typically on an after-tax basis. Prior to receiving a contractual rate of return or a date specified in the contractual arrangements, East West Bank will receive substantially all of the non-cash value attributable to the Groton Project, which includes accelerated depreciation and Section 48(a) investment tax credits; however, the Company will receive a majority of the cash distributions (based on the operating income of the Groton Project), which are paid quarterly. After East West Bank receives its contractual rate of return, the Company will receive approximately 95% of the cash and tax allocations. The Company (through a separate wholly owned entity) entered into a back leverage debt financing transaction subsequent to July 31, 2023 and will use the cash distributions from the Groton Partnership to service the debt (refer to Note. 18. “Subsequent Events” for additional information). We have determined we are the primary beneficiary in the Groton Partnership for accounting purposes as a Variable Interest Entity (“VIE”) under GAAP. We have considered the provisions within the financing-related agreements (including the limited liability company agreement for the Groton Partnership) which grant us power to manage and make decisions affecting the operations of the Groton Partnership. We consider the rights granted to East West Bank under the agreements to be more protective in nature than participatory. Therefore, we have determined under the power and benefits criterion of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, Consolidations that we are the primary beneficiary of the Groton Partnership. As the primary beneficiary, we consolidate the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the Groton Partnership in our consolidated financial statements, and all intercompany balances and transactions between us and the Groton Partnership are eliminated. We recognized East West Bank’s share of the net assets of the Groton Partnership as redeemable noncontrolling interests in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. East West Bank’s share of the net assets is considered as a redeemable noncontrolling interest due to the conditional withdrawal right under which, if events outside the control of the Company occur, East West Bank has the ability to force the Company to redeem its interest in the Groton Partnership. The income or loss allocations reflected in our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss may create volatility in our reported results of operations, including potentially changing net loss attributable to stockholders to net income attributable to stockholders, or vice versa, from quarter to quarter. Since the Groton Project became operational during the three months ended January 31, 2023, we have begun to allocate profits and losses to noncontrolling interests under the hypothetical liquidation at book value (“HLBV”) method. HLBV is a balance sheet-oriented approach for applying the equity method of accounting when there is a complex structure, such as the partnership flip structure. For the three and nine months ended July 31, 2023, the net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests totaled $0.1 million and ($2.8) million, respectively. There were no amounts allocated to noncontrolling interest for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2022 for the Groton Partnership. ​ Yaphank Tax Equity Financing Transaction ​ The Company closed on a tax equity financing transaction in November 2021 with Renewable Energy Investors, LLC (“REI”), a subsidiary of Franklin Park Infrastructure, LLC, for the 7.4 MW fuel cell project (the “LIPA Yaphank Project”) located in Yaphank Long Island. REI’s tax equity commitment totaled $12.4 million. ​ This transaction was structured as a “partnership flip,” which is a structure commonly used by tax equity investors in the financing of renewable energy projects. Under this partnership flip structure, a partnership, in this case YTBFC Holdco, LLC (the “Yaphank Partnership”), was organized to acquire from FuelCell Energy Finance II, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, all outstanding equity interests in Yaphank Fuel Cell Park, LLC which in turn owns the LIPA Yaphank Project and is the party to the power purchase agreement and all project agreements. REI holds Class A Units in the Yaphank Partnership and a subsidiary of the Company holds the Class B Units. The initial funding occurred on December 13, 2021. In connection with the initial closing, the Company was able to draw down approximately $3.2 million, of which approximately $0.4 million was used to pay closing costs, including title insurance expenses and legal and consulting fees. The Company drew down the remaining amount of the commitment, approximately $9.2 million, in December 2021 and January 2022, after the LIPA Yaphank Project achieved commercial operation. These proceeds were partially offset by legal and advisory fees of approximately $0.4 million. ​ The Company determined during the second quarter of fiscal year 2022 that there was an overpayment by REI of the Class A Member Capital Contribution of $0.5 million and as such the Company refunded this amount back to REI, reducing the REI tax equity commitment to $11.9 million. During the three months ended July 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company made priority return distributions to REI of $0.2 million and $0.1 million, respectively. During the nine months ended July 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company made priority return distributions to REI of $0.4 million and $0.2 million, respectively. ​ Under a partnership flip structure, tax equity investors agree to receive a minimum target rate of return, typically on an after-tax basis. Prior to receiving a contractual rate of return or a date specified in the contractual arrangements, REI will receive substantially all of the non-cash value attributable to the LIPA Yaphank Project, which includes accelerated depreciation and Section 48(a) investment tax credits; however, the Company will receive a majority of the cash distributions (based on the operating income of the LIPA Yaphank Project), which are paid quarterly. After REI receives its contractual rate of return, the Company will receive approximately 95% of the cash and tax allocations. The Company may enter into a back leverage debt financing transaction and use the cash distributions from the Yaphank Partnership to service the debt. ​ Under this partnership flip structure, after the fifth anniversary following achievement of commercial operations, we have an option to acquire all of the equity interests that REI holds in the Yaphank Partnership starting after REI receives its contractual rate of return (the anticipated “flip” date) after the LIPA Yaphank Project is operational. If we exercise this option, we will be required to pay the greater of the following: (i) the fair market value of REI’s equity interest at the time the option is exercised or (ii) an amount equal to 10.3% of REI’s capital contributions. This option payment is to be grossed up for federal taxes if it exceeds the tax basis of the Yaphank Partnership Class A Units. We are the primary beneficiary in the Yaphank Partnership for accounting purposes as a VIE under GAAP. We have considered the provisions within the financing-related agreements (including the limited liability company agreement for the Yaphank Partnership) which grant us power to manage and make decisions affecting the operations of the Yaphank Partnership. We consider the rights granted to REI under the agreements to be more protective in nature rather than participatory. Therefore, we have determined under the power and benefits criterion of ASC 810, Consolidations that we are the primary beneficiary of the Yaphank Partnership. As the primary beneficiary, we consolidate the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the Yaphank Partnership in our consolidated financial statements, and all intercompany balances and transactions between us and the Yaphank Partnership are eliminated. We recognized REI’s share of the net assets of the Yaphank Partnership as noncontrolling interests in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The income or loss allocations reflected in our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss may create volatility in our reported results of operations, including potentially changing net loss attributable to stockholders to net income attributable to stockholders, or vice versa, from quarter to quarter. We allocate profits and losses to REI’s noncontrolling interest under the HLBV method. HLBV is a balance sheet-oriented approach for applying the equity method of accounting when there is a complex structure, such as the partnership flip structure. For the three months ended July 31, 2023 and 2022, net income attributable to noncontrolling interest for the Yaphank Partnership totaled $0.6 million and $0.4 million, respectively, and the net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest for the nine months ended July 31, 2023 and 2022 totaled $1.4 million and $(5.0) million, respectively.

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