Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)
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May 8, 2019
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TC PipeLines, LP
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware
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001-35358
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52-2135448
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(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation) |
(Commission File
Number) |
(IRS Employer
Identification No.) |
700 Louisiana Street, Suite 700
Houston, TX
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77002-2761 |
(Address of principal executive offices)
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(Zip Code)
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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code
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(877) 290-2772
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(Former name or former address if changed since last report)
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☐
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Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
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☐
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Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
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☐
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
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☐
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
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Emerging growth company
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☐
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for
complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
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☐
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Exhibit No.
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|
Description
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TC PipeLines, LP
by: TC PipeLines GP, Inc.,
its general partner
|
|
By: /s/ Jon Dobson
Jon Dobson
Secretary
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Exhibit No.
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|
Description
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NewsRelease
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·
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Generated net income attributable to controlling interests of $93 million
|
·
|
Paid cash distributions of $60 million, including $13 million paid to Class B units
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·
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Declared cash distribution of $0.65 per common unit for the first quarter of 2019
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·
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Generated EBITDA of $142 million and distributable cash flow of $116 million
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·
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Reduced long-term debt balance by $32 million; no outstanding balance on our Senior Credit Facility
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·
|
Received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for both Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P. (Iroquois)
and Tuscarora Gas Transmission Company (Tuscarora) rate settlements on May 2, 2019
|
·
|
Concluded successful binding open season for North Baja XPress project to transport additional volumes of natural gas along North
Baja Pipeline LLC’s (North Baja) mainline system
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Three months ended
|
|||
(unaudited)
|
March 31,
|
||
(millions of dollars, except per common unit amounts)
|
2019
|
2018
|
|
Net income
|
100
|
102
|
|
Net income attributable to controlling interests
|
93
|
96
|
|
Net income per common unit – basic and diluted (a)
|
$1.28
|
$1.32
|
|
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) (b)
|
142
|
150
|
|
Cash distributions paid
|
(47)
|
(76)
|
|
Class B distributions paid
|
(13)
|
(15)
|
|
Distributable cash flow (b)
|
116
|
112
|
|
Cash distribution declared per common unit
|
$0.65
|
$0.65
|
|
Weighted average common units
outstanding – basic and diluted (millions) (c)
|
71.3
|
71.2
|
|
Common units outstanding, end of period
(millions) (c)
|
71.3
|
71.3
|
(a)
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Net income per common unit is computed by dividing net income attributable to controlling interests, after deduction of net income
attributable to the General Partner, by the weighted average number of common units outstanding. Refer to the “Financial Summary-Consolidated Statements of Operations” section of this release.
|
(b) |
Distributable cash flow and EBITDA are non-GAAP
financial measures. Refer to the description of these non-GAAP financial measures in the section of this release entitled “Non-GAAP Measures” and the Supplemental Schedule for further detail.
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(c)
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Under the at-the-market (ATM) program, no common units were issued during the three months ended March 31, 2019 (2018 - 732,973
units issued).
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·
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Iroquois -
On February 28, 2019, Iroquois filed an uncontested settlement with FERC to address the issues contemplated by the 2017 Tax Act and 2018 FERC Actions via an
amendment to its prior 2016 settlement (2019 Iroquois Settlement). Among the terms of the 2019 Iroquois Settlement, Iroquois agreed to reduce its existing maximum system rates by 6.5 percent to be implemented in two phases; (i)
effective March 1, 2019, a 3.25 percent rate reduction, and (ii) effective April 1, 2020, an additional 3.25 percent rate reduction. The 2019 Iroquois Settlement, which was approved by FERC on May 2, 2019, preserved the 2016 settlement moratorium on further rate changes until September 1, 2020. Unless superseded by a subsequent rate case or settlement, Iroquois
will be required to have new rates in effect by March 1, 2023.
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·
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Tuscarora
- On March 15, 2019, Tuscarora filed an uncontested settlement with FERC to address the issues contemplated by the 2017 Tax Act and 2018 FERC Actions via an amendment to its prior 2016 settlement (2019 Tuscarora Settlement). Among the
terms of the 2019 Tuscarora Settlement, Tuscarora agreed to reduce its existing maximum system rates by 1.7 percent effective February 1, 2019 through to July 31, 2019. The existing maximum rates will decrease by an additional 10.8
percent for the period August 1, 2019 through the term of the settlement. Tuscarora is required to have new rates in effect on February 1, 2023. Tuscarora and its customers also agreed on a moratorium on rate changes until January 31,
2023. The 2019 Tuscarora Settlement, which was approved by FERC on May 2, 2019, also reflects the elimination of the tax allowance previously recovered in rates along with the Accumulated Deferred Income Tax liability (ADIT) for
rate-making purposes.
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·
|
Northern Border - On April 4, 2019, Northern Border filed a petition for approval with FERC to amend the settlement agreement reached with its customers
in 2017. Unless superseded by a subsequent rate case or settlement, effective January 1, 2020, the 2 percent rate reduction implemented on February 1, 2019 will be extended to July 1, 2024 as part of the amended settlement agreement. The
amendment is pending approval from FERC.
|
·
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increased contracting from Gas
Transmission Northwest LLC (GTN), partially offset by its scheduled 10 percent rate decrease effective January 1, 2019 as part of the settlement reached with its customers in 2018; and
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·
|
additional revenue from PNGTS from Phase 1 of its Portland XPress (PXP) project that went into service
November 1, 2018.
|
·
|
decrease in Iroquois’ and Great Lakes Gas Transmission Limited Partnership’s (Great
Lakes) equity earnings during the first quarter of 2019 compared to the first quarter of 2018, during which sustained cold temperatures resulted in incremental seasonal winter sales that were not achieved in the same period of 2019; and
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·
|
higher earnings from Northern Border resulting from an increase in its short-term firm services, partially offset by
its scheduled rate reduction beginning in April 1, 2018.
|
·
|
higher distributions from our equity investment in Northern Border due to the increase in its revenue as described
above and timing of capital spending related to compressor station maintenance costs;
|
·
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lower distributions from our equity investment in Great Lakes primarily as a result of the decrease in its revenue
as described above; and
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·
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decreased interest expense due to repayment of the $170 million Term Loan during the fourth quarter of
2018 and the repayment of the Senior Credit Facility in the first quarter of 2019.
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·
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lower net cash flow from operations of our subsidiaries primarily due to the decrease in Bison’s revenue partially
offset by an increase in GTN’s and PNGTS’ revenue;
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·
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lower interest expense attributable to repayment of the $170 million term loan and the Senior Credit Facility;
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·
|
higher distributions received from our equity investment in Northern Border as a result of its increased revenue;
and
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·
|
lower distributions received from our equity investment in Great Lakes due to lower revenue from
seasonal winter sales.
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·
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$6 million increase in net debt repayments;
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·
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$29 million decrease in distributions paid primarily due to the $0.35 per common unit reduction in distribution payments during the first quarter of
2019 related to fourth quarter 2018 performance as compared to the same period in 2018 in response to the 2018 FERC Actions;
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·
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$2 million decrease in distributions paid to Class B units in 2019 as compared to 2018;
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·
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$40 million decrease in ATM equity issuances in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to
the same period in 2018; and
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·
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$6 million increase in distributions paid to non-controlling interests during the three months ended March
31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018 resulting from PNGTS’ higher revenue in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to its revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017.
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·
|
EBITDA
|
·
|
Total distributable cash flow
|
·
|
Distributable cash flow
|
·
|
Distributions from our equity investments
|
·
|
Earnings from our equity investments,
|
·
|
Equity allowance for funds used during construction (if any),
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·
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Interest expense,
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·
|
Income taxes,
|
·
|
Distributions to non-controlling interests, and
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·
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Maintenance capital expenditures from consolidated subsidiaries.
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Three months ended
|
||||
(unaudited)
|
March 31,
|
|||
(millions of dollars, except per common unit amounts)
|
2019
|
2018
|
||
Transmission revenues
|
113
|
115
|
||
Equity earnings
|
54
|
59
|
||
Operation and maintenance expenses
|
(16)
|
(16)
|
||
Property taxes
|
(7)
|
(7)
|
||
General and administrative
|
(2)
|
(1)
|
||
Depreciation and amortization
|
(20)
|
(24)
|
||
Financial charges and other
|
(22)
|
(23)
|
||
Net income before taxes
|
100
|
103
|
||
Income taxes
|
-
|
(1)
|
||
Net income
|
100
|
102
|
||
Net income attributable to non-controlling interests
|
7
|
6
|
||
Net income attributable to controlling interests
|
93
|
96
|
||
Net income attributable to controlling interest allocation
|
||||
Common units
|
91
|
94
|
||
General Partner
|
2
|
2
|
||
93
|
96
|
|||
Net income per common unit – basic and diluted (a)
|
$1.28
|
$1.32
|
||
Weighted average common units
outstanding – basic and diluted (millions)
|
71.3
|
71.2
|
||
Common units outstanding, end of period
(millions)
|
71.3
|
71.3
|
(a)
|
Net income per common unit is
computed by dividing net income attributable to controlling interests, after deduction of amounts attributable to the General Partner, by the weighted
average number of common units outstanding. The amount allocable to the General Partner equals an amount based upon the General Partner’s two percent general partner interest. For the year ending December 31, 2019, the amount allocable
to the Class B units is equal to 30 percent of GTN’s annual distributable cash flow, less the threshold amount of $20 million and is further reduced by the Class B Reduction for 2019 (2018 – less the threshold of $20 million and the
Class B Reduction). During the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, no amounts were allocated to the Class B units as the annual threshold of $20 million had not been exceeded.
|
(unaudited)
|
||||
(millions of dollars)
|
March 31, 2019
|
December 31, 2018
|
||
ASSETS
|
||||
Current Assets
|
||||
Cash and cash equivalents
|
52
|
33
|
||
Accounts receivable and other
|
41
|
48
|
||
Inventories
|
9
|
8
|
||
Other
|
5
|
8
|
||
107
|
97
|
|||
Equity investments
|
1,196
|
1,196
|
||
Property, plant and equipment
|
||||
(Net of $1,128 accumulated depreciation; 2018 - $1,110)
|
1,522
|
1,529
|
||
Goodwill
|
71
|
71
|
||
Other assets
|
3
|
6
|
||
TOTAL ASSETS
|
2,899
|
2,899
|
||
LIABILITIES AND PARTNERS’ EQUITY
|
||||
Current Liabilities
|
||||
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
|
29
|
36
|
||
Accounts payable to affiliates
|
7
|
6
|
||
Accrued interest
|
20
|
12
|
||
Current portion of long-term debt
|
36
|
36
|
||
92
|
90
|
|||
Long-term debt, net
|
2,040
|
2,072
|
||
Deferred state income taxes
|
9
|
9
|
||
Other liabilities
|
31
|
29
|
||
2,172
|
2,200
|
|||
Partners’ Equity
|
||||
Common units
|
507
|
462
|
||
Class B units
|
95
|
108
|
||
General partner
|
14
|
13
|
||
Accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI)
|
3
|
8
|
||
Controlling interests
|
619
|
591
|
||
Non-controlling interest
|
108
|
108
|
||
727
|
699
|
|||
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND PARTNERS’ EQUITY
|
2,899
|
2,899
|
Three months ended
|
||||
(unaudited)
|
March 31,
|
|||
(millions of dollars)
|
2019
|
2018
|
||
Cash Generated from Operations
|
||||
Net income
|
100
|
102
|
||
Depreciation and amortization
|
20
|
24
|
||
Amortization of debt issue costs reported as interest expense
|
-
|
1
|
||
Equity earnings from equity investments
|
(54)
|
(59)
|
||
Distributions received from operating activities of equity investments
|
56
|
43
|
||
Change in operating working capital
|
13
|
6
|
||
135
|
117
|
|||
Investing Activities
|
||||
Investment in Great Lakes
|
(5)
|
(4)
|
||
Distribution received from Iroquois as return of investment
|
2
|
2
|
||
Capital expenditures
|
(16)
|
(2)
|
||
Other
|
2
|
-
|
||
(17)
|
(4)
|
|||
Financing Activities
|
||||
Distributions paid to common units, including the general partner
|
(47)
|
(76)
|
||
Distributions paid to Class B units
|
(13)
|
(15)
|
||
Distributions paid to non-controlling interests
|
(7)
|
(1)
|
||
Common unit issuance, net
|
-
|
40
|
||
Long-term debt issued, net of discount
|
18
|
75
|
||
Long-term debt repaid
|
(50)
|
(101)
|
||
(99)
|
(78)
|
|||
Increase in cash and cash equivalents
|
19
|
35
|
||
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period
|
33
|
33
|
||
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period
|
52
|
68
|
Three months ended
|
||||
(unaudited)
|
March 31,
|
|||
(millions of dollars)
|
2019
|
2018
|
||
Net income
|
100
|
102
|
||
Add:
|
||||
Interest expense (a)
|
22
|
23
|
||
Depreciation and amortization
|
20
|
24
|
||
Income taxes
|
-
|
1
|
||
EBITDA
|
142
|
150
|
||
Add:
|
||||
Distributions from equity investments (b) (e)
|
||||
Northern Border
|
27
|
19
|
||
Great Lakes
|
23
|
26
|
||
Iroquois (c)
|
14
|
14
|
||
64
|
59
|
|||
Less:
|
||||
Equity earnings:
|
||||
Northern Border
|
(21)
|
(17)
|
||
Great Lakes
|
(20)
|
(24)
|
||
Iroquois
|
(13)
|
(18)
|
||
(54)
|
(59)
|
|||
Less:
|
||||
Interest expense (a)
|
(22)
|
(23)
|
||
Income taxes
|
-
|
(1)
|
||
Distributions to non-controlling interest (d)
|
(7)
|
(7)
|
||
Maintenance capital expenditures (e)
|
(6)
|
(6)
|
||
(35)
|
(37)
|
|||
Total Distributable Cash Flow
|
117
|
113
|
||
General Partner distributions declared (f)
|
(1)
|
(1)
|
||
Distributions allocable to Class B units (g)
|
-
|
-
|
||
Distributable Cash Flow
|
116
|
112
|
(a)
|
Interest expense as presented includes net realized loss related to the interest rate swaps.
|
(b)
|
Amounts are calculated in accordance with the cash distribution policies of each of our equity investments.
Distributions from our equity investments represent our respective share of these entities’ quarterly distributable cash for the current reporting period.
|
(c)
|
This amount represents our proportional 49.34 percent share of the distribution declared by our equity
investee, Iroquois, for the current reporting period and includes our 49.34 percent share of the Iroquois unrestricted cash distribution amounting to approximately $2 million for both the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018.
|
(d)
|
Distributions to non-controlling interests represent the respective share of our consolidated entities’
distributable cash from earnings not owned by us for the periods presented.
|
(e)
|
The Partnership’s maintenance capital expenditures include cash expenditures made to maintain, over the long
term, the operating capacity, system integrity and reliability of our pipeline assets. This amount represents the Partnership’s and its consolidated subsidiaries’ maintenance capital expenditures and does not include the Partnership’s
share of maintenance capital expenditures for our equity investments. Such amounts are reflected in “Distributions from equity investments” as those amounts are withheld by those entities from their quarterly distributable cash.
|
(f)
|
No incentive distributions were declared to the General Partner for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and
2018.
|
(g)
|
Distributions allocable to the Class B units are based on 30 percent of GTN’s distributable cash flow during the current reporting
period, but declared and paid in the subsequent reporting period. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, 30 percent of GTN’s total eligible distributions was $12 million; therefore, no distributions were allocated to the Class B
units as the threshold level of $20 million was not exceeded. Currently, we expect the 2019 threshold will be exceeded in the fourth quarter of 2019.
|