Sale of San Juan Coal mine finalizedJul 3 - McClatchy-Tribune Content Agency, LLC - James Fenton The Daily Times, Farmington, N.M.
BHP Billiton New Mexico Coal officials confirmed on Thursday that an agreement to transfer ownership of San Juan Mine to Colorado-based Westmorland Coal Company is final. The final sale agreement for San Juan Mine was completed on Wednesday. The sale agreement meets an original July 1 deadline set by the state Public Regulation Commission for that and other agreements in a plan intended to keep the San Juan Generating Station operating. The deadline was extended a month toby the Public Regulation Commission at a June 24 meeting in Santa Fe. But it appears most of the work on the other agreements has been completed. Pat Vincent-Collawn -- PNM chairman, president and CEO -- said in a statement that the utility company filed the ownership restructuring, coal-supply and purchase and sale agreements with the PRC on Wednesday. The final ownership restructuring agreement was completed by PNM, the city of Farmington, PNMR Development and Tucson Electric Power. Six remaining minority owners are expected to deliver final agreements to the PRC by the Aug. 1 deadline. "The agreements are complete, and today's filing clearly shows that PNM is in position to submit the remaining signatures by Aug. 1," Vincent-Collawn said in the statement. "These documents reinforce the fact that our plan for (San Juan Generating Station) is the lowest cost alternative, and is the best for our customers." Officials at Westmoreland Coal Company -- which is headquartered in Englewood, Colo. -- were not available for comment on Thursday. Pat Risner, president of BHP's New Mexico coal assets, said in a phone interview on Thursday that the financial details of the mine transaction are confidential. Risner said that he filed an affidavit with the PRC on Wednesday stating the reasons for keeping the sale price, key terms and financial details of the purchase confidential. "There is the potential that (the price of the sale and terms of the agreement) will become known more widely to the public, but not at this point," Risner said. "We had always committed to deliver a purchase agreement by the first of July. This is all to plan." Public Service Company of New Mexico is currently waiting for the PRC to decide whether to approve a plan that would keep San Juan Generating Station open. Transfer of ownership of the San Juan Mine, which employs about 450 people and is the sole coal supplier for the San Juan Generating Station, will take the remainder of 2015, Risner said. Westmoreland will assume full ownership of the mine on Jan. 1, he said. PNM filed a plan with state regulators that calls for the closure of two of the four generating units at the power plant in 2017 and retrofitting the other two with pollution controls to meet federal haze regulations. The plan calls for a mix of added coal, nuclear, natural gas and solar generation to make up for the power lost from closing the units. A PRC hearing officer this spring said the plan lacked important details, including ownership restructuring and coal supply agreements. "I think (the need) was obvious to get this milestone accomplished to enable PNM to file (needed documents) with the PRC to support the process that's been our priority," Risner said. Risner said the sale was reassurance the mine would continue operating -- providing jobs and tax revenues. "Our objective in all of this has been to ensure the sustainability of the mine and the jobs there and the critical revenue stream for the county and the state," Risner said. James Fenton is the business editor of The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4621 and jfenton@daily-times.com. Follow him @fentondt on Twitter. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=36672284 |