Just Energy Announces Texas Legislation Providing Recovery Mechanism for Certain Costs of the Texas Winter Weather Event
June 18 2021 - 7:00AM
Just Energy Group Inc. (“Just Energy” or the “Company”) (OTC:
JENGQ), a retail energy provider specializing in electricity and
natural gas commodities and bringing energy efficient solutions and
renewable energy options to customers, announced today that on June
16, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 4492
(“
HB 4492”), which provides a mechanism for
recovery of certain costs incurred by various parties, including
the Company, during the extreme weather event in Texas in February
2021 (the “
Weather Event”) through certain
securitization structures. HB 4492 addresses securitization of (i)
ancillary service charges above US $9,000/MWh during the Weather
Event; (ii) reliability deployment price adders charged by the
Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc.
(“
ERCOT”) during the Weather Event; and (iii)
amounts owed to ERCOT due to defaults of competitive market
participants, which were subsequently “short-paid” to market
participants, including Just Energy, (collectively, the
“
Costs”).
HB 4492 provides that ERCOT request that the
Public Utility Commission of Texas (the
“Commission”) establish financing mechanisms for
the payment of the Costs incurred by load-serving entities,
including Just Energy. The timing of any such request by ERCOT, the
details of the financing mechanism and the process to apply for
recovery of the Costs are undetermined at this time. The Company
continues to evaluate HB 4492. Based on current information, if the
Commission approves the financing provided for in HB 4492, Just
Energy anticipates that it will apply to the Commission to recover
approximately US $100 million of Costs. The total amount that the
Company may recover through the mechanisms authorized in HB 4492
may change materially based on a number of factors, including the
details of an established financing order or orders issued by the
Commission, additional ERCOT resettlements, the aggregate amount of
funds applied for under HB 4492 by participants, the outcome of the
dispute resolution process initiated by the Company with ERCOT, and
any potential challenges to the Commission’s order or orders. There
is no assurance that the Company will be able to recover all of the
Costs that it applies for under the Commissions order or
orders.
About Just Energy Group
Inc.
Just Energy is a retail energy provider
specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities and
bringing energy efficient solutions and renewable energy options to
customers. Operating in the United States and Canada, Just Energy
serves residential and commercial customers. Just Energy is the
parent company of Amigo Energy, Filter Group Inc., Hudson Energy,
Interactive Energy Group, Tara Energy, and terrapass. Visit
https://investors.justenergy.com/ to learn more.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain forward-looking
statements, including statements with respect to the implementation
of HB 4492 by the Commission, the establishment of financing
mechanisms for the payment of the Costs incurred by load-serving
entities, the Company’s application for recovery under HB 4492 and
the quantum of any amount of Costs applied for, whether the Company
may ultimately recover any amount of Costs. These statements are
based on current expectations that involve several risks and
uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those
anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks
with respect to: the Commission deciding against establishing
financing mechanisms to recover the Costs, Just Energy failing to
meet the requirements under any rules established by the Commission
with respect to financing mechanisms to recover the Costs, and any
litigation with respect to the financing mechanism established by
the Commission; the ability of the Company to continue as a going
concern; the outcome of proceedings under CCAA proceedings with
respect to the Company and similar legislation in the United
States; the impact of any recovery of the Costs on the Company
and/or its proceedings under CCAA and similar United States
legislation; the outcome of any legislative or regulatory actions;
the outcome of any invoice dispute with ERCOT; the outcome of
potential litigation in connection with the Weather Event; the
quantum of the financial loss to the Company from the Weather Event
and its impact on the Company’s liquidity; the Company’s
discussions with key stakeholders regarding the Weather Event and
the outcome thereof; the impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic
on the Company’s business, operations and sales; reliance on
suppliers; uncertainties relating to the ultimate spread, severity
and duration of COVID-19 and related adverse effects on the
economies and financial markets of countries in which the Company
operates; the ability of the Company to successfully implement its
business continuity plans with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic;
the Company’s ability to access sufficient capital to provide
liquidity to manage its cash flow requirements; general economic,
business and market conditions; the ability of management to
execute its business plan; levels of customer natural gas and
electricity consumption; extreme weather conditions; rates of
customer additions and renewals; customer credit risk; rates of
customer attrition; fluctuations in natural gas and electricity
prices; interest and exchange rates; actions taken by governmental
authorities including energy marketing regulation; increases in
taxes and changes in government regulations and incentive programs;
changes in regulatory regimes; results of litigation and decisions
by regulatory authorities; competition; and dependence on certain
suppliers. Additional information on these and other factors that
could affect Just Energy’s operations or financial results are
included in Just Energy’s annual information form and other reports
on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities which can
be accessed through the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com on
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s website
at www.sec.gov or through Just Energy’s website
at www.justenergygroup.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE
CONTACT:
InvestorsMichael CummingsAlpha IRPhone: (617)
982-0475JE@alpha-ir.com
MonitorFTI Consulting Inc.Phone: 416-649-8127
or 1-844-669-6340justenergy@fticonsulting.com
MediaBoyd ErmanLongview Communications and
Public AffairsPhone: 416-523-5885berman@longviewcomms.ca
Source: Just Energy Group
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