| Albuquerque, New Mexico | March
29, 2005 |
An unexpected outage of Unit Four at the PNM San Juan Generating Station near Farmington, New Mexico, will accelerate a planned minor overhaul of the same unit - originally scheduled for the fall of this year - to minimize the economic impact of the shutdown, officials of PNM Resources (NYSE: PNM) said today.
Unit Four went offline March 26 after a circulating water pipe ruptured. It is expected to take about three weeks to repair the pipe. PNM Resources' principal subsidiary, Public Service Company of New Mexico, is the operator of the 1,769-megawatt, four-unit power plant and will oversee the repair work.
"After reviewing the scope of work for Unit Four's planned minor outage this fall, we determined we can accelerate the schedule to complete the majority of the scheduled maintenance during this outage window," said Hugh Smith, PNM Resources senior vice president of Energy Resources.
Unit Four's shutdown will increase operating costs, trim income for PNM and reduce PNM Resources second-quarter consolidated earnings by an estimated $5 million pre-tax. However, the company expects to have less operating costs and recover the lost revenue in the fourth quarter when the Unit Four planned outage would have occurred, Smith said.
A planned maintenance outage for Unit Two remains scheduled for the second quarter.
As a result, PNM Resources today reaffirmed its earnings guidance for 2005, estimating ongoing earnings, without any one-time gains or charges or the results of the pending acquisition of TNP Enterprises (TNP), to be between $1.40 and $1.55 per diluted share. The company will update its 2005 guidance after the close of the TNP acquisition.
Background
PNM Resources is an energy holding company based in Albuquerque,
N.M. PNM, the principal subsidiary of PNM Resources, serves
about 471,000 natural gas customers and 413,000 electric customers
in New Mexico. The company also sells power on the wholesale
market in the Western U.S. PNM Resources stock is traded primarily
on the NYSE under the symbol PNM.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Statements made in this release and documents the Company
files with the SEC that relate to future events or the Company's
expectations, projections, estimates, intentions, goals, targets
and strategies, both with respect to the Company and with
respect to the proposed acquisition of TNP Enterprises, Inc.,
are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. You are cautioned that all forward-looking statements
are based upon current expectations and estimates and the
Company assumes no obligation to update this information.
Because actual results may differ materially from those expressed
or implied by the forward-looking statements, PNM Resources
cautions you not to place undue reliance on these statements.
Many factors could cause actual results to differ, and will
affect the Company's future financial condition, cash flow
and operating results. These factors include the availability
of cash of TNP Enterprises, Inc., risks and uncertainties
relating to the receipt of regulatory approvals of the proposed
acquisition of TNP Enterprises, Inc., the risks that the businesses
will not be integrated successfully, the risk that the benefits
of the acquisition will not be fully realized or will take
longer to realize than expected, disruption from the proposed
acquisition making it more difficult to maintain relationships
with customers, employees, suppliers or other third parties,
conditions in the financial markets relevant to the proposed
acquisition, interest rates, weather, water supply, fuel costs,
availability of fuel supplies, risk management and commodity
risk transactions, seasonality and other changes in supply
and demand in the market for electric power, wholesale power
prices, market liquidity, the competitive environment in the
electric and natural gas industries, the performance of generating
units and transmission system, the ability of the Company
to secure long-term power sales, the risks associated with
completion of the construction of Luna Energy Facility, including
construction delays and unanticipated cost overruns, state
and federal regulatory and legislative decisions and actions,
the outcome of legal proceedings, changes in applicable accounting
principles and the performance of state, regional and national
economies. For a detailed discussion of the important factors
that affect PNM Resources and that could cause actual results
to differ from those expressed or implied by the Company's
forward-looking statements, please see "Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations" in the Company's current and future Annual
Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and
the Company's current and future Current Reports on Form 8-K,
filed with the SEC.
Analysts' contacts
|
Press & analysts' contact Frederick Bermudez: (505) 241-4831 |