NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) 10-K2019 FY Annual report

Each of NEP and NEP OpCo has subsidiaries and affiliates with names that may include NextEra Energy, NextEra Energy Partners and similar references. For convenience and simplicity, in this report, the terms NEP and NEP OpCo are sometimes used as abbreviated references to specific subsidiaries, affiliates or groups of subsidiaries or affiliates. The precise meaning depends on the context. Discussions of NEP's ownership of subsidiaries and projects refers to its controlling interest in the general partner of NEP OpCo and NEP's indirect interest in and control over the subsidiaries of NEP OpCo. See Note 1 for a description of the non-controlling interest in NEP OpCo. References to NEP's projects and NEP's pipelines generally includes NEP's consolidated subsidiaries and the projects and pipelines in which NEP has equity method investments.

This report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, strategies, future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as may result, are expected to, will continue, anticipate, believe, will, could, should, would, estimated, may, plan, potential, future, projection, goals, target, outlook, predict and intend or words of similar meaning) are not statements of historical facts and may be forward looking. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to, and are accompanied by, important factors included in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors (in addition to any assumptions and other factors referred to specifically in connection with such forward-looking statements) that could have a significant impact on NEP's operations and financial results, and could cause NEP's actual results to differ materially from those contained or implied in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of NEP in this Form 10-K, in presentations, on its website, in response to questions or otherwise.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and NEP undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances, including, but not limited to, unanticipated events, after the date on which such statement is made, unless otherwise required by law. New factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all of such factors, nor can it assess the impact of each such factor on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained or implied in any forward-looking statement.

NEP is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed to acquire, manage and own contracted clean energy projects with stable long-term cash flows. At December 31, 2019, NEP owned a controlling, non-economic general partner interest and a 39.2% limited partner interest in NEP OpCo. Through NEP OpCo, NEP owns a portfolio of contracted renewable generation assets consisting of wind and solar projects, as well as contracted natural gas pipeline assets.

NEP expects to take advantage of trends in the North American energy industry, including the addition of clean energy projects as aging or uneconomic generation facilities are phased out, increased demand from utilities for renewable energy to meet state RPS requirements, improving competitiveness of energy generated from wind and solar projects relative to energy generated using other fuels and increased demand for natural gas transportation. NEP plans to focus on high-quality, long-lived projects operating under long-term contracts that are expected to produce stable long-term cash flows. NEP believes its cash flow profile, geographic, technological and resource diversity, operational excellence and cost-efficient business model provide NEP with a significant competitive advantage and enable NEP to execute its business strategy.

NEP was formed as a Delaware limited partnership in 2014 as an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of NEE. In 2017, NEP and NEP GP implemented governance changes that, among other things, enhanced NEP unitholder governance rights. The new governance structure established a NEP board of directors whereby, beginning in 2018, NEP unitholders have the ability to nominate and elect board members, subject to certain limitations and requirements. The following diagram depicts NEP's simplified ownership structure at December 31, 2019:

At December 31, 2019, NEP owned interests in the following portfolio of clean, contracted renewable energy projects located in 16 states:

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At December 31, 2019, NEP owned interests in the following contracted natural gas pipeline assets:

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Each of the renewable energy projects sells substantially all of its output and related renewable energy attributes pursuant to long-term, fixed price PPAs to various counterparties. The pipelines primarily operate under long-term firm transportation contracts under which counterparties pay for a fixed amount of capacity that is reserved by the counterparties and also generate revenues based on the volume of natural gas transported on the pipelines. In 2019, NEP derived approximately 16% and 15% of its consolidated

revenues from its contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Mex Gas Supply S.L., respectively. See Item 1A for a discussion of risks related to NEP's counterparties and business relationship with Pemex and Note 15 - PG&E Bankruptcy.

NEP, NEP OpCo and NEP OpCo GP are parties to the MSA with an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of NEE, under which operational, management and administrative services are provided to NEP under the direction of the board, including managing NEP’s day-to-day affairs and providing individuals to act as NEP’s executive officers, in addition to those services that are provided under O&M agreements and ASAs between NEER subsidiaries and NEP subsidiaries. NEP OpCo pays NEE an annual management fee and makes certain payments to NEE based on the achievement by NEP OpCo of certain target quarterly distribution levels to its common unitholders (incentive distribution rights fees, or IDRs). See Note 13 - Management Services Agreement. In addition, certain subsidiaries of NEP are parties to transportation agreements and a fuel management agreement with a subsidiary of NEE. See Note 13 - Transportation and Fuel Management Agreements.

NEP and NEP OpCo are parties to a right of first refusal (ROFR) agreement with NEER granting NEER and its subsidiaries (other than NEP OpCo and its subsidiaries) a right of first refusal on any proposed sale of any of the NEP OpCo ROFR assets. Pursuant to the terms of the ROFR agreement, prior to engaging in any negotiation regarding any sale of a NEP OpCo asset, NEP OpCo must first negotiate for 30 days with NEER to attempt to reach an agreement on a sale of such asset to NEER or any of its subsidiaries. If an agreement is not reached within the initial 30-day period, NEP OpCo will be able to negotiate with any third party for the sale of such asset for a 30-day period. Prior to accepting any third party offer, NEP OpCo will be required to restart negotiations with NEER for the next 30 days and will not be permitted to sell the applicable asset to the third party making the offer if NEER agrees to terms substantially consistent with those proposed by such third party. If, by the end of the 30-day period, NEER and NEP OpCo have not reached an agreement, NEP OpCo will have the right to sell such asset to such third party within 30 days.

Growth in renewable energy is largely attributable to the increasing cost competitiveness of renewable energy driven primarily by government incentives, RPS, improving technology and declining installation costs and the impact of environmental rules and regulations on fossil-fired generation.

U.S. federal, state and local governments have established various incentives to support the development of renewable energy. These incentives make the development of renewable energy projects more competitive by providing accelerated depreciation, tax credits or grants for a portion of the development costs, decreasing the costs associated with developing such projects or creating demand for renewable energy assets through RPS programs. In addition, RPS provide incentives to utilities to contract for energy generated from renewable energy providers.

Renewable energy technology has improved and installation costs have declined meaningfully in recent years. Wind technology is improving as a result of taller towers, longer blades and more efficient energy conversion equipment, which allow wind projects to more efficiently capture wind resource and produce more energy. Solar technology is also improving as solar cell efficiencies improve and solar equipment costs decline.

The increase in natural gas production in the U.S. has led to opportunities to construct new gas pipelines to transport natural gas from areas of strong production to areas of strong demand. Over the next several years, NEP expects electricity generators to continue to demand higher volumes of natural gas due to prices being near historic lows and societal pressure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. NEP expects these factors to continue to support a growing natural gas transportation industry.

Policy incentives in the U.S. have the effect of making the development of renewable energy projects more competitive by providing credits for a portion of the development costs or by providing favorable contract prices. A loss of or reduction in such incentives could decrease the attractiveness of renewable energy projects to developers, including NEE, which could reduce NEP's future acquisition opportunities. Such a loss or reduction could also reduce NEP's willingness to pursue or develop certain renewable energy projects due to higher operating costs or decreased revenues under its PPAs.

U.S. federal, state and local governments have established various incentives to support the development of renewable energy projects. These incentives include accelerated tax depreciation, PTCs, ITCs, cash grants, tax abatements and RPS programs. Pursuant to the U.S. federal Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS), wind and solar projects are fully depreciated for tax purposes over a five-year period even though the useful life of such projects is generally much longer than five years.

Owners of utility-scale wind facilities are eligible to claim an income tax credit (the PTC, or an ITC in lieu of the PTC) upon initially achieving commercial operation. The PTC is determined based on the amount of electricity produced by the wind facility during the first ten years of commercial operation. This incentive was created under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and has been extended several times. Alternatively, an ITC equal to 30% of the cost of a wind facility may be claimed in lieu of the PTC. Owners of solar

facilities are eligible to claim a 30% ITC for new solar facilities. Previously, owners of solar facilities could have elected to receive an equivalent cash payment from the U.S. Department of Treasury for the value of the 30% ITC (CITC) for qualifying solar facilities where construction began before the end of 2011 and the facilities were placed in service before 2017. In order to qualify for the PTC (or an ITC in lieu of the PTC) for wind or ITC for solar, construction of a facility must begin before a specified date and the taxpayer must maintain a continuous program of construction or continuous efforts to advance the project to completion. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance stating that the safe harbor for continuous efforts and continuous construction requirements will generally be satisfied if the facility is placed in service no more than four years after the year in which construction of the facility began. The IRS also confirmed that retrofitted wind facilities may re-qualify for PTCs or ITCs pursuant to the 5% safe harbor for the begin construction requirement, as long as the cost basis of the new investment is at least 80% of the facility’s total fair value. Tax credits for qualifying wind and solar projects are subject to the following schedule.

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RPS, currently in place in certain states, require electricity providers in the state to meet a certain percentage of their retail sales with energy from renewable sources. Additionally, other states in the U.S. have set renewable energy goals to reduce GHG emissions from historic levels. NEP believes that these standards and goals will create incremental demand for renewable energy in the future.

NEP's primary business objective is to acquire interests in contracted clean energy projects from NEER or third parties that allow NEP to increase its cash distributions to the holders of its common units over time. To achieve this objective, NEP intends to execute the following business strategy:

Wholesale power generation is a capital-intensive, commodity-driven business with numerous industry participants. While NEP's renewable energy projects are currently fully contracted, NEP may compete in the future primarily on the bases of price and terms, but also believes the green attributes of NEP's renewable energy generation assets, among other strengths discussed below, are competitive advantages. Wholesale power generation is a regional business that is highly fragmented relative to many other commodity industries and diverse in terms of industry structure. As such, there is a wide variation in terms of the capabilities, resources, nature and identity of the companies NEP competes with depending on the market. In wholesale markets, customers' needs are met through a variety of means, including long-term bilateral contracts, standardized bilateral products such as full requirements service and customized supply and risk management services.

In addition, NEP competes with other companies to acquire well-developed projects with projected stable cash flows. NEP believes its primary competitors for opportunities in North America are regulated utilities, developers, IPPs, pension funds and private equity funds.

NEP's pipeline projects face competition with respect to retaining and obtaining firm transportation contracts and compete with other pipeline companies based on location, capacity, price and reliability. The market for supply of natural gas is highly competitive, and new pipelines, storage facilities, treating facilities and facilities for related services are currently being built to serve the growing demand for natural gas.

NEP believes that it is well-positioned to execute its strategy and increase cash distributions to its common unitholders over the long term based on the following competitive strengths:

NEP's projects and pipelines are subject to regulation by a number of U.S. federal, state and other organizations, including, but not limited to, the following:

NEP is subject to environmental laws and regulations, and is affected by the issues described in the Environmental Matters section below.

NEP is subject to environmental laws and regulations, including federal, state and local environmental statutes, rules and regulations, for the ongoing operations, siting and construction of its facilities. Complying with these environmental laws and regulations could result in, among other things, changes in the design and operation of existing facilities and changes or delays in the location, design, construction and operation of any new facilities and failure to comply could result in fines and penalties. The following is a discussion of certain existing rules, some of which could potentially have a material effect on NEP and its subsidiaries.

NEP does not have any employees and relies solely on employees of affiliates of the manager under the MSA, including employees of NEE and NEER, to serve as officers of NEP. See further discussion of the MSA and other payments to NEE in Note 13.

NEP makes its SEC filings, including the annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8‑K, and any amendments to those reports, available free of charge on NEP's internet website, www.nexteraenergypartners.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after those documents are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information and materials available on NEP's website are not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K.

The amount of energy that a wind project can produce depends on wind speeds, air density, weather and equipment, among other factors. If wind speeds are too low, NEP's wind projects may not perform as expected or may not be able to generate energy at all and, if wind speeds are too high, the wind projects may have to shut down to avoid damage. As a result, the output from NEP's wind projects can vary greatly as local wind speeds and other conditions vary. Similarly, the amount of energy that a solar project is able to produce depends on several factors, including, but not limited to, the amount of solar energy that reaches its solar panels. Wind turbine or solar panel placement, interference from nearby wind projects or other structures and the effects of vegetation, snow, ice, land use and terrain also affect the amount of energy that NEP's wind and solar projects generate. If wind, solar, meteorological, topographical or other conditions at NEP's wind or solar projects are less conducive to energy production, NEP's projects may not produce the amount of energy NEP expects. The failure of some or all of NEP's projects to perform according to NEP's expectations could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Weather conditions directly influence the demand for electricity, natural gas and other fuels and affect the price of energy and energy-related commodities. In addition, severe weather and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, icing events and earthquakes, can be destructive and cause power outages and property damage, reduce revenue, affect the availability of water, and require NEP to incur additional costs. Furthermore, NEP's physical plants could be placed at greater risk of damage should changes in the global climate produce unusual variations in temperature and weather patterns, resulting in more intense, frequent and extreme weather events and abnormal levels of precipitation. A disruption or failure of electric generation, transmission or distribution systems or natural gas production, transmission, storage or distribution systems in the event of a hurricane, tornado or other severe weather event, or otherwise, could prevent NEP from operating its business in the normal course and could result in any of the adverse consequences described above. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Severe weather, natural disasters, meteorological conditions or seismic activity could damage or require NEP to shut down its turbines, solar panels, pipelines or other equipment or facilities (including, but not limited to, generation transmission tie lines). Such damage or a shutdown could impede NEP's ability to operate its projects, or decrease its energy production levels, pipeline transportation capability and revenues. To the extent these conditions equate to a force majeure event under NEP's PPAs, the PPA counterparty may terminate such PPAs if such a force majeure event continues for a period ranging from 12 months to 36 months, as specified in the applicable PPA. These conditions could also damage or reduce the useful life of interconnection and transmission facilities of a project or of third parties relied upon by NEP's projects and increase maintenance costs. Replacement and spare parts for solar panels, wind turbines and key pieces of equipment may be difficult or costly to acquire or may be unavailable. In certain instances, NEP's renewable energy projects would be unable to sell energy until a replacement part is installed. If NEP experiences a prolonged interruption at one of its renewable energy projects or pipelines, energy production or gas transportation capability would decrease. Production of less energy than expected, or an inability to transport natural gas at expected levels due to these or other conditions, could reduce NEP's revenues, which could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Changes in weather can also affect the level of wind and solar resource, and thus the production of electricity, at NEP's power generating facilities. Because the levels of wind and solar resources are variable and difficult to predict, NEP’s results of operations for individual wind and solar facilities specifically, and NEP's results of operations generally, may vary significantly from period to period, depending on the level of available resources. To the extent that resources are not available at planned levels, the financial results from these facilities may be less than expected.

There are risks associated with the operation of NEP's renewable energy projects, including:

These and other factors could require NEP to shut down its wind or solar projects. These factors could also degrade equipment, reduce the useful life of interconnection and transmission facilities and materially increase maintenance and other costs. Unanticipated capital expenditures associated with maintaining or repairing NEP's projects may reduce profitability.

In addition, replacement and spare parts for solar panels, wind turbines and other key equipment may be difficult or costly to acquire or may be unavailable. Each solar and wind project may require a specific design for certain critical equipment and, if it does not have acceptable spare equipment available, the project would need to order replacements with potentially lengthy order lead times.

Such events or actions could significantly decrease or eliminate the revenues of a project, significantly increase its operating costs, cause a default under NEP's financing agreements or give rise to damages or penalties to a PPA counterparty, another contractual counterparty, a governmental authority or other third parties or cause defaults under related contracts or permits. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

There are a variety of hazards and operating risks inherent in natural gas gathering and transmission activities, such as leaks, explosions, mechanical problems, activities of third parties, including, but not limited to, the possibility of terrorist acts, and damage to pipelines, facilities and equipment caused by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires and other natural disasters, that could cause substantial financial losses. In addition, portions of NEP’s transmission system and its gathering system have been in service for several decades, which could result in increased maintenance and repair activities. These risks could result in significant injury, loss of life, significant damage to property, environmental pollution, impairment of operations, increased maintenance or repair expenditures and significant loss of revenue, any of which could result in substantial losses. For pipeline assets located near populated areas, including, but not limited to, residential areas, commercial business centers, industrial sites and other public gathering areas, the level of damage resulting from these risks could be greater. Therefore, should any of these risks materialize, it could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP depends on certain of the renewable energy projects and pipelines in its portfolio for a substantial portion of its anticipated cash flows. Consequently, the impairment or loss of any one or more of those projects or pipelines could materially and, depending on the relative size of the affected projects or pipelines, disproportionately reduce NEP’s cash flows and, as a result, have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP is pursuing the expansion of natural gas pipelines and the repowering of wind projects in its portfolio. The development of pipeline expansion and wind repowering projects involves numerous regulatory, environmental, construction, safety, political and legal uncertainties and may require the expenditure of significant amounts of capital. These projects may not be completed on schedule, at the budgeted cost or at all. There may be cost overruns and construction difficulties. In addition, NEP may agree to pay liquidated damages to committed shippers or PPA counterparties if a project does not achieve commercial operations before a specified date that the parties may agree to in advance. Any cost overruns NEP experiences or liquidated damages NEP pays could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders. In addition, NEP may choose to finance all or a portion of the development costs of any expansion or repowering project through the sale of additional common units or securities convertible into common units, which could result in dilution to NEP’s unitholders. The construction related to the expansion or repowering projects may occur over an extended period of time and NEP may not receive increases in revenues until the projects are placed in service, or at all. Accordingly, NEP's expansion and repowering efforts may not result in additional long-term contracted revenue streams that increase the amount of cash available to execute NEP's business plan and make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Terrorists have attacked energy assets such as substations and related infrastructure in the past and may attack them in the future. Any attacks on NEP’s projects, pipelines or the facilities of third parties on which its projects or pipelines rely could severely damage such projects or pipelines, disrupt business operations, result in loss of service to customers and require significant time and expense to repair. Projects and pipelines in NEP's portfolio, as well as projects or pipelines it may acquire and the transmission and other facilities of third parties on which NEP's projects rely, may also be targets of terrorist acts and affected by responses to terrorist acts, each of which could fully or partially disrupt the ability of NEP's projects or pipelines to operate.

Cyberattacks, including, but not limited to, those targeting information systems or electronic control systems used to operate NEP's energy projects (including, but not limited to, generation transmission tie lines) and the transmission and other facilities of third parties on which NEP's projects rely, could severely disrupt business operations and result in loss of service to customers and significant expense to repair security breaches or system damage. As cyber incidents continue to evolve, NEP may be required to expend additional resources to continue to modify or enhance NEP's protective measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to cyber incidents.

To the extent terrorist acts, cyberattacks or other similar events equate to a force majeure event under NEP's PPAs, the renewable energy counterparty may terminate such PPAs if such a force majeure event continues for a period ranging from 12 months to 36 months, as specified in the applicable agreement. As a result, a terrorist act, cyberattack or other similar event could significantly decrease revenues or result in significant reconstruction or remediation costs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP is exposed to numerous risks inherent in the operation of wind and solar projects and natural gas pipelines, including, but not limited to, equipment failure, manufacturing defects, natural disasters, terrorist acts, cyberattacks, sabotage, vandalism and environmental risks. The occurrence of any one of these events may result in NEP being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting claims for substantial damages, including, but not limited to, environmental cleanup costs, personal injury, property damage, fines and penalties. Further, with respect to any future acquisitions of any projects that are under construction, NEP is, or will be, exposed to risks inherent in the construction of these projects.

NEP shares insurance coverage with NEE and its affiliates, for which NEP reimburses NEE. NEE currently maintains liability insurance coverage for itself and its affiliates, including NEP, which covers legal and contractual liabilities arising out of bodily injury, personal injury or property damage, including, but not limited to, resulting loss of use, to third parties. NEE also maintains coverage for itself and its affiliates, including NEP, for physical damage to assets and resulting business interruption, including, but not limited to, damage caused by terrorist acts. However, such policies do not cover all potential losses and coverage is not always available

in the insurance market on commercially reasonable terms. To the extent NEE or any of its affiliates experience covered losses under the insurance policies, the limit of NEP's coverage for potential losses may be decreased.

NEE may also reduce or eliminate such coverage at any time. NEP may not be able to maintain or obtain insurance of the type and amount NEP desires at reasonable rates and NEP may elect to self-insure some of its wind and solar projects and natural gas pipelines. The insurance coverage NEP does obtain may contain large deductibles or fail to cover certain risks or all potential losses. In addition, insurance coverage may not continue to be available or may not be available at rates or on terms similar to those presently available to NEE. NEE’s insurance policies are subject to annual review by its insurers and may not be renewed on similar or favorable terms, including, but not limited to, coverage, deductibles or premiums, or at all. The ability of NEE to obtain insurance and the terms of any available insurance coverage could be materially adversely affected by international, national, state or local events and company-specific events, as well as the financial condition of insurers. If insurance coverage is not available or obtainable on acceptable terms, NEP may be required to pay costs associated with adverse future events. A loss for which NEP is not fully insured could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP expects to benefit from various warranties, including, but not limited to, product quality and performance warranties, provided by suppliers in connection with the purchase of equipment necessary to operate its projects. NEP's suppliers may fail to fulfill their warranty obligations. Even if a supplier fulfills its obligations, the warranty may not be sufficient to compensate NEP for all of its losses. In addition, these warranties generally expire within two to five years after the date each equipment item is delivered or commissioned and are subject to liability limits. If installation is delayed, NEP may lose all or a portion of the benefit of a warranty. If NEP seeks warranty protection and a supplier is unable or unwilling to perform its warranty obligations, whether as a result of its financial condition or otherwise, or if the term of the warranty has expired or a liability limit has been reached, there may be a reduction or loss of warranty protection for the affected equipment, which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP often relies on a single supplier or a small number of suppliers to provide equipment, technology and other services required to operate its projects. If any of these suppliers cannot perform under their agreements with NEP, NEP may need to seek alternative suppliers. Alternative suppliers, products and services may not perform similarly and replacement agreements may not be available on favorable terms or at all. NEP may be required to make significant capital expenditures to remove, replace or redesign equipment that cannot be supported or maintained by replacement suppliers. A number of factors, including, but not limited to, the financial condition of NEP's suppliers, may impact their ability to perform under NEP's supply agreements. The failure of any supplier to fulfill its contractual obligations to NEP could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP depends on interconnection and transmission facilities owned and operated by third parties to deliver energy from its wind and solar projects. In addition, some of the renewable energy projects in NEP's portfolio share essential facilities, including, but not limited to, interconnection and transmission facilities, with projects that are owned by other affiliates of NEE. Many of the interconnection and transmission arrangements for the projects in NEP's portfolio are governed by separate agreements with the owners of the transmission or distribution facilities. Congestion, emergencies, maintenance, outages, overloads, requests by other parties for transmission service, actions or omissions by other projects with which NEP shares facilities and other events beyond NEP's control could partially or completely curtail deliveries of energy by its renewable energy projects and increase project costs. In addition, any termination of a project’s interconnection or transmission arrangements or non-compliance by an interconnection provider, the owner of shared facilities or another third party with its obligations under an interconnection or transmission arrangement may delay or prevent NEP's renewable energy projects from delivering energy in a manner that entitles it to receive revenue. If the interconnection or transmission arrangement for a project is terminated, NEP may not be able to replace it on similar terms to the existing arrangement, or at all, or NEP may experience significant delays or costs in connection with such replacement. Moreover, if NEP acquires any renewable energy projects that are under construction, a failure or delay in the construction of interconnection or transmission facilities could delay the completion of the project.

NEP depends upon third-party pipelines and other facilities that transport natural gas to and from its pipelines. Because NEP does not own these third-party pipelines or facilities, their continuing operation are not within its control. If these pipelines and other facilities were to become unavailable for current or future volumes of natural gas due to repairs, damage to the facility, lack of capacity or any other reason, NEP's ability to operate efficiently and to transport natural gas could be restricted, thereby reducing revenues.

The unavailability of interconnection, transmission, pipeline or shared facilities could adversely affect the operation of NEP's projects and pipelines and the revenues received, which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's projects and pipelines are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws, regulations, guidelines, policies, directives and other requirements governing or relating to, among other things:

If NEP's projects or pipelines do not comply with such laws, regulations, environmental licenses, permits, inspections or other requirements, NEP may be required to incur significant expenditures, pay penalties or fines, or curtail or cease operations of the affected projects or pipelines. Violations of environmental and other laws, regulations and permit requirements, including, but not limited to, certain violations of laws protecting wetlands, migratory birds, bald and golden eagles and threatened or endangered species, may also result in criminal sanctions or injunctions.

NEP's projects and pipelines also carry inherent environmental, health and safety risks, including, but not limited to, the potential for related civil litigation, regulatory compliance actions, remediation orders, fines and other penalties. For instance, NEP's projects or pipelines could malfunction or experience other unplanned events that cause spills or emissions that exceed permitted levels, resulting in personal injury, fines or property damage.

Additionally, NEP may be held liable for related investigatory and cleanup costs, which are typically not limited by law or regulation, for any property where there has been a release or potential release of a hazardous substance, regardless of whether NEP knew of or caused the release or potential release. NEP could also be liable for other costs, including, but not limited to, fines, personal injury or property damage or damage to natural resources. In addition, some environmental laws place a lien on a contaminated site in favor of the government as security for damages and costs it may incur for contamination and cleanup. Contained or uncontained hazardous substances on, under or near NEP's projects or pipelines, regardless of whether it owns or leases the sited property, or the inability to remove or otherwise remediate such substances, may restrict or eliminate the ability to operate NEP's projects or pipelines.

Each of NEP's projects and pipelines covers a large area and, as such, archaeological discoveries could occur at its projects or pipelines at any time. Such discoveries could result in the restriction or elimination of the ability to operate any affected project. For example, utility-scale projects and operations may cause impacts to certain landscape views, trails, or traditional cultural activities. Such impacts may trigger claims from citizens that a NEP project or its operations are infringing upon their legal rights or other claims, resulting in the restriction or elimination of the ability to operate the affected project.

NEP may not be able to obtain or maintain from time to time all required environmental regulatory approvals for its operating assets. If there is a delay in obtaining or renewing any required environmental regulatory approvals, if NEP fails to obtain or comply with them or if environmental laws or regulations change or are administered in a more stringent manner, the operations of facilities could be prevented, delayed or become subject to additional costs. The costs that may be incurred to comply with environmental regulations in the future may have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations have generally become more stringent over time, and NEP expects this trend to continue. Significant capital and operating costs may be incurred at any time to keep NEP's projects or pipelines in compliance with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. If it is not economical to make those expenditures, or if NEP violates any of these laws and regulations, it may be necessary to retire the affected project or pipeline or restrict or modify its operations, which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's renewable energy projects, pipelines and PPA/transportation agreement counterparties are subject to regulation by U.S. federal, state and local authorities. The wholesale sale of electric energy in the continental U.S., other than portions of Texas, is subject to the jurisdiction of the FERC and the ability of a project to charge the negotiated rates contained in its PPA is subject to that project’s maintenance of its general authorization from the FERC to sell electricity at market-based rates. The FERC may revoke a project's market-based rate authorization if it determines that the project entity can exercise market power in transmission or generation, creates barriers to entry, has engaged in abusive affiliate transactions or fails to meet compliance requirements associated with such rates. The negotiated rates entered into under PPAs could be changed by the FERC if it determines such change is in the public interest or just and reasonable, depending on the standard in the respective PPA. While a public interest determination would require a finding by the FERC that the contract rate seriously harms the consuming public under applicable U.S. Supreme Court precedent, if the FERC decreases the prices paid to NEP for energy delivered under any of its PPAs, NEP’s revenues could be below its projections and its business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders could be materially adversely affected.

The Texas pipelines are intrastate natural gas transportation pipelines and natural gas-gathering facilities which are exempt from the jurisdiction of the FERC under the Natural Gas Act of 1938 (NGA). The rates, terms and conditions of some of the transportation services provided by the Texas pipelines are subject to FERC regulation under the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA), which requires that rates charged for transportation must be fair and equitable, and amounts collected in excess of fair and equitable rates are subject to refund with interest. In addition, NEP’s investment in CPL, including the related expansion project, is subject to FERC regulation as the CPL is a segment of a larger, interstate pipeline. Further, state regulation of transportation facilities generally includes various safety, environmental and, in some cases, non-discriminatory take requirements and complaint-based rate regulation. If any of NEP's pipelines were found to have provided services or otherwise operated in violation of the NGA or NGPA, that could result in the imposition of civil penalties, as well as a requirement to disgorge charges collected for such services in excess of the rate established by the FERC.

NEP's renewable energy projects are subject to the mandatory reliability standards of the NERC. The NERC reliability standards are a series of requirements that relate to maintaining the reliability of the North American bulk electric system and cover a wide variety of topics, including, but not limited to, physical and cybersecurity of critical assets, information protocols, frequency response and voltage standards, testing, documentation and outage management. If NEP fails to comply with these standards, NEP could be subject to sanctions, including, but not limited to, substantial monetary penalties. Although the renewable energy projects are not subject to state utility rate regulation because they sell energy exclusively on a wholesale basis, NEP is subject to other state regulations that may affect NEP's projects’ sale of energy and operations. Changes in state regulatory treatment are unpredictable and could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

The structure of the industry and regulation in the U.S. is currently, and may continue to be, subject to challenges and restructuring proposals. Additional regulatory approvals may be required due to changes in law or for other reasons. NEP expects the laws and regulation applicable to its business and the energy industry generally to be in a state of transition for the foreseeable future. Changes in the structure of the industry or in such laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Pemex is an autonomous state enterprise controlled by the Mexican Government. Accordingly, Pemex may claim sovereign immunity and it may not be possible to obtain a judgment in a U.S. court against Pemex unless the U.S. court determines that Pemex is not entitled to sovereign immunity with respect to that action. In addition, Mexican law does not allow attachment prior to judgment or attachment in aid of execution upon a judgment by Mexican courts upon the assets of Pemex or its subsidiary entities. As a result, the Texas pipeline entities’ or NEP's ability to enforce any judgments against Pemex in the courts of Mexico may be limited. Therefore, even if NEP were able to obtain a U.S. judgment against Pemex for breach of contract or in a similar action, NEP might not be able to obtain a judgment in Mexico that is based on that U.S. judgment. Further, renegotiation of existing trade agreements or changes in international trade laws, regulations, agreements, treaties or policies of the U.S. or Mexico could result in a deterioration in the economic relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. Such a deterioration could increase the difficulty of collecting receivables from Pemex or of filing suit for recovery of amounts owed and recovering amounts due from Pemex. This inability to sue or recover from Pemex could inhibit NEP from enforcing the Texas pipeline entities’ contracts with Pemex, which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP does not own all of the land on which the projects in its portfolio are located and they generally are, and its future projects may be, located on land occupied under long-term easements, leases and rights-of-way. The ownership interests in the land subject to these easements, leases and rights-of-way may be subject to mortgages securing loans or other liens and other easements, lease rights and rights-of-way of third parties that were created prior to NEP's projects’ easements, leases and rights-of-way. As a result, some of NEP's projects’ rights under such easements, leases or rights-of-way may be subject to the rights of these third parties. While NEP performs title searches, obtains title insurance, records its interests in the real property records of the projects’ localities and enters into non-disturbance agreements to protect itself against these risks, such measures may be inadequate to protect against all risk that NEP's rights to use the land on which its projects are or will be located and its projects’ rights to such easements, leases and rights-of-way could be lost or curtailed. Additionally, NEP operations located on properties owned by others are subject to termination for violation of the terms and conditions of the various easements, leases or rights-of-way under which such operations are conducted.

Further, NEP's activities conducted under federal rights-of-way grants are subject to “immediate temporary suspension” of unspecified duration, at any time, at the discretion of the BLM. A suspension of NEP activities within a federal right-of-way may be issued by BLM to protect public health or safety or the environment. An order to suspend NEP activities may be issued by BLM prior to an administrative proceeding. Such an order may be issued verbally or in writing, and may require immediate compliance by NEP. Any violation of such an order could result in the loss or curtailment of NEP's rights to use any federal land on which its projects are or will be located.

Any such loss or curtailment of NEP's rights to use the land on which its projects are or will be located as a result of any lienholders or leaseholders that have rights that are superior to NEP's rights or the BLM’s suspension of its federal rights-of-way grants could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders. Additionally, NEP does not own all of the land on which its pipelines are located, and NEP is subject to the possibility of more onerous terms or increased costs when NEP needs to extend the duration of any necessary existing land use rights or if NEP needs to obtain any new land use rights in connection with any expansion projects NEP may choose to pursue. In certain instances, rights-of-way may be subordinate to the rights of government agencies, which could result in costs or interruptions to NEP's service. Restrictions on NEP's ability to use rights-of-way could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP is subject to risks and costs, including, but not limited to, potential negative publicity, associated with lawsuits or claims contesting the operation, construction or expansion of its projects. The result and costs of defending any such lawsuit, regardless of the merits and eventual outcome, may be material.

NEP is and may also become subject to additional claims based on alleged negative health effects related to acoustics, shadow flicker or other claims associated with wind turbines from individuals who live near NEP's projects. Any such legal proceedings or disputes could materially increase the costs associated with NEP's operations. In addition, NEP may become subject to legal proceedings or claims contesting the construction or operation of NEP's projects. Any such legal proceedings or disputes could materially delay NEP's ability to complete construction of a project in a timely manner, or at all, or materially increase the costs associated with commencing or continuing a project’s commercial operations. Any elective settlement of claims and unfavorable outcomes or developments relating to these proceedings or disputes, such as judgments for monetary damages, injunctions or denial or revocation of permits, could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Doing business in the U.S. and conducting business with an entity controlled by the Mexican government, requires NEP to comply with U.S. and Mexican anti-corruption laws and regulations. NEP's failure to comply with these laws and regulations may expose NEP to liabilities. These laws and regulations may apply to NEP, the manager under the MSA, their respective affiliates and their respective individual directors, officers, employees (if any) and agents and may restrict NEP's operations, trade practices, investment decisions and partnering activities.

In particular, NEP's business relationship with Pemex is subject to U.S. laws and regulations, such as the FCPA. The FCPA prohibits U.S. companies and their officers, directors, employees and agents acting on their behalf from offering, promising, authorizing or providing anything of value to foreign officials for the purposes of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business or otherwise securing an improper advantage. The FCPA also requires companies to make and keep books, records and accounts that accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of assets and to maintain a system of adequate internal accounting controls. As part of its business, NEP deals with foreign officials for purposes of the FCPA. As a result, business dealings between NEP's employees and any such foreign official could expose NEP to the risk of violating anti-corruption laws even if such business practices may be customary or are not otherwise prohibited between NEP and a private third party. Violations of these legal requirements are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment, civil penalties, disgorgement of profits, injunctions, debarment

from government contracts as well as remedial measures. In recent years, the U.S. government has brought FCPA enforcement actions that have led to significant monetary penalties against several companies operating in the oil and gas industry.

NEP has established policies and procedures designed to assist it and personnel acting on its behalf in complying with applicable U.S. and Mexican laws and regulations. NEP's compliance procedures to mitigate anti-corruption compliance risks may not detect or prevent potential violations of the FCPA or other applicable anti-corruption laws. Under such circumstances, NEP could be subject to criminal and civil penalties and other legal and regulatory liabilities and government-imposed requirements to undertake remedial measures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP has chosen and may choose to acquire projects or pipelines that have not yet commenced operations or are under construction and is pursuing pipeline expansion and wind repowering projects. There may be delays or unexpected developments in completing any future construction projects, which could cause the construction costs of these projects to exceed NEP's expectations, result in substantial delays or prevent the project or pipeline from commencing commercial operations. Various factors could contribute to construction-cost overruns, construction halts or delays or failure to commence commercial operations, including, but not limited to:

In addition, if NEP or one of its subsidiaries controlling the NEP projects or pipelines has an agreement with a third party to complete construction of any project, NEP is subject to the viability and performance of the third party. NEP's inability to find a replacement contracting party, if the original contracting party has failed to perform, could result in the abandonment of the construction of such project, while NEP could remain obligated under other agreements associated with the project, including, but not limited to, offtake power sales agreements.

Any of these risks could cause NEP's financial returns on these investments to be lower than expected or otherwise delay or prevent the completion of such projects or distribution of cash to NEP, or could cause NEP to operate below expected capacity or availability levels, which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

In most instances, NEP sells the energy generated by each of its renewable energy projects to a single PPA counterparty under a long-term PPA. Further, NEP transports natural gas under long-term natural gas transportation agreements with a limited number of counterparties. NEP's equity method investees also have contracts with a limited number of counterparties.

NEP expects that its existing and future contracts will be the principal source of cash flows available to make distributions to its unitholders. Thus, the actions of even one customer may cause variability of NEP’s revenue, financial results and cash flows that are difficult to predict. Similarly, significant portions of NEP’s credit risk may be concentrated among a limited number of customers and the failure of even one of these key customers to fulfill its contractual obligations to NEP could significantly impact NEP's business and financial results. Any or all of NEP's customers may fail to fulfill their obligations under their contracts with NEP, whether as a result of the occurrence of any of the following factors or otherwise:

If NEP's customers are unwilling or unable to fulfill their contractual obligations to NEP, or if they otherwise terminate such contracts, NEP may not be able to recover contractual payments due to NEP. Since the number of customers that purchase wholesale bulk energy or require the transportation of natural gas is limited, NEP may be unable to find a new customer on similar or otherwise acceptable terms or at all. In some cases, there currently is no economical alternative counterparty to the original customer. The loss of, or a reduction in sales to, any of NEP's customers could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, NEP derived approximately 16% of its consolidated revenues from its PPAs with PG&E. In addition, the Desert Sunlight solar project, in which NEP has an approximately 50% equity method investment, derived a significant portion of its revenues from its PPA with PG&E. In January 2019, PG&E filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and PG&E may seek under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and applicable laws to reject some or all of NEP's PPAs with it or to use the threat of rejection to renegotiate PPA pricing in its favor. If PG&E attempts and is successful in rejecting or renegotiating a material portion of its PPAs with NEP or Desert Sunlight, NEP's results of operations, financial condition or business could be materially adversely affected.

NEP's ability to extend, renew or replace its existing PPAs, natural gas transportation agreements or other customer contracts depends on a number of factors beyond its control, including, but not limited to:

If NEP is not able to extend, renew or replace on acceptable terms existing PPAs before contract expiration, or if such agreements are otherwise terminated prior to their expiration, NEP may be required to sell the energy on an uncontracted basis at prevailing market prices, which could be materially lower than under the applicable contract. If there is no satisfactory market for a project’s uncontracted energy, NEP may decommission the project before the end of its useful life. If the portion of its pipelines' capacity covered by long-term firm transportation agreements decline, NEP's revenues and contract volumes would be exposed to increased volatility. Any failure to extend, renew or replace a significant portion of NEP's existing PPAs, natural gas transportation agreements or other customer contracts, or extending, renewing or replacing them at lower prices or with other unfavorable terms, or the

decommissioning of a project could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's energy production or its renewable energy projects’ availability could be less than expected due to various factors, including, but not limited to, wind or solar conditions, natural disasters, equipment underperformance, operational issues, changes in law or regulations or actions taken by third parties. The PPAs contain provisions that require NEP to produce a minimum amount of energy or be available a minimum percentage of time over periods specified in the PPAs. A failure to produce sufficient energy or to be sufficiently available to meet NEP's commitments under its PPAs could result in the payment of damages or the termination of PPAs and could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP intends to pursue opportunities to acquire contracted clean energy projects that are either operational or, in limited circumstances, under construction, from NEER and third parties consistent with its business strategy. Various factors could affect the availability of such projects to grow NEP's business, including, but not limited to, the following factors and those described in more detail in the additional risk factors below:

Any of these above factors could limit NEP's acquisition opportunities and prevent it from executing, or diminish its ability to execute, its growth strategy as planned. Further, even if NEP consummates acquisitions that it believes will be accretive to cash distribution to its unitholders, those acquisitions may decrease cash distributions to its unitholders as a result of incorrect assumptions in NEP's evaluation of such acquisitions, unforeseen consequences or other external events beyond its control.

Any failure to identify and acquire an interest in additional, contracted clean energy projects at favorable prices could have a material adverse effect on NEP's ability to grow its business and make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Demand for wind and solar energy is affected by the price and availability of other fuels, including, but not limited to, nuclear, coal, natural gas and oil, as well as other sources of renewable energy. To the extent renewable energy, particularly wind and solar energy, becomes less cost-competitive due to reduced or eliminated government renewable energy targets and other incentives that favor renewable energy, cheaper alternatives or otherwise, demand for wind and solar energy and other forms of renewable energy could decrease. Slow growth or a long-term reduction in wind and solar energy demand could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

The price of natural gas fluctuates in response to changes in supply and demand, market uncertainty and additional factors that are beyond NEP's control. These factors include worldwide economic conditions; weather conditions and seasonal trends; the levels

of domestic and Mexican natural gas production and consumer demand; fluctuations in demand from electric power generators and industrial customers; the availability of imported liquid natural gas (LNG); the ability to export LNG; the availability of transportation systems with adequate capacity; the volatility and uncertainty of regional pricing differences; the price and availability of alternative fuels; the effect of energy efficiency and conservation measures; the nature and extent of governmental regulation and taxation; worldwide political events, including, but not limited to, actions taken by foreign natural gas producing nations and changes in international trade laws, regulations, agreements, treaties or policies of the U.S. or other countries; and the anticipated future prices of natural gas, LNG and other commodities. These events are beyond NEP's control and could impair its ability to execute its long-term strategy. Lower overall economic output could reduce the volume of natural gas transported or gathered, resulting in lower revenues and cash flows. Transmission revenues could be affected by long-term economic declines which could result in the non-renewal of long-term contracts. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's strategy to grow its business through the acquisition of clean energy projects partly depends on current laws, regulations and policies that promote and support clean energy and enhance the economic viability of owning clean energy projects. Clean energy projects currently benefit from various U.S. federal, state and local governmental incentives, such as PTCs, ITCs, CITCs, loan guarantees, RPS, MACRS for depreciation and other incentives, accelerated cost recovery deductions and other commercially oriented incentives. These laws, regulations and policies have had a significant impact on the development of clean energy and they could be changed, reduced or eliminated at any time. These incentives make the development of clean energy projects more competitive by providing tax credits or grants and accelerated depreciation for a portion of the development costs, decreasing the costs and risks associated with developing such projects or creating demand for renewable energy assets through RPS programs. The elimination of, loss of or reduction in such incentives could decrease the attractiveness of clean energy projects to developers, including, but not limited to, NEE, which could reduce NEP's acquisition opportunities. Such an elimination, loss or reduction could also reduce NEP's willingness to pursue or develop certain renewable energy projects due to higher operating costs or decreased revenues under its PPAs.

If these laws, regulations and policies are not continued or renewed, the market for future renewable energy PPAs may be smaller and the prices for future clean energy PPAs may be lower. If the IRS issues guidance that limits the availability of the PTC or the ITC, the projects could generate reduced revenues and reduced economic returns, experience increased financing costs and encounter difficulty obtaining financing on acceptable terms.

Additionally, some states with RPS targets have met, or in the near future will meet, their renewable energy targets. If, as a result of achieving these targets, these and other U.S. states do not increase their targets in the near future, demand for additional renewable energy could decrease. To the extent other states decrease their RPS targets, programs or goals, demand for renewable energy could decrease in the future. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to grow its business and make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Project development is a capital intensive business that relies heavily on the availability of debt and equity financing sources to fund projected construction and other capital expenditures. As a result, in order to successfully develop a project, development companies, including, but not limited to, other affiliates of NEE, must obtain sufficient financing to complete the development phase of their projects. Any significant disruption in the credit and capital markets or a significant increase in interest rates could make it difficult for development companies to raise funds when needed to secure capital financing, which would limit a project’s ability to complete the construction of a project that NEP may seek to acquire.

Project developers, including, but not limited to, other affiliates of NEE, develop, construct, manage, own and operate clean energy generation facilities and energy transmission facilities. A key component of their businesses is their ability to construct and operate generation and transmission facilities to meet customer needs. As part of these activities, project developers must periodically apply for licenses and permits from various regulatory authorities and abide by their respective conditions and requirements. If project developers, including, but not limited to, other affiliates of NEE, are unsuccessful in obtaining necessary licenses or permits on acceptable terms or encounter delays in obtaining or renewing such licenses or permits, or if regulatory authorities initiate any associated investigations or enforcement actions or impose penalties or reject projects, the potential number of projects that may be available for NEP to acquire may be reduced or potential transaction opportunities may be delayed.

If the challenges of developing projects increase for project developers, including, but not limited to, other affiliates of NEE, NEP's pool of available opportunities may be limited, which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to grow its business and make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's strategy includes growing its business through the acquisition of existing clean energy projects. The acquisition of existing clean energy projects involves numerous risks, including, but not limited to, exposure to existing liabilities and unanticipated post-acquisition costs associated with the pre-acquisition activities by the project, difficulty in integrating the acquired projects into NEP's business and, if the projects are in new markets, the risks of entering markets where NEP has limited experience. Additionally, NEP risks overpaying for such projects or not making acquisitions on an accretive basis. Although NEP performs due diligence on prospective acquisitions, NEP may not discover all potential risks, operational issues or other issues in such projects. Further, the integration and consolidation of acquisitions require substantial human, financial and other resources and, ultimately, NEP's acquisitions may divert NEP's management’s attention from its existing business concerns, disrupt its ongoing business or not be successfully integrated. Future acquisitions might not perform as expected or the returns from such acquisitions might not support the financing utilized to acquire or maintain them. A failure to achieve the financial returns NEP expects when NEP acquires clean energy projects could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to grow its business and make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Each U.S. state has its own renewable energy regulations and policies. Renewable energy developers must anticipate the future policy direction in each state and secure viable projects before they can bid to procure a PPA or other contract through often highly competitive auctions. A failure to anticipate accurately the future policy direction in a state or to secure viable projects could have a material adverse effect on NEP's ability to grow its business and make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP may continue to acquire other sources of clean energy, including, but not limited to, contracted natural gas and nuclear projects, and other types of assets, including, but not limited to, transmission projects. NEP may be unable to identify attractive non-renewable energy or transmission acquisition opportunities or acquire such projects at prices and on terms that are attractive. In addition, the consummation of such acquisitions could expose NEP to increased operating costs, unforeseen liabilities and additional risks including, but not limited to, regulatory and environmental issues associated with entering new sectors of the energy industry. This could require a disproportionate amount of NEP's management’s attention and resources, which could have an adverse impact on NEP's business and place NEP at a competitive disadvantage relative to more established non-renewable energy market participants. A failure to successfully integrate such acquisitions as a result of unforeseen operational difficulties or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to grow its business and make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP believes its primary competitors for opportunities in North America are regulated utilities, developers, IPPs, pension funds and private equity funds. NEP competes with these companies to acquire projects and pipelines with projected stable cash flows. NEP also competes for personnel with requisite industry knowledge and experience. Furthermore, the industry has experienced and may experience volatile demand for wind turbines, solar panels, pipeline equipment and related components. If demand for this equipment increases, suppliers may give priority to other market participants, including, but not limited to, NEP's competitors, who may have greater resources than NEP. An inability to effectively compete with regulated utilities, developers, IPPs, pension funds and private equity funds for opportunities in North America could have a material adverse effect on NEP's ability to grow its business and to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's pipelines compete with other energy midstream enterprises, some of which are much larger and have significantly greater financial resources and operating experience in its areas of operation. The pipelines’ competitors may expand or construct infrastructure that competes with the services it provides to customers. The ability to renew or replace existing contracts with the pipelines’ customers at rates sufficient to maintain current revenues and cash flows could be adversely affected by the activities of NEP's competitors and customers. All of these competitive pressures could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Since NEP expects, from time to time, to finance acquisitions of clean energy projects partially or wholly through the issuance of additional securities of NEP, NEP OpCo and their subsidiaries, NEP needs to be able to access capital on commercially reasonable terms when acquisition opportunities arise. NEP’s ability to access capital is dependent on, among other factors, the overall state of the capital markets and investor appetite for investment in clean energy projects in general and NEP, NEP OpCo or their subsidiaries securities or securities convertible into NEP common units in particular. An inability to obtain financing on commercially reasonable terms could significantly limit NEP’s ability to consummate future acquisitions and to effectuate its growth strategy. In addition, the issuance of additional common units, securities convertible into NEP common units or other securities in connection with acquisitions could cause significant common unitholder dilution and reduce the cash distribution per common unit if the acquisitions are not sufficiently accretive.

Furthermore, there may not be sufficient availability under NEP OpCo’s subsidiaries’ revolving credit facility or the ability to obtain other financing arrangements on commercially reasonable terms when acquisition opportunities arise. An inability to obtain the required or desired financing could significantly limit NEP's ability to consummate acquisitions and effectuate its growth strategy. If financing is available, it may be available only on terms that could significantly increase NEP's interest expense, impose additional or more restrictive covenants and reduce cash distributions to its unitholders. NEP's inability to effectively consummate future acquisitions could have a material adverse effect on NEP's ability to grow its business and make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP and its subsidiaries have entered into financing agreements which contain various covenants and restrictive provisions that may limit their ability to, among other things:

Certain of the financing agreements also contain covenants requiring NEP OpCo and its subsidiaries to maintain certain financial ratios, including, but not limited to, as a condition to making cash distributions to NEP and its other unitholders. NEP OpCo's and its subsidiaries' ability to meet those financial ratios can be affected by events beyond NEP's control, and NEP OpCo may be unable to meet those ratios and tests and, therefore, may be unable to make cash distributions to its unitholders, including, but not limited to, NEP. As a result, NEP may be unable to make distributions to its unitholders. In addition, the financing agreements contain events of default provisions, including, but not limited to, provisions relating to certain changes in ownership of NEP or its subsidiaries and other customary provisions.

The provisions of the financing agreements may affect NEP's ability to obtain future financing and pursue attractive business opportunities and NEP's flexibility in planning for, and reacting to, changes in business conditions. A failure to comply with the provisions of the applicable financing agreement could result in an event of default, which could enable the lenders to declare, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable financing agreement any outstanding principal of that debt, together with accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable and entitle lenders to enforce their security interest. If the payment of the debt is accelerated and NEP or one of its subsidiaries fails to repay the debt pursuant to their guarantees, the revenue from the projects may be insufficient to repay such debt in full, the lenders could enforce their security interest and NEP's unitholders could experience a partial or total loss of their investment.

NEP intends to pay quarterly cash distributions on all of its outstanding units and NEP OpCo intends to pay quarterly cash distributions on its outstanding units (except for its Class B units). However, in any period, NEP's and NEP OpCo’s ability to pay cash distributions to their respective unitholders depends on, among other things, the performance of NEP's subsidiaries. The ability of NEP's subsidiaries to make distributions to NEP and NEP OpCo may be restricted by, among other things, the provisions of existing and future indebtedness and other financing agreements.

The agreements governing NEP's subsidiaries’ project-level debt contain financial tests and covenants that NEP's subsidiaries must satisfy prior to making distributions and restrict the subsidiaries from making more than one distribution per quarter or per six-month period. If any of NEP's subsidiaries is unable to satisfy these tests and covenants or is otherwise in default under such agreements, it would be prohibited from making distributions that could, in turn, affect the amount of cash distributed by NEP OpCo, and ultimately limit NEP's ability to pay cash distributions to its unitholders. Additionally, such agreements require NEP's projects to establish a number of reserves out of their revenues, including, but not limited to, reserves to service NEP OpCo's debt and reserves for O&M expenses. These cash reserves will affect the amount of cash distributed by NEP OpCo, which ultimately will affect the amount of cash distributions NEP is able to make to its unitholders. Also, upon the occurrence of certain events, including, but not limited to,

NEP's subsidiaries’ inability to satisfy distribution conditions for an extended period of time, NEP's subsidiaries’ revenues may be swept into one or more accounts for the benefit of the lenders under the subsidiaries’ debt agreements and the subsidiaries may be required to prepay indebtedness.

Under certain other financing agreements, noncontrolling Class B investors own interests in certain NEP subsidiaries and receive a portion of the related NEP subsidiaries’ cash distributions specified in the applicable limited liability company agreements. NEP has the option (buyout right), subject to certain limitations, to purchase 100% of the noncontrolling Class B interests during specified periods. If NEP does not exercise the buyout rights during the specified periods, or if NEP only partially exercises the buyout rights during the specified periods, the portion of the NEP subsidiaries’ cash distribution allocated to the noncontrolling Class B investors would significantly increase. Any increase in the portion of NEP subsidiaries’ cash distributions allocated to the noncontrolling Class B investors would reduce the amount of cash distributions allocated to NEP OpCo and NEP.

Provisions preventing or reducing NEP's subsidiaries’ cash distributions could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's subsidiaries’ substantial indebtedness could have important consequences. For example,

If NEP's subsidiaries, including, but not limited to, NEP OpCo, do not comply with their obligations under their debt instruments, they may be required to refinance all or a part of their indebtedness, which they may not be able to do on similar terms or at all. Increases in interest rates and changes in debt covenants may reduce the amounts that NEP and its subsidiaries can borrow, reduce NEP's cash flows and increase the equity investment NEP may be required to make in any projects NEP may acquire. In addition, the project-level financing for projects that NEP may acquire that are under construction may prohibit distributions until such project commences operations. If NEP's subsidiaries are not able to generate sufficient operating cash flow to repay their outstanding indebtedness or otherwise are unable to comply with the terms of their indebtedness, NEP could be required to reduce overhead costs, reduce the scope of its projects, sell some or all of its projects or delay construction of projects NEP may acquire, all of which could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Some of NEP's subsidiaries’ indebtedness accrues interest at variable rates, and some of its subsidiaries use interest rate swaps to try to protect against market volatility. The use of interest rate swaps, however, does not eliminate the possibility of fluctuations in the value of a position or prevent losses if the value of a position declines. Such transactions may also limit the opportunity for gain if the value of a position increases. In addition, to the extent that actively-quoted market prices and pricing information from external sources are not available, the valuation of these contracts involves judgment or the use of estimates. As a result, changes in the underlying assumptions or use of alternative valuation methods could affect the reported fair value of these contracts. If the values of these financial contracts change in a manner that NEP does not anticipate, or if a counterparty fails to perform under a contract, it could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Under NEP’s partnership agreement, the board oversees and directs the operations and policies of NEP and exercises management oversight over NEP. At each annual meeting, four of NEP’s seven directors will be elected by NEP’s limited partners. Three directors will be appointed by NEP GP, in its sole discretion. The directors appointed by NEP GP will be, and one director elected by holders of NEP’s common units may be, officers or employees of NEE or its affiliates. In addition, NEE holds voting power over certain matters that require NEP unitholder approval. NEE Management, pursuant to the terms of the MSA, will designate the officers of NEP so long as NEE or one of its affiliates is the manager under the MSA.

The attorneys, independent accountants and others who perform services for NEP will be selected by the board, which may be affiliated with NEE, or its conflicts committee and may perform services for NEE or its affiliates. NEP may retain separate counsel for itself or the holders of common units in the event of a conflict of interest between NEE and its affiliates, on the one hand, and NEP or the holders of common units, on the other, depending on the nature of the conflict. NEP does not intend to do so in most cases.

Under the CSCS agreement, guarantees and letters of credit that have been provided by NEECH, NEER and other NEE affiliates to counterparties on behalf of NEP's subsidiaries to satisfy NEP's subsidiaries’ contractual obligations to provide credit support, including, but not limited to, under PPAs. These NEE affiliates also have provided credit support to lenders to fund reserve accounts and to cover the risk that CITC proceeds received by any U.S. project entity are later recaptured by the U.S. Department of Treasury. NEP expects NEECH, NEER and other NEE affiliates, upon NEP's request and at NEER’s option, to provide credit support on behalf of any projects NEP may acquire in the future on similar terms but they are under no obligation to do so. Any failure of NEP's subsidiaries to maintain acceptable credit support or credit support providers to honor their obligations under their respective credit support arrangements could cause, among other things, events of default to arise under NEP's subsidiaries’ PPAs and financing agreements. Such events of default could entitle customers to terminate their contracts with NEP's subsidiaries or could entitle lenders to accelerate indebtedness owed to them, which could result in the insolvency of NEP's subsidiaries. In addition, if beneficiaries draw on credit support provided by NEECH, NEER and these other NEE affiliates, then NEP OpCo may be required to reimburse them for the amounts drawn, which could reduce NEP OpCo’s cash distributions. These events could decrease NEP's revenues, restrict distributions from its subsidiaries, or result in a sale of or foreclosure on its assets. Further, NEE affiliates may not provide credit support in respect of new projects on the same terms on which they currently provide credit support for NEP’s existing projects, which may require NEP to obtain credit support from third parties on less favorable terms and may prevent NEP from acquiring additional projects. All of the foregoing events, including, but not limited to, a failure of NEP OpCo to have sufficient funds to satisfy its reimbursement obligations, could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Under the CSCS agreement, NEER or one of its affiliates is permitted to withdraw funds received by NEP's subsidiaries, including, but not limited to, NEP OpCo, and hold them in an account of NEER or one of its affiliates to the extent the funds are not required to pay NEP's or its subsidiaries’ costs or otherwise not required to be retained by its subsidiaries, until the financing agreements of its subsidiaries permit distributions to be made to NEP OpCo or, in the case of NEP OpCo, until a minimum quarterly distribution is scheduled to be paid. Further, NEER will not pay NEP any interest or additional consideration for the use of these funds. If NEER or one of its affiliates realizes any earnings on NEP OpCo’s or its subsidiaries’ funds prior to the return of such funds, it is permitted to retain those earnings for its own account. The failure of NEER to return funds to NEP's subsidiaries for any reason could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's ability to grow through acquisitions and increase distributions to its unitholders is dependent in part on its ability to make acquisitions that result in an increase in cash distributions per common unit. Such acquisitions may not be available to NEP on acceptable terms or at all. The consummation and timing of future acquisitions, whether from NEER or any third parties, will depend upon, among other things, whether:

Additionally, several factors could materially and adversely impact the extent to which suitable acquisition opportunities are made available from NEER, including, but not limited to, an assessment by NEER relating to its liquidity position, the risk profile of an opportunity, its fit with NEP's operations and other factors. Furthermore, if NEER reduces its ownership interest in NEP, it may be less willing to sell NEER projects to NEP. An inability by NEER to identify, or a failure by NEER to make available, suitable acquisition opportunities could hinder NEP's growth and materially adversely impact its business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP may not be able to successfully consummate future acquisitions, whether from NEER or any third parties. Any acquisitions that may be available to NEP may require that it be able to access the debt and equity markets. However, NEP may be unable to access such markets on attractive terms or at all. If NEP is unable to make future acquisitions, its future growth and ability to increase distributions to its unitholders will be limited. Furthermore, even if NEP does consummate acquisitions that NEP believes will be accretive, they may in fact result in a decrease in cash distributions per common unit as a result of incorrect assumptions in NEP's evaluation of such acquisitions or unforeseen consequences or other external events beyond its control. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including, but not limited to, difficulties in integrating acquired businesses, inefficiencies and unexpected costs and liabilities. These events could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP and NEP OpCo have entered into a ROFR agreement with NEER granting NEER and its subsidiaries (other than NEP OpCo and its subsidiaries) a right of first refusal on any proposed sale of any of the NEP OpCo ROFR assets. The obligations of NEP OpCo under the ROFR agreement may discourage a third party from pursuing a transaction with NEP OpCo. Even if such third party is able to acquire the applicable asset, NEP OpCo’s compliance with its obligations under the ROFR agreement could result in delays and transaction costs, as well as a reduced sales price. In addition, since the number of third parties willing to make an offer for a NEP OpCo ROFR asset may be limited due to the ROFR agreement, NEP OpCo may consummate the sale of any NEP OpCo ROFR asset on less favorable terms, or may not be able to sell such asset, which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

The board will appoint officers of NEP (including its chief executive officer) designated by the manager in accordance with the terms of the MSA. As a result, all of NEP’s executive officers could be, and currently are, officers of NEE or one of its affiliates. NEP’s partnership agreement provides contractual standards governing the duties of directors and officers, and directors and officers will not have fiduciary duties to NEP or its unitholders. Conflicts of interest exist and may arise as a result of the relationships between NEE and the directors and officers of NEP affiliated with NEE, on the one hand, and NEP and NEP's limited partners, on the other hand. To the extent any directors or officers of NEP are also officers of NEE, such directors and officers will have fiduciary duties to both NEE and NEP, and the interests of NEE and NEP may be different or in conflict. In resolving such conflicts of interest, the directors and officers of NEP affiliated with NEE may favor NEE's interests and the interests of NEE's affiliates over the interests of NEP and its unitholders. These conflicts include the following situations, among others:

As a result of the overlapping nature of the management of NEP and NEE and its affiliates, effectively managing these actual, perceived and potential conflicts may require substantial attention, and there is no assurance that all relevant actual, perceived or potential conflicts will be identified or that such conflicts will be adequately addressed. A decision by NEP GP or the board to favor

its own interests or the interests of NEE over NEP's interests and the interests of its unitholders could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP’s partnership agreement provides that its general partner is restricted from engaging in any business activities other than acting as NEP GP and those activities incidental to its ownership of interests in NEP. Affiliates of NEP GP, including, but not limited to, NEE and its other subsidiaries, are not prohibited from owning projects or engaging in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with NEP. NEE currently holds interests in, and may make investments in and purchases of, entities that acquire, own and operate clean energy projects. NEER is under no obligation to make any acquisition opportunities available to NEP. In addition, pursuant to NEP’s partnership agreement, its subsidiaries generally will not have any power or authority to solicit, review, respond to or otherwise participate in certain activities or lines of business.

Under the terms of NEP’s partnership agreement, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any analogous doctrine, does not apply to NEP GP and its affiliates, including, but not limited to, NEE or to NEP's directors or officers. Any such person or entity that becomes aware of a potential transaction, agreement, arrangement or other matter that may be an opportunity for NEP will not have any duty to communicate or offer such opportunity to NEP. Any such person or entity will not be liable to NEP or to any limited partner for breach of any fiduciary duty or other duty by reason of the fact that such person or entity pursues or acquires such opportunity for itself, directs such opportunity to another person or entity or does not communicate such opportunity or information to NEP. This may create actual and potential conflicts of interest between NEP and affiliates of NEP GP and result in less than favorable treatment of NEP and holders of its common units.

The MSA provides that NEP and certain affiliates may terminate the agreement only upon 90 days' prior written notice to NEE Management upon the occurrence of any of the following:

NEP is not able to terminate the agreement for any other reason, including, but not limited to, if NEE Management experiences a change of control or if a majority of the directors of NEP are not affiliates of NEE. The agreement continues until January 1, 2068 and thereafter renews for successive five-year periods unless NEP OpCo or NEE Management provides written notice to the other that it does not wish for the agreement to be renewed. If NEE Management’s performance does not meet the expectations of investors and NEP is unable to terminate the MSA, the market price of NEP's common units could suffer. In addition, even if the MSA is terminated, it may not terminate in respect of provisions relating to the payment of the IDR fee payable to NEE Management under that agreement, which could result in NEE or its affiliates receiving payments that could otherwise be distributed to NEP's unitholders even though NEE Management would be no longer obligated to provide services to NEP under the MSA.

NEE's affiliates provide, or arrange for the provision of, administrative, O&M and construction management services under agreements with NEE Management and NEER, respectively. Any failure by NEE Management or NEER to perform their administrative, O&M and construction management services obligations or the failure by NEP to identify and contract with replacement service providers, if required, could materially impact the successful operation of its projects. Under these agreements, certain NEE employees provide services to NEP. These services are not the primary responsibility of these employees, nor are these employees required to act for NEP alone. The agreements do not require any specific individuals to be provided by NEE and NEE has the discretion to determine which of its employees perform services required to be provided to NEP.

NEE Management and NEER have agreed to provide NEP with management services under the MSA and the management sub-contract, respectively, and NEP does not have independent executive or senior management personnel. Each of the MSA and the management sub-contract, respectively, provides that NEE Management and NEER, respectively, may terminate the applicable agreement upon 180 days’ prior written notice of termination to NEP if NEP defaults in the performance or observance of any material

term, condition or covenant contained in the agreement in a manner that results in material harm to NEE Management or its affiliates other than NEP or its subsidiaries, and the default continues unremedied for a period of 90 days after written notice thereof is given to NEP or upon the happening of certain specified events. If NEE Management terminates the MSA, if NEER terminates the management sub-contract or if either of them defaults in the performance of its obligations under the respective agreement, NEP may be unable to contract with a substitute service provider on similar terms, and the costs of substituting service providers may be substantial. If NEP cannot locate a service provider that is able to provide NEP with substantially similar services as NEE Management and NEER provide under the MSA and the management sub-contract, respectively, on similar terms, it would likely have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Under the MSA, NEE Management and its affiliates do not assume any responsibility other than to provide or arrange for the provision of the services described in the MSA in good faith. Additionally, under the MSA, the liability of NEE Management and its affiliates is limited to the fullest extent permitted by law to conduct involving bad faith, fraud, willful misconduct or recklessness or, in the case of a criminal matter, to action that was known to have been unlawful. NEP has agreed, and will cause certain affiliates to, indemnify NEE Management and its affiliates and any of their directors, officers, agents, members, partners, stockholders and employees and other representatives of NEE Management and its affiliates to the fullest extent permitted by law from and against any claims, liabilities, losses, damages, costs or expenses incurred by an indemnified person or threatened in connection with NEP's, NEP OpCo GP's, NEP OpCo's and certain affiliates' operations, investments and activities or in respect of or arising from the MSA or the services provided thereunder by NEE Management and its affiliates, except to the extent that the claims, liabilities, losses, damages, costs or expenses are determined to have resulted from the conduct in respect of which such persons have liability as described above. Additionally, the maximum amount of the aggregate liability of NEE Management or any of its affiliates in providing services under the MSA or otherwise (including, but not limited to, NEER under the management sub-contract), or of any director, officer, employee, contractor, agent, advisor or other representative of NEE Management or any of its affiliates, will be equal to the base management fee previously paid by NEP in the most recent calendar year under the MSA but in no event less than $4 million. These protections may result in NEE Management and its affiliates tolerating greater risks when making decisions than otherwise would be the case, including, but not limited to, when determining whether to use leverage in connection with acquisitions. The indemnification arrangements to which NEE Management and its affiliates are a party may also give rise to legal claims for indemnification, which could have a material adverse effect on NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

NEP's cash flow is generated from distributions NEP receives from NEP OpCo, which will consist primarily of cash distributions that NEP OpCo has received from its subsidiaries. The amount of cash that NEP OpCo’s subsidiaries will be able to distribute to NEP OpCo each quarter principally depends upon the amount of cash such subsidiaries generate from their operations and investments. NEP OpCo may not have sufficient available cash each quarter to continue paying distributions at its current level or at all. If NEP OpCo reduces its per unit distribution, because of reduced operating cash flow, higher expenses, capital requirements or otherwise, NEP will have less cash to distribute to its unitholders and would likely be required to reduce its per common unit distribution.

The amount of cash that NEP OpCo can distribute to its limited partners, including NEP, each quarter principally depends upon the amount of cash it generates from its operations, which will fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on, among other things:

In addition, the amount of cash that NEP OpCo will have available for distribution will depend on other factors, some of which are beyond its control, including, but not limited to:

Because of these factors, NEP OpCo may not have sufficient available cash each quarter to pay its minimum quarterly distribution per common unit or any other amount. Furthermore, the amount of cash that NEP OpCo has available for distribution depends primarily upon its cash flow, including, but not limited to, cash flow from financial reserves and working capital borrowings, and is not solely a function of profitability, which will be affected by non-cash items. As a result, NEP OpCo may be able to make cash distributions during periods when it records net losses and may not be able to make cash distributions during periods when it records net income.

The IDR fee is an expense of NEP OpCo that reduces the amount of cash distributions by NEP OpCo to NEP OpCo's unitholders, including NEP. The IDR fee is not reduced for NEP's income tax liabilities. Instead, NEP must use the cash proceeds of any distributions NEP receives from NEP OpCo to satisfy NEP's income tax liabilities. Any such payments of income taxes by NEP will reduce the amount of cash distributions by NEP to its unitholders. As a result, if NEP incurs material income tax liabilities, NEP's distributions to its unitholders may be reduced, without any corresponding reduction in the amount of the IDR fee.

Under NEP’s partnership agreement, limited partners are allowed to vote for four of the seven members of the board. Moreover, any person, together with the members of any related group, who beneficially owns 5% or more of the outstanding units will be permitted to vote not more than 5% of such outstanding units in an election or removal of certain directors. Further, if, after giving effect to the 5% limitation, any person, together with the members of any related group, still has the power to cast votes equal to or greater than 10% of the units present and actually voted on any matter (including an election or removal of certain directors), such person will be entitled to direct the voting of only the units held by such person representing not more than 9.99% of the units actually voted on such matter, and any units held by such person equal to 10% or more of such voting power will be voted proportionally with the votes cast by other unitholders on such matter. However, if such person is NEP's general partner or any of its affiliates, the 9.99% limitation on voting power applies only to the election or removal of certain directors.

NEP’s partnership agreement contains provisions that eliminate the fiduciary standards to which NEP GP or any of NEP’s directors and officers would otherwise be held by state fiduciary duty law and replaces those standards with several different contractual standards.

For example, NEP’s partnership agreement permits the board to make some decisions in its sole discretion, free of any duties to NEP or its unitholders other than the implied contractual covenant of good faith and fair dealing (which means that a court will enforce the reasonable expectations of the partners where the language of the partnership agreement does not provide for a clear course of action). These provisions entitle the board to consider only the interests and factors that the board desires and relieves the board of any duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of, or factors affecting, NEP, its affiliates or NEP's limited partners.

NEP’s partnership agreement permits NEP GP to make a number of decisions in its individual capacity, as opposed to in its capacity as NEP's general partner, free of any duties to NEP or its unitholders other than the implied contractual covenant of good faith and fair dealing. These provisions entitle NEP GP and its affiliates to consider only the interests and factors that they desire and relieve them of any duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of, or factors affecting, NEP, its affiliates or NEP's limited partners. Examples of decisions that NEP GP and its affiliates may make in their individual capacities include:

NEP’s partnership agreement contains provisions that restrict the remedies available to its unitholders for actions taken by NEP’s directors or NEP GP that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duties under state law. For example, NEP’s partnership agreement provides that:

In connection with a situation involving a transaction with an affiliate or a conflict of interest, any determination by NEP GP or the board, or the conflicts committee of the board, must be made in good faith. If an affiliate transaction or the resolution of a conflict of interest is not approved by NEP's unitholders or the conflicts committee and the board determines that the resolution or course of action taken with respect to the affiliate transaction or conflict of interest satisfies either of the standards set forth in the third and fourth sub-bullets above, then it will be presumed that, in making its decision, the board acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner or NEP challenging such determination, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption.

Under NEP’s partnership agreement, NEP GP's consent is required for certain actions of NEP, in addition to approval by NEP’s board or unitholders, as applicable. Because NEP GP is indirectly owned by NEE, NEE can cause NEP GP to exercise certain protective rights. NEP’s partnership agreement provides that NEP GP may grant or withhold its consent in its sole discretion. To the extent NEP GP withholds its consent, NEP unitholders and the board will be prevented from taking actions which they may consider beneficial to NEP or its unitholders.

The vote of the holders of at least 66 2⁄3% of all outstanding common units, preferred units and special voting units voting together as a single class is required to remove NEP's general partner. Further, the vote of the holders of at least a majority of all outstanding common units, preferred units and special voting units voting together as a single class is required to name a new general partner of NEP. Given NEP GP and its affiliates current voting power with respect to NEP’s outstanding units, a vote to remove NEP’s general partner would currently require NEE’s consent.

NEP’s partnership agreement does not restrict the ability of NEE to transfer all or a portion of its ownership interest in NEP GP to a third party. NEP’s partnership agreement also does not restrict the ability of NEP GP to issue equity securities in a public or private transaction. A new owner of all or a portion of an ownership interest in NEP GP could then be in a position to designate its own representatives to the board.

Under the MSA, NEE, through NEE Management, may assign the IDR fee, or may sell a portion of the affiliate that has the right to receive the IDR fee to an unaffiliated third party, at any time. If NEE, through NEE Management, transfers the right to receive the IDR fee to a third party, NEE, through NEE Management, may not have the same incentive to provide services necessary to carry out NEP's operations and grow NEP's business so as to increase quarterly distributions to unitholders over time as it would if it had retained ownership of the IDR fee.

NEP’s partnership agreement does not limit the number of additional limited partnership interests, including, but not limited to, limited partnership interests that rank senior to the common units, which NEP may issue at any time without the approval of its unitholders. The issuance by NEP of additional common units or other equity securities of equal or senior rank will have the following effects:

Under NEP OpCo’s partnership agreement, prior to making any distributions on its units, NEP OpCo will reimburse NEP GP and its affiliates, including, but not limited to, NEE, for out-of-pocket expenses they incur and payments they make on NEP's behalf and for certain payments made under credit support arrangements provided by NEER on behalf of NEP's subsidiaries. NEP OpCo will also pay certain fees and reimbursements under the MSA and the CSCS agreement prior to making any distributions on its units. The reimbursement of expenses and certain payments made under credit support arrangements and payment of fees, if any, to NEP GP and its affiliates will reduce the amount of available cash NEP OpCo has to pay cash distributions to NEP and the amount that NEP has available to pay distributions to NEP's unitholders. Under NEP OpCo’s partnership agreement, there is no limit on the fees and expense reimbursements NEP OpCo may be required to pay.

NEP OpCo’s partnership agreement requires its general partner, NEP OpCo GP, to deduct from operating surplus cash reserves that it determines are necessary to fund NEP OpCo’s future operating expenditures. In addition, NEP OpCo's partnership agreement permits its general partner to reduce available cash by establishing cash reserves for the proper conduct of NEP OpCo’s business, to comply with applicable law or agreements to which NEP OpCo is a party or to provide funds for future distributions to partners. These cash reserves will affect the amount of cash distributed by NEP OpCo, which ultimately will affect the amount of cash distributions to NEP's unitholders.

NEP OpCo’s partnership agreement allows it to make working capital borrowings to pay distributions to its unitholders. Accordingly, if NEP OpCo has available borrowing capacity, it can make distributions on its units even though cash generated by its operations may not be sufficient to pay such distributions. Any working capital borrowings by NEP OpCo to make distributions will reduce the amount of working capital borrowings it can make for NEP OpCo’s operations.

Interest rates on future credit facilities and debt offerings could be higher than current levels, causing NEP's financing costs to increase accordingly. NEP's common unit price is impacted by the level of its cash distributions and implied distribution yield. The distribution yield is used by investors to compare yield-oriented securities for investment decision-making purposes. Therefore, changes in interest rates, either positive or negative, may affect the yield requirements of investors who invest in NEP's common units, and a rising interest rate environment could adversely impact the price of NEP's common units, NEP's ability to issue equity or incur debt for acquisitions or other purposes and NEP's ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

A general partner of a partnership generally has unlimited liability for the obligations of the partnership except for those contractual obligations of the partnership that are expressly made without recourse to the general partner. NEP is organized under Delaware law and NEP conducts business in a number of other states. The limitations on the liability of holders of limited partnership interests for the obligations of a limited partnership have not been clearly established in some of the other states in which NEP does business. A unitholder could be liable for any and all of NEP's obligations as if the unitholder were a general partner if a court or government agency were to determine that:

Under certain circumstances, unitholders may have to repay amounts wrongfully returned or distributed to them. Under Delaware law, NEP may not make a distribution to its unitholders if the distribution would cause NEP's liabilities to exceed the fair value of its assets. Delaware law provides that for a period of three years from the date of an impermissible distribution, limited partners who received the distribution and who knew at the time of the distribution that it violated Delaware law will be liable to the limited partnership for the distributed amount. Transferees of common units are liable both for the obligations of the transferor to make contributions to the partnership that were known to the transferee at the time of transfer and for those obligations that were unknown if the liabilities could have been determined from the partnership agreement. Neither liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interest nor liabilities that are non-recourse to the partnership are counted for purposes of determining whether a distribution is permitted.

NEP’s partnership agreement contains provisions that make it difficult for a third party to acquire NEP without the consent of the board. For example, NEP's partnership agreement provides that, with respect to annual meetings of limited partners, limited partners cannot nominate persons for election to the board unless such nominations are included in the proxy statement of NEP in accordance with the proxy access provisions of NEP’s partnership agreement, and the limited partners cannot make any binding proposals of other business to be considered at any annual meeting of limited partners. In addition, limited partners may request a special meeting of limited partners only if the request is made by limited partners holding 20% or more of the units then outstanding and only for the removal of certain directors for cause or NEP's general partner. These provisions may have the effect of limiting the ability of a third party to acquire control of NEP that might involve a premium to the market price of NEP's common units or otherwise be in the unitholders' best interests.

NEP's common units are listed on the NYSE. Because NEP is a publicly traded limited partnership, the NYSE does not require NEP to have, and it does not have, a majority of independent directors on the board or to establish a compensation committee or a nominating and corporate governance committee. Accordingly, unitholders do not have the same protections afforded to corporations that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.

NEP issued preferred units and convertible notes in 2017 and noncontrolling Class B interests in certain NEP OpCo subsidiaries in 2018 and 2019. Subject to certain limitations, the preferred units and convertible notes are convertible into common units by the holders of such units and notes, or, for the preferred units, at NEP’s option under certain circumstances. NEP will have the option, subject to certain limitations and extensions, to purchase the noncontrolling Class B interests. If exercised, NEP has the right to pay a portion of the buyout price in NEP non-voting common units or NEP common units, as specified in the related agreement, issued at the then-current market price of NEP common units, subject to certain limitations. If holders of the preferred units or noncontrolling Class B interests, or any convertible securities issued in the future, were to dispose of a substantial portion of these common units in the public market following such a conversion, whether in a single transaction or series of transactions, it could adversely affect the market price for NEP's common units. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, could make it more difficult for NEP to sell NEP's common units in the future.

In addition, the terms of the preferred units permit NEP, in certain circumstances and subject to certain limitations, to pay the quarterly distributions on the preferred units in the form of additional convertible preferred units (PIK Units). Pursuant to the terms of the

preferred units, such quarterly distributions may be paid, at NEP’s option, in (i) PIK Units, (ii) cash, or (iii) a combination of PIK Units and cash.

Any issuance of preferred units or other securities convertible into common units and/or the payment of quarterly distributions on the preferred units in PIK Units will or may have the following effects:

The preferred units rank senior to the common units with respect to distribution rights. These preferences could adversely affect the market price of the common units, or could make it more difficult for NEP to sell common units in the future.

NEP’s obligation to pay distributions on the preferred units, or on the common units issued following the conversion of such preferred units, could impact NEP's liquidity and reduce the amount of cash available for working capital, capital expenditures, growth opportunities, acquisitions, and other general partnership purposes. NEP’s obligations to the holders of the preferred units could also limit its ability to obtain additional financing or increase NEP's borrowing costs, which could have an adverse effect on NEP’s financial condition.

Even though NEP is organized as a limited partnership under state law, it is treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and thus is subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates on NEP's net taxable income. NEP expects to generate NOLs and NOL carryforwards that it can use to offset future taxable income. As a result, NEP does not expect to pay meaningful U.S. federal income tax for over 15 years. This estimate is based upon assumptions NEP has made regarding, among other things, NEP OpCo's income, capital expenditures, cash flows, net working capital and cash distributions. Further, the IRS or other tax authorities could challenge one or more tax positions NEP or NEP OpCo takes, such as the classification of assets under the income tax depreciation rules, the characterization of expenses (including, but not limited to, NEP's share of the IDR fee) for income tax purposes, the extent to which sales, use or goods and services tax applies to operations in a particular state or the availability of property tax exemptions with respect to NEP's projects. Further, any change in tax law may affect NEP's tax position, including changes in corporate income tax laws, regulations and policies applicable to NEP. While NEP expects that its NOLs and NOL carryforwards will be available to NEP as a future benefit, in the event that they are not generated as expected, are successfully challenged by the IRS (in a tax audit or otherwise) or are subject to future limitations as described below, NEP's ability to realize these benefits may be limited.

NEP's federal, state, local or Canadian tax positions may be challenged by the relevant tax authority. The process and costs, including, but not limited to, potential penalties for nonpayment of disputed amounts, of appealing such challenges, administratively or judicially, regardless of the merits, could be material. A reduction in NEP's expected NOLs, a limitation on NEP's ability to use such losses, or other tax attributes, such as tax credits, and future tax audits or a challenge by tax authorities to NEP's tax positions may result in a material increase in NEP's estimated future income taxes or other tax liabilities, which would negatively impact the amount of after-tax cash distributions to NEP's unitholders and its financial condition.

NEP's ability to use its NOLs to offset future taxable income could be substantially limited if NEP’s unitholders that own 5% or more of NEP’s outstanding common units, as defined under Code Section 382, increase their ownership in NEP by more than 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period through, among other things, additional purchases of NEP's common units and certain types of reorganization transactions. Any NOLs that exceed this limitation may be carried forward and used to offset taxable income for the remainder of the carryforward period (i.e., 20 years from the year in which such NOL was generated for NOLs generated prior to January 1, 2018 and no carryforward limitation for any subsequently generated NOLs). Based on NEP’s most recent annual assessment, NEP does not expect the Section 382 limitation to impact its ability to utilize any of its NOLs to offset future taxable income. However, potential changes in the tax law or in NEP’s projections could impact this assessment.

NEP and/or NEP OpCo may be included in the combined or unitary tax returns of NEE or one or more of its subsidiaries for U.S. state or local income tax purposes. NEP is a party to a tax sharing arrangement which determines the share of taxes that NEP will pay to, or receive from, NEE. In addition, by virtue of NEP's inclusion in NEE’s combined or unitary income tax returns, NEE will effectively control all of NEP's state and local tax decisions in connection with any combined or unitary income tax returns in which NEP is included. NEE will have sole authority to respond to and conduct all tax proceedings (including, but not limited to, tax audits)

related to NEP, to file all state and local income tax returns on NEP's behalf, and to determine the amount of NEP's liability to, or entitlement to payment from, NEE in connection with any combined or unitary income tax returns in which NEP is included. This may result in conflicts of interest between NEE and NEP.

NEP's expected NOLs will be reflected as a deferred tax asset as they are generated until used to offset taxable income. Additional valuation allowances may be needed for deferred tax assets that NEP estimates are more likely than not to be unusable, based on available evidence at the time the estimate is made. Valuation allowances related to deferred tax assets can be affected by changes to tax laws, statutory tax rates and future taxable income levels and based on input from NEP's tax advisors or regulatory authorities. In the event that NEP were to determine that it would not be able to realize all or a portion of NEP's net deferred tax assets in the future, NEP would reduce such amounts through a charge to income tax expense in the period in which that determination was made, which could have a material adverse impact on NEP's financial condition and results of operations and NEP's ability to maintain profitability.

Even though NEP is organized as a limited partnership under state law, NEP is treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, if NEP makes distributions from current or accumulated earnings and profits as computed for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such distributions will generally be taxable to unitholders as ordinary dividend income for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Distributions paid to non-corporate U.S. unitholders will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at preferential rates, provided that certain holding period and other requirements are satisfied. However, it is difficult to predict whether NEP will generate earnings and profits as computed for U.S. federal income tax purposes in any given tax year, and although NEP expects that a portion of its distributions to unitholders may exceed its current and accumulated earnings and profits as computed for U.S. federal income tax purposes and therefore constitute a non-taxable return of capital distribution to the extent of a unitholder’s basis in its units, this may not occur. In addition, although return-of-capital distributions are generally non-taxable to the extent of a unitholder’s basis in its units, such distributions will reduce the unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in its units, which will result in an increase in the amount of gain (or a decrease in the amount of loss) that will be recognized by the unitholder on a future disposition of NEP's common units, and to the extent any return-of-capital distribution exceeds a unitholder’s basis, such distributions will be treated as gain on the sale or exchange of the units.

NEP and its subsidiaries maintain properties consisting of renewable generation projects and natural gas pipeline assets which are adequate for their operations; the principal properties are described in Item 1. Business, which description is incorporated herein by reference.

The majority of NEP's generating facilities and pipelines are owned by NEP subsidiaries and are currently subject to NEE Equity's 60.8% noncontrolling limited partner interest in NEP OpCo. In addition, a subsidiary of Pemex owns a 10% interest in the NET Mexico pipeline, NEER owns an approximately 50% noncontrolling ownership interest in Silver State and other third-party investors own noncontrolling interests in certain NEP OpCo subsidiaries. Certain of the generating facilities and all of the pipelines are encumbered by liens securing various financings. Additionally, some of the generating facilities and pipelines occupy or use real property that is not owned by NEP subsidiaries, primarily through various easements, leases, rights-of-way, permits or licenses from private landowners or governmental entities.

None

Not applicable

NEP's partnership agreement requires it to distribute available cash quarterly. Generally, available cash is all cash on hand at the date of determination relating to that quarter (including any expected distributions from NEP OpCo), less the amount of cash reserves established by the board. NEP currently expects that cash reserves would be established solely to provide for the payment of income taxes by NEP, if any. Cash flow is generated from distributions NEP receives from NEP OpCo each quarter. Although, as described above, NEP currently expects that cash reserves would be established by the board solely to provide for the payment of NEP's income taxes, if any, NEP expects NEP OpCo to establish cash reserves prior to making distributions to NEP to pay costs and expenses of NEP's subsidiaries, in addition to NEP's expenses, as well as any debt service requirements and future capital expenditures.

NEP OpCo's partnership agreement requires it to distribute all of its available cash to its common and preferred unitholders, including NEP, each quarter. Generally, NEP OpCo's available cash is all cash on hand at the date of determination relating to that quarter, plus any funds borrowed, less the amount of cash reserves established by NEP OpCo GP. The majority of such available cash is expected to be derived from the operations of the projects. The cash available for distribution is likely to fluctuate from quarter to quarter, and in some cases significantly, as a result of the performance of the projects, seasonality, fluctuating wind resource, maintenance and outage schedules, timing of debt service and other factors. See Note 15 - PG&E Bankruptcy for a discussion of events of default that continue to limit future cash distributions from certain projects.

In February 2020, NEP paid a distribution of $0.5350 per common unit to its unitholders of record on February 6, 2020. See Management's Discussion - Liquidity and Capital Resources - Financing Arrangements and Note 11 - Debt with respect to distribution restrictions. There are currently no restrictions in effect that limit NEP's ability to pay dividends to its unitholders.

At the close of business on January 31, 2019, there were 11 holders of record of NEP's common units.

Under the MSA, for any quarter in which NEP OpCo has adjusted available cash at least equal to a base incentive amount (total common units outstanding multiplied by $0.3525, plus approximately $14 million paid to NEE Management quarterly for IDRs) any excess adjusted available cash will be split 75% to NEP OpCo common unitholders and 25% to NEE Management for IDRs.

If NEP OpCo's adjusted available cash for any quarter falls below the base incentive amount, the IDRs will be paid using the target quarterly distribution levels below calculated using the number of NEP OpCo common units outstanding on January 26, 2017, subject to certain adjustments for repurchases, splits and combinations:

During 2019, 2018 and 2017, NEP paid IDR fees of approximately $86 million, $72 million and $60 million, respectively.

The selected financial data below is presented using the basis of accounting relevant to each period. For all periods prior to 2018, the selected financial data represents the consolidated financial results of NEP, including the acquisitions from NEER prior to 2018 (the common control acquisitions). The common control acquisitions were a transfer of assets between entities under common control, which required them to be accounted for as if the transfers occurred since the inception of common control, with prior periods retrospectively adjusted to furnish comparative information. Accordingly, the consolidated financial data has been retrospectively adjusted to include the historical results and financial position of the common control acquisitions prior to their respective acquisition dates. All years presented reflect the October 2015 Texas pipelines acquisition. The years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 also reflect an acquisition in December 2018 and the year ended December 31, 2019 reflects acquisitions in June 2019 and November 2019. See Note 3.

______________________

This discussion should be read in conjunction with the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained herein. All comparisons are with the corresponding items in the prior year.

NEP is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed to acquire, manage and own contracted clean energy projects with stable long-term cash flows. NEP consolidates the results of NEP OpCo and its subsidiaries through its controlling interest in the general partner of NEP OpCo. At December 31, 2019, NEP owned an approximately 39.2% limited partner interest in NEP OpCo and NEE Equity owned a noncontrolling 60.8% limited partner interest in NEP OpCo. Through NEP OpCo, NEP has ownership interests in a portfolio of contracted renewable generation assets consisting of wind and solar projects and a portfolio of contracted natural gas pipeline assets. NEP's financial results are shown on a consolidated basis with financial results attributable to NEE Equity reflected in noncontrolling interests.

During 2019, 2018 and 2017, NEP acquired various projects from NEER as discussed in Note 3. The acquisitions from NEER prior to 2018 (common control acquisitions) were considered a transfer of assets between entities under common control, which required them to be accounted for as if the transfers occurred since the inception of common control, with prior periods retrospectively adjusted to furnish comparative information. Accordingly, the consolidated financial statements were retrospectively adjusted to include the historical results and financial position of the common control acquisitions prior to their respective acquisition dates. Beginning in January 2018, acquisitions from NEER are no longer treated as common control acquisitions. In addition, on November 13, 2019, a subsidiary of NEP acquired an equity method investment in a natural gas pipeline located in Pennsylvania from third parties. See Note 3.

In June 2018, a subsidiary of NEP completed the sale of Canadian Holdings which owned four wind generation facilities and two solar generation facilities located in Ontario, Canada with a generating capacity totaling approximately 396 MW. See Note 2 - Disposal of Canadian Holdings.

In late January 2019, PG&E, a significant customer of NEP, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. See Note 15 - PG&E Bankruptcy.

Operating revenues primarily consist of income from the sale of energy under NEP's PPAs and services provided under natural gas transportation agreements, partly offset by the amortization of intangible assets - PPAs (see Note 2 - Intangible Assets - PPAs). Operating revenues increased $84 million during the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase in renewable energy sales primarily reflects an increase of approximately $170 million related to the projects acquired in December 2018 and June 2019, partly offset by a decrease of $78 million as a result of the sale of Canadian Holdings. Texas pipelines service revenues decreased by approximately $10 million primarily due to the absence of certain deferred revenue recognized in 2018 related to new contracts.

Wind and solar resource levels, weather conditions and the performance of NEP's renewable energy portfolio represent significant factors that could affect its operating results because these variables impact energy sales. Additionally, project acquisitions or expansion opportunities could impact future revenues.

O&M expenses include interconnection costs, labor expenses, turbine servicing costs, land payments, insurance, materials, supplies, shared services and administrative expenses attributable to NEP's projects, and costs and expenses under the MSA, ASAs and O&M agreements (see Note 13). O&M expenses also include the cost of maintaining and replacing certain parts for the projects in the portfolio to maintain, over the long term, operating income or operating capacity. O&M expenses increased $79 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily due to increases of approximately $53 million related to the projects acquired in December 2018 and June 2019 and $23 million in higher other corporate expenses, including higher IDR fees related to growth in NEP's distributions to its common unitholders.

O&M expenses related to the existing portfolio are expected to remain relatively stable from year to year. However, NEP's O&M expenses are likely to increase as NEP acquires new projects.

Depreciation and amortization expense reflects costs associated with depreciation and amortization of NEP's assets, based on depreciable asset lives and consistent depreciation methodologies. For certain of the renewable energy projects, CITCs are recorded as a reduction in property, plant and equipment - net on the consolidated balance sheets and amortized as a reduction to depreciation and amortization expense over the estimated life of the related property. Depreciation and amortization expense also includes a provision for wind and solar facility dismantlement, asset removal costs and accretion related to asset retirement obligations and the amortization of finite-lived intangible assets.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased $56 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily as a result of approximately $61 million of depreciation related to projects acquired in December 2018 and June 2019.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, a subsidiary of NEP completed the sale of Canadian Holdings and NEP recognized a pre-tax gain of approximately $153 million. See Note 2 - Disposal of Canadian Holdings.

Interest expense primarily consists of interest under long-term debt agreements and mark-to-market gains and losses on interest rate contracts. In 2019, interest expense also reflects approximately $153 million of costs, including cash payments and the write-off of debt issuance costs, primarily related to the retirement of debt associated with Genesis (see Note 15 - PG&E Bankruptcy) and certain wind projects that are being repowered. Interest expense increased approximately $454 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily due to unfavorable mark-to-market activity of $315 million. Interest expense also reflects decreases in interest expense associated with the absence of interest associated with the sale of Canadian Holdings as well as other debt retired in 2019 as discussed above, mostly offset by increases in interest expense related to debt incurred in 2019 (see Note 11 - Debt).

The decrease in equity in earnings (losses) for non-economic ownership interests for the year ended December 31, 2019 reflects lower earnings at the related projects.

The decrease in other - net for the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily reflects the absence of 2018 gains on foreign currency exchange contracts (see Note 7).

NEP recognizes in income its applicable ownership share of U.S. income taxes due to the disregarded tax status of substantially all of the U.S. projects under NEP OpCo. Prior to the sale of Canadian Holdings, NEP's former Canadian subsidiaries were all Canadian taxpayers, and therefore NEP recognized in income all of the Canadian taxes. Net income or loss attributable to noncontrolling interests includes minimal U.S. taxes and NEER's applicable ownership share of Canadian taxes.

For periods through December 31, 2017, when NEP acquired a NEER project, income taxes were calculated on the predecessor method using the separate return method applied to the group of renewable energy projects acquired. As a result of the governance changes discussed in Note 3, beginning in January 1, 2018, acquisitions from NEER are no longer treated as common control acquisitions, and income taxes are calculated on the successor method under which taxes are calculated for NEP as a single taxpaying corporation for U.S. federal and state income taxes (based on its election to be taxed as a corporation).

For 2018 and 2019, net loss (income) attributable to noncontrolling interests reflects the net income or loss attributable to NEE Equity's noncontrolling interest in NEP OpCo, a non-affiliated party's interest in one of the Texas pipelines and the loss allocated to differential membership interest investors. Additionally, for 2019, net income attributable to noncontrolling interests reflects the income allocated to Class B noncontrolling ownership interests and NEER's noncontrolling ownership interest in Silver State. See Note 2 - Noncontrolling Interests.

 

The comparison of the results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 are included in Management's Discussion in NEP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

NEP’s ongoing operations use cash to fund O&M expenses, maintenance capital expenditures, debt service payments and distributions to common and preferred unitholders and holders of noncontrolling interests. NEP expects to satisfy these requirements primarily with internally generated cash flow. In addition, as a growth-oriented limited partnership, NEP expects from time to time to make acquisitions and other investments. These acquisitions and investments are expected to be funded with borrowings under credit facilities or term loans, issuances of indebtedness, issuances of additional NEP common units or preferred units, capital raised pursuant to other financing structures, cash on hand and cash generated from operations.

These sources of funds are expected to be adequate to provide for NEP's short-term and long-term liquidity and capital needs, although its ability to make future acquisitions, expand or repower existing projects and increase its distributions to common unitholders will depend on its ability to access capital on acceptable terms.

As a normal part of its business, depending on market conditions, NEP expects from time to time to consider opportunities to repay, redeem, repurchase or refinance its indebtedness. In addition, NEP expects from time to time to consider potential investments in new acquisitions. These events may cause NEP to seek additional debt or equity financing, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all. Additional debt financing, if available, could impose operating restrictions, additional cash payment obligations and additional covenants.

NEP OpCo has agreed to allow NEER or one of its affiliates to withdraw funds received by NEP OpCo or its subsidiaries and to hold those funds in accounts of NEER or one of its affiliates to the extent the funds are not required to pay project costs or otherwise required to be maintained by NEP's subsidiaries, until the financing agreements permit distributions to be made, or, in the case of NEP OpCo, until such funds are required to make distributions or to pay expenses or other operating costs. NEP OpCo will have a claim for any funds that NEER fails to return:

In addition, NEER and certain of its affiliates may withdraw funds in connection with certain long-term debt agreements and hold those funds in accounts belonging to NEER or its affiliates and provide credit support in the amount of such withdrawn funds. If NEER fails to return withdrawn funds when required by NEP's subsidiaries’ financing agreements, the lenders will be entitled to draw on any credit support provided by NEER in the amount of such withdrawn funds.

If NEER or one of its affiliates realizes any earnings on the withdrawn funds prior to the return of such funds, it will be permitted to retain those earnings.

At December 31, 2019, NEP's liquidity position was approximately $758 million. The table below provides the components of NEP’s liquidity position:

____________________

Management believes that NEP's liquidity position and cash flows from operations will be adequate to finance O&M, maintenance capital expenditures, distributions to its unitholders and liquidity commitments. Management continues to regularly monitor NEP's financing needs consistent with prudent balance sheet management.

NEP OpCo and its direct subsidiary are parties to a $1,250 million revolving credit facility (NEP OpCo credit facility) maturing in February 2025. During 2019, $1,150 million was drawn under the NEP OpCo credit facility and $640 million of the outstanding borrowings under this facility were repaid with proceeds from other financing activities discussed in Note 11. At December 31, 2019, $510 million was outstanding under the NEP OpCo credit facility. For a discussion of the NEP OpCo credit facility, see Note 11 - Debt.

During 2019, an indirect subsidiary of NEP entered into a credit agreement which provides $205 million under a limited-recourse senior secured variable rate term loan and provides up to $270 million under a revolving credit facility (STX Holdings revolving credit facility). Proceeds from any borrowings under the STX Holdings revolving credit facility are available exclusively to fund the cash portion of NEP's repurchase, if any, of the Class B noncontrolling interests related to STX Midstream (see Note 11), subject to certain limitations. At December 31, 2019, $270 million remains available under the STX Holdings revolving credit facility.

During 2017, NEP issued $300 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible notes and NEP OpCo issued $550 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.25% senior notes due September 2024 and $550 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.50% senior notes due September 2027. During 2019, NEP OpCo issued $700 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.25% senior notes due July 2024 and $500 million in aggregate principal amount of 3.875% senior notes due October 2026. See Note 11 - Debt.

In 2019, indirect subsidiaries of NEP entered into a credit agreement (Meade credit agreement) which provides up to $915 million under three limited-recourse senior secured variable rate term loans to finance a portion of the Meade acquisition and the expansion (see Note 3). At December 31, 2019, approximately $90 million remains available under the Meade credit agreement to fund the expansion. See Note 11 - Debt.

NEP OpCo and certain indirect subsidiaries are subject to financings that contain financial covenants and distribution tests, including debt service coverage ratios. In general, these financings contain covenants customary for these types of financings, including limitations on investments and restricted payments. Certain of NEP's financings provide for interest payable at a fixed interest rate. However, certain of NEP's financings accrue interest at variable rates based on an underlying index plus a margin. Interest rate contracts were entered into for certain of these financings to hedge against interest rate movements with respect to interest payments on the related borrowings. In addition, under the project-level financings, each project will be permitted to pay distributions out of available cash so long as certain conditions are satisfied, including that reserves are funded with cash or credit support, no default or event of default under the applicable financings has occurred and is continuing at the time of such distribution or would result therefrom, and each project is otherwise in compliance with the project-level financing’s covenants. For the majority of the project financings, minimum debt service coverage ratios must be satisfied in order to make a distribution. For one project financing, the project must maintain a leverage ratio and an interest coverage ratio in order to make a distribution. At December 31, 2019, NEP's subsidiaries were in compliance with all financial debt covenants under their financings other than as discussed in Note 15 - PG&E Bankruptcy.

In 2019, NEP converted approximately 9.35 million Series A convertible preferred units into NEP common units on a one-for-one basis. See Note 11 - Equity.

In 2019 and 2018, NEP issued and sold noncontrolling Class B interests in certain of its subsidiaries. NEP has buyout rights, subject to certain limitations and extensions, under which NEP has the right to pay a portion of the buyout price in NEP non-voting common units or NEP common units, as specified in the related agreement. The Class B investors receive a specified allocation of the related subsidiaries' distributable cash, which could increase if certain minimum buyout rights are not exercised or are not exercised during a certain period. See Note 11 - Equity.

NEP established an at-the-market equity issuance program (ATM program) in 2015 pursuant to which NEP may issue, from time to time, up to $150 million of its common units which gives NEP the flexibility to issue new units when the price is acceptable. In July 2018, NEP implemented a $150 million ATM program which replaced its prior program. At December 31, 2019, NEP may issue up to approximately $64 million in additional common units under the ATM program.

In July 2018, NEP filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC, which became effective upon filing, for an unspecified amount of securities. The amount of securities issuable by NEP is established from time to time by its board of directors. Securities that may be issued under the registration statement include common units, preferred units, warrants, rights, debt securities, equity purchase contracts and equity purchase units.

NEP's contractual obligations at December 31, 2019 were as follows:

NEP's partnership agreement requires it to distribute available cash quarterly. Generally, available cash is all cash on hand at the date of determination relating to that quarter (including any expected distributions from NEP OpCo), less the amount of cash reserves established by the board. NEP currently expects that cash reserves would be established solely to provide for the payment of income taxes by NEP, if any. Cash flow is generated from distributions NEP receives from NEP OpCo each quarter. Although, as described above, NEP currently expects that cash reserves would be established by the board solely to provide for the payment of NEP's income taxes, if any, NEP expects NEP OpCo to establish cash reserves prior to making distributions to NEP to pay costs and expenses of NEP's subsidiaries, in addition to NEP's expenses, as well as any debt service requirements and future capital expenditures.

NEP OpCo's partnership agreement requires it to distribute all of its available cash to its common and preferred unitholders, including NEP, each quarter. Generally, NEP OpCo's available cash is all cash on hand at the date of determination relating to that quarter, plus any funds borrowed, less the amount of cash reserves established by NEP OpCo GP. The majority of such available cash is

expected to be derived from the operations of the projects. The cash available for distribution is likely to fluctuate from quarter to quarter, and in some cases significantly, as a result of the performance of the projects, seasonality, fluctuating wind resource, maintenance and outage schedules, timing of debt service and other factors. See Note 15 - PG&E Bankruptcy for a discussion of events of default that continue to limit future cash distributions from certain projects.

During 2019 and 2018, NEP distributed approximately $115 million and $94 million, respectively, to its common unitholders. In addition, NEP paid approximately $35 million in distributions to its common unitholders and $2 million in distributions to its preferred unitholders in February 2020.

NEP’s liquidity, ability to access credit and capital markets and cost of borrowings is dependent on its credit ratings. At February 18, 2020, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody’s), S&P Global Ratings (S&P) and Fitch Ratings, Inc. (Fitch) had assigned the following credit ratings to NEP:

The following table reflects the changes in cash flows for the comparative periods:

The net decrease in cash provided by operating activities in 2019 compared to 2018 was primarily driven by the 2018 sale of Canadian Holdings, the absence of distributions from the equity method investment in Desert Sunlight and higher corporate operating expenses, including higher IDR fees. This decrease was partly offset by cash flows from the investments in projects acquired in December 2018, June 2019 and November 2019.

The increase in cash used in investing activities during 2019 was driven by the 2019 acquisitions described in Note 3, the absence of the proceeds from the 2018 sale of Canadian Holdings (see Note 2 - Disposal of Canadian Holdings) and higher capital expenditures related to certain construction activities (see Note 15 - Development, Engineering and Construction Commitments).

The increase in cash provided by financing activities in 2019 is primarily due to higher net proceeds related to Class B noncontrolling interests and debt issuances in 2019 compared to debt retirements in 2018, partly offset by higher distributions and lower proceeds from the issuance of common units.

The comparison of the cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 are included in Management's Discussion in NEP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

NEP's significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, which were prepared under generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. Critical accounting policies are those that NEP believes are both most important to the portrayal of its financial condition and results of operations, and require complex, subjective judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates and assumptions about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. Judgments and uncertainties affecting the application of those policies may result in materially different amounts being reported under different conditions or using different assumptions. The following policies are those considered to be the most critical in understanding the judgments that are involved in preparing the consolidated financial statements.

Deferred income taxes arise from temporary differences between the tax and financial statement recognition of revenue and expense. In evaluating NEP's ability to recover its deferred tax assets individually by entity and by taxing jurisdiction, NEP considers all available positive and negative evidence, including scheduled reversals of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, tax planning strategies and recent financial operations. In projecting future taxable income, NEP begins with historical results and incorporates assumptions including the amount of future state, federal and foreign pretax operating income, the reversal of temporary differences and the implementation of feasible and prudent tax planning strategies. These assumptions require significant judgment about the forecasts of future taxable income and are consistent with the plans and estimates NEP is using to manage the underlying businesses.

ASC 740 provides that a tax benefit from an uncertain tax position will be recognized when it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained upon examination, including resolutions of any related appeals or litigation processes, based on the technical merits. ASC 740 also provides guidance on measurement, derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, and disclosure and transition.

NEP recognizes tax liabilities in accordance with ASC 740 and adjusts these liabilities when its judgment changes as a result of the evaluation of new information not previously available. Because of the complexity of some of these uncertainties, the ultimate resolution may result in a payment that is materially different from NEP's current estimate of the tax liabilities. These differences will be reflected as increases or decreases to income tax expense in the period in which they are determined.

group of renewable energy projects were a separate taxpayer. Accordingly, the sum of the amounts allocated to the U.S. projects’ provisions may not equal the income taxes that would have resulted from a consolidated filing.

The projects located in Canada were not included in the consolidated U.S. tax filing of NEE, as they were excluded from the U.S. federal income tax group. Canadian corporations that filed separate Canadian income tax returns had taxes provided herein on that basis. Canadian entities that were Canadian limited partnerships from which virtually all of the tax attributes flow through to the owner, a Canadian corporation, which was not a predecessor entity, had no taxes provided for the period before acquisition. None of the income nor any tax attributes of the flow through entities flow through to a U.S. taxpayer and were not reflected in any U.S. tax return. No U.S. income taxes were provided with regard to these entities for periods prior to the NEP acquisition date.

See Note 5.

NEP evaluates long-lived assets, including finite-lived intangible assets, for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable.

An impairment loss is required to be recognized if the carrying value of the asset exceeds the undiscounted future net cash flows associated with that asset. The impairment loss to be recognized is the amount by which the carrying value of the long-lived asset exceeds the asset’s fair value. In most instances, the fair value is determined by discounting estimated future cash flows using an appropriate interest rate.

The amount of future net cash flows, the timing of such cash flows and the determination of an appropriate interest rate all involve estimates and judgments about future events. In particular, the aggregate amount of cash flows determines whether an impairment exists, and the timing of the cash flows is critical in determining fair value for the purposes of determining the impairment loss to be recognized. Because each assessment is based on the facts and circumstances associated with each long-lived asset, the effects of changes in assumptions cannot be generalized. See Note 15 - PG&E Bankruptcy for a discussion of an impairment analysis related to the PG&E bankruptcy filing.

Certain assumptions and estimates are employed in determining the fair value of assets acquired, evaluating the fair value of liabilities assumed, as well as in determining the allocation of goodwill to a reporting unit. These estimates may be affected by factors such as changing market conditions, technological advances in the energy industry or changes in regulations governing that industry. Other key inputs that require judgment include discount rates, comparable market transactions, estimated useful lives and probability of future transactions. The most significant assumptions requiring the most judgment involve identifying and estimating the fair value of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment and the associated useful lives for establishing amortization periods. To finalize purchase accounting for significant transactions, NEP may utilize the services of independent valuation specialists to assist in the determination of the fair value of acquired intangible assets and property, plant and equipment. The allocation of the purchase price may be modified up to one year from the date of the acquisition if new information is obtained about the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed. See Note 3.

Goodwill acquired in connection with business combinations represents the excess of consideration over the fair value of net assets acquired. For goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite lives, an assessment for impairment is performed annually or whenever an event indicating impairment may have occurred. NEP completes the annual impairment test for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles using an assessment date of October 1. Goodwill is reviewed for impairment by comparing the carrying value of a reporting unit’s net assets, including allocated goodwill, to the estimated fair value of a reporting unit. NEP estimates the fair value of a reporting unit using a combination of the income, market and cost approaches. Determining the fair value of a reporting unit requires judgment and the use of significant estimates and assumptions. Such estimates and assumptions include revenue growth rates, future operating margins, the weighted average cost of capital, and future market conditions, among others. If a reporting unit’s carrying value is greater than its fair value, a second step is performed whereby the implied fair value of goodwill is estimated by allocating the fair value of a reporting unit in a hypothetical purchase price allocation analysis. A goodwill impairment charge would be recognized for the amount by which the carrying value of goodwill exceeds its reassessed fair value. NEP performed its annual goodwill impairment test in October 2019 and determined, based on the results, that no goodwill impairment charge was required.

NEP is exposed to several market risks in its normal business activities. Market risk is the potential loss that may result from market changes associated with its business. The types of market risks include interest rate and counterparty credit risks.

NEP is exposed to risk resulting from changes in interest rates associated with outstanding and expected future debt issuances and borrowings. NEP manages interest rate exposure by monitoring current interest rates, entering into interest rate swap contracts and using a combination of fixed rate and variable rate debt. Interest rate swaps are used to mitigate and adjust interest rate exposure when deemed appropriate based upon market conditions or when required by financing agreements.

NEP has long-term debt instruments that subject it to the risk of loss associated with movements in market interest rates. At December 31, 2019, approximately 12% of the long-term debt, including current maturities, was exposed to fluctuations in interest expense as the remaining balance was either fixed rate debt or financially hedged. At December 31, 2019, the estimated fair value of NEP's long-term debt was approximately $4.2 billion and the carrying value of the long-term debt was $4.1 billion. See Note 6 - Financial Instruments Recorded at Other than Fair Value. Based upon a hypothetical 10% decrease in interest rates, which is a reasonable near-term market change, the fair value of NEP's long-term debt would increase by approximately $87 million at December 31, 2019.

At December 31, 2019, NEP had interest rate contracts with a notional amount of approximately $6.9 billion related to managing exposure to the variability of cash flows associated with outstanding and expected future debt issuances and borrowings. Based upon a hypothetical 10% decrease in rates, NEP’s net derivative liabilities at December 31, 2019 would increase by approximately $300 million.

Risks surrounding counterparty performance and credit risk could ultimately impact the amount and timing of expected cash flows. Credit risk relates to the risk of loss resulting from non-performance or non-payment by counterparties under the terms of their contractual obligations. NEP monitors and manages credit risk through credit policies that include a credit approval process and the use of credit mitigation measures such as prepayment arrangements in certain circumstances. NEP also seeks to mitigate counterparty risk by having a diversified portfolio of counterparties. See Note 15 - PG&E Bankruptcy for a discussion of risks related to PG&E.

See Management's Discussion - Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

NextEra Energy Partners, LP's (NEP) management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f). The consolidated financial statements, which in part are based on informed judgments and estimates made by management, have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis.

To aid in carrying out this responsibility, we, along with all other members of management, maintain a system of internal accounting control which is established after weighing the cost of such controls against the benefits derived. In the opinion of management, the overall system of internal accounting control provides reasonable assurance that the assets of NEP and its subsidiaries are safeguarded and that transactions are executed in accordance with management's authorization and are properly recorded for the preparation of financial statements. In addition, management believes the overall system of internal accounting control provides reasonable assurance that material errors or irregularities would be prevented or detected on a timely basis by employees in the normal course of their duties. Any system of internal accounting control, no matter how well designed, has inherent limitations, including the possibility that controls can be circumvented or overridden and misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected. Also, because of changes in conditions, internal control effectiveness may vary over time. Accordingly, even an effective system of internal control will provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and reporting.

The system of internal accounting control is supported by written policies and guidelines, the selection and training of qualified employees, an organizational structure that provides an appropriate division of responsibility and a program of internal auditing. NEP's written policies include a Code of Business Conduct & Ethics that states management's policy on conflicts of interest and ethical conduct. Compliance with the Code of Business Conduct & Ethics is confirmed annually by key personnel.

The Board of Directors pursues its oversight responsibility for financial reporting and accounting through its Audit Committee. This Committee, which is comprised entirely of independent directors, meets regularly with management, the internal auditors and the independent auditors to make inquiries as to the manner in which the responsibilities of each are being discharged. The independent auditors and the internal audit staff have free access to the Committee without management's presence to discuss auditing, internal accounting control and financial reporting matters.

NEP's independent registered public accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP, is engaged to express an opinion on NEP's consolidated financial statements and an opinion on NEP's internal control over financial reporting. Their reports are based on procedures believed by them to provide a reasonable basis to support such opinions. These reports appear on the following pages.

To the unitholders and the Board of Directors of NextEra Energy Partners, LP

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2019 of NEP and our report dated February 18, 2020 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.

NEP’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on NEP's internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to NEP in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP

Boca Raton, Florida

To the unitholders and the Board of Directors of NextEra Energy Partners, LP

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of NextEra Energy Partners, LP and subsidiaries (NEP) as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the related consolidated statements of income (loss), comprehensive income (loss), changes in equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2019, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of NEP as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2019, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

These financial statements are the responsibility of NEP’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on NEP's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to NEP in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

The accounting and reporting for this transaction required an increased extent of audit effort and specialized skill and knowledge with respect to the appropriateness of the accounting model based on the provisions of the agreement. Auditing the unobservable inputs used by management to estimate the fair value of the acquired assets involved subjective judgments and an increased extent of effort, including the need to involve our fair value specialists.

DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP

Boca Raton, Florida

We have served as NEP's auditor since 2014.