10-K 1 d10k.htm FORM 10-K Form 10-K
Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 10-K

 


 

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004

 

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period from              to             

 

Commission file number: 1-15659

 


 

DYNEGY INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 


 

Illinois   74-2928353

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

 

1000 Louisiana, Suite 5800

Houston, Texas 77002

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

 

(713) 507-6400

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 


 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class


 

Name of each exchange on which registered


Class A common stock, no par value   New York Stock Exchange

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

 

Title of each class


 

Name of each exchange on which registered


None  

 


 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to the filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  x

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  x    No  ¨

 

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2004, computed by reference to the closing sale price of the registrant’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on such date, was $1,191,578,385, using the definition of beneficial ownership contained in Rule 13d-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and excluding shares held by directors and executive officers.

 

Number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date: Class A common stock, no par value per share, 283,759,437 shares outstanding as of March 4, 2005; Class B common stock, no par value per share, 96,891,014 shares outstanding as of March 4, 2005.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. Part III (Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14) incorporates by reference portions of the Notice and Proxy Statement for the registrant’s 2005 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which will be filed not later than 120 days after December 31, 2004.

 



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Index to Financial Statements

DYNEGY INC. FORM 10-K

 

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

 

This Form 10-K reflects the effect of the following items on our historical consolidated financial statements and related information, as reported in Amendment No. 2 to our Annual Report of Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, which was filed on January 18, 2005:

 

    An increase of $16 million to the after-tax asset impairment charge of $120 million originally recorded in the fourth quarter 2003, associated with the sale of Illinois Power and

 

    A $45 million increase to our deferred tax liability at December 31, 2003, as well as increases to income tax expense in periods prior to 2004, related to errors in our previously completed tax basis balance sheet review.

 

Although neither of these items were considered material to the periods to which they related, these items, in aggregate, are material to our 2004 results. We are required to restate prior periods in accordance with APB 20, “Accounting Changes.” The items are discussed in more detail in the Explanatory Note to the accompanying consolidated financial statements beginning on page F-10. The following Items of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, as amended by Amendment No. 2, are affected by these items:

 

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

 

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

 

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DYNEGY INC.

FORM 10-K

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

          Page

     PART I     

Definitions

   1

Item 1.

   Business    1

Item 1A.

   Executive Officers    30

Item 2.

   Properties    31

Item 3.

   Legal Proceedings    31

Item 4.

   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders    31
     PART II     

Item 5.

   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchase of Equity Securities    32

Item 6.

   Selected Financial Data    34

Item 7.

   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations    37

Item 7A.

   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk    83

Item 8.

   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data    85

Item 9.

   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure    85

Item 9A.

   Controls and Procedures    85

Item 9B.

   Other Information    87
     PART III     

Item 10.

   Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant    88

Item 11.

   Executive Compensation    88

Item 12.

   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management    88

Item 13.

   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions    88

Item 14.

   Principal Accountant Fees and Services    88
     PART IV     

Item 15.

   Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules    89

Signatures

   97

 

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PART I

 

DEFINITIONS

 

As used in this Form 10-K, the abbreviations contained herein have the meanings set forth in the glossary beginning on page F-86. Additionally, the terms “Dynegy,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Dynegy Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

 

Item 1. Business

 

THE COMPANY

 

We are a holding company and conduct substantially all of our business operations through our subsidiaries. Our current business operations are focused primarily in two areas of the energy industry: power generation and natural gas liquids.

 

During 2004, we made substantial progress toward the completion of our efforts to restructure our company to align more closely our asset base with our business strategy. Our significant accomplishments during this period include the sale of Illinois Power to Ameren for $2.3 billion, which reduced debt and preferred stock obligations by $1.8 billion, the replacement of our $1.1 billion credit facility with a new $1.3 billion credit facility, the restructuring of our Independence and Kendall tolling arrangements, the termination of four long-term natural gas transportation agreements, sales of non-core GEN and NGL assets generating approximately $260 million in proceeds and the pre-payment of the ABG Gas Supply financing and the ChevronTexaco junior notes.

 

We also continued our exit from the customer risk management business. Collateral to support our CRM business declined 22% from $121 million at the end of 2003 to $94 million at the end of 2004, primarily due to termination of the ABG Gas Supply contract. Our remaining customer risk management business, which primarily consists of our three remaining power tolling arrangements (including the Gregory toll, which expires in July 2005, but excluding the Independence toll, which is now part of our GEN segment) as well as our gas transportation agreements and legacy power and gas trading positions, will continue to impact negatively our cash flows and operating results until the associated obligations have been terminated, restructured or satisfied.

 

With only a few significant legacy matters remaining to be addressed, more of our company’s resources are available to continue our efforts to operate our energy businesses safely, reliably and efficiently, to manage the costs across our organization and to deliver value to our investors. We are also continuing to focus on identifying and evaluating strategic growth opportunities, particularly organic or “bolt-on” projects, such as the conversion of our Havana power generating facility to lower-cost and lower-emission PRB coal, to improve the operational performance and efficiency of certain assets, enabling us to realize costs savings and to capture even more of the benefit of increases in commodity prices.

 

Such opportunities may also include merger and acquisition activities, which we discuss and evaluate as part of our ongoing business strategy. For example, in January 2005 we completed the purchase from Exelon Corporation of all of the outstanding capital stock of ExRes SHC, Inc., the parent company of Sithe Energies, Inc., which we refer to as Sithe Energies, and Sithe/Independence Power Partners, L.P., which we refer to as Independence. The financial terms of the acquisition included our payment of $135 million, subject to certain specified purchase price adjustments, and our consolidation of $919 million in face value project debt. Through this acquisition, we acquired the 1,021 MW combined-cycle Independence power generation facility located near Scriba, NY, four natural gas-fired merchant facilities in New York and four hydroelectric generation facilities in Pennsylvania. Independence holds power tolling, financial swap and other contracts with other of our subsidiaries. As a result of the acquisition, these contracts have become intercompany agreements and their financial statement impact will be substantially eliminated. This transaction both furthered our restructuring goal of addressing our outstanding power tolling arrangements, as well as enabled us to expand our generation capacity in a market where we have an existing presence.

 

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Dynegy began operations in 1985 and became incorporated in the state of Illinois in 1999 in anticipation of our February 2000 acquisition of Illinova Corporation. Our principal executive office is located at 1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 5800, Houston, Texas 77002, and our telephone number at that office is (713) 507-6400.

 

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the SEC’s Public Reference Room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. No information from such web site is incorporated by reference herein. Our SEC filings are also available free of charge on our website, www.dynegy.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. The contents of our website are not intended to be, and should not be considered to be, incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K.

 

SEGMENT DISCUSSION

 

Our current business operations are focused primarily in two areas of the energy industry: power generation and natural gas liquids. Because of the diversity among their respective operations, we report the results of each business as a separate segment in our consolidated financial statements. As described below, our former regulated energy delivery business, which was conducted through Illinois Power and its subsidiaries, was sold to Ameren Corporation on September 30, 2004. We also separately report the results of our customer risk management business, which primarily consists of our three remaining power tolling arrangements (including the Gregory toll, which expires in July 2005, but excluding the Independence toll, which is part of our GEN segment for 2005) as well as our gas transportation contracts and legacy gas and power trading positions. Our consolidated financial results also reflect corporate-level expenses such as general and administrative, interest and infrastructure depreciation and amortization, but because of their nature, these items are not reported as a separate segment.

 

Power Generation

 

General. Our power generation segment is engaged in the production and sale of electric power from our owned and leased facilities. We sell power and related products and services, including capacity, into real-time and day-ahead markets, as well as on a forward basis. We seek to optimize our power generating assets and to mitigate our exposure to commodity prices through financial instruments and other transactions, including hedges related to our generation capacity and power purchases related to our supply obligations. Additionally, to mitigate risk related to fuel requirements at our generation facilities, we are also party to long-term coal purchase and transportation agreements and to short-term natural gas and fuel oil agreements.

 

We sell our power products and services under short- and long-term agreements. Short-term sales usually occur through industry standard contracts. Conversely, long-term sales usually occur under negotiated arrangements. Long-term contractual arrangements that we may enter into include:

 

    Sales of capacity purchased by customers to meet regulatory reserve requirements. Under these types of contracts, the purchasers may also acquire the option to purchase energy at an index or other pre-arranged price.

 

    Tolling agreements under which we receive fixed payments in return for the customer’s ability to purchase fuel for one of our facilities and take title to the power generated. Some contracts may also include provisions for reimbursement of variable operating and maintenance costs.

 

    Ancillary services agreements under which we sell load regulation, scheduling services, reserves and voltage support to purchasers for fixed prices.

 

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Our customers include independent system operators (ISOs), municipalities, electric cooperatives, integrated utilities, transmission and distribution utilities, industrial customers, power marketers, other power generators and commercial end-users.

 

Additionally, markets exist for the purchase and sale of emission credits. From time to time, we either purchase emission credits from third parties in quantities sufficient to operate our plants within the emission guidelines of the various air districts or pay mitigation fees to the applicable air district as required. We may also sell emission credits that we do not need to utilize with respect to emissions from our generating facilities. Please read “—Regulation—Power Generation Regulation” beginning on page 21 and “—Environmental and Other Matters” beginning on page 24 for further discussion of the environmental and regulatory restrictions applicable to our business.

 

U.S. Generation Facilities. We own or lease electric power generation facilities with an aggregate net generating capacity of 11,699 MWs located in six regions of the United States. The following table describes our current generation facilities by name, region, location, net capacity, fuel and dispatch type.

 

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REGIONAL SUMMARY OF OUR U.S. GENERATION FACILITIES(1)

(as of December 31, 2004)

 

Region/Facility


   Location

  

Total Net

Generating

Capacity

(MWs)


    

Primary

Fuel Type


  

Dispatch

Type


Midwest-MAIN

                     

Baldwin

   Baldwin, IL    1,768      Coal    Baseload

Havana:

                     

Havana Units 1-5

   Havana, IL    238      Oil    Peaking

Havana Unit 6

   Havana, IL    445      Coal    Baseload

Hennepin

   Hennepin, IL    290      Coal    Baseload

Oglesby

   Oglesby, IL    54      Gas    Peaking

Stallings

   Stallings, IL    82      Gas    Peaking

Tilton

   Tilton, IL    176      Gas    Peaking

Vermilion

   Oakwood, IL    191      Coal/Gas/Oil    Baseload/
Peaking

Wood River:

                     

Wood River Units 1-3

   Alton, IL    130      Gas    Peaking

Wood River Units 4-5

   Alton, IL    452      Coal    Baseload

Rocky Road (2)

   East Dundee, IL    165      Gas    Peaking
         
           

Total Midwest-MAIN

        3,991            

Midwest-ECAR

                     

Riverside (6)

   Louisa, KY    495      Gas    Peaking

Rolling Hills

   Wilkesville, OH    825      Gas    Peaking

Foothills

   Louisa, KY    330      Gas    Peaking

Renaissance

   Carson City, MI    660      Gas    Peaking

Bluegrass

   Oldham Co., KY    495      Gas    Peaking
         
           

Total Midwest-ECAR

        2,805            

Northeast-NPCC

                     

Roseton (3)

   Newburgh, NY    1,210      Gas/Oil    Intermediate

Danskammer:

                     

Danskammer Units 1–2

   Newburgh, NY    128      Gas/Oil    Peaking

Danskammer Units 3-4 (3)

   Newburgh, NY    370      Coal/Gas/Oil    Baseload
         
           

Total Northeast-NPCC

        1,708            

Southeast-SERC

                     

Calcasieu

   Sulphur, LA    320      Gas    Peaking

Heard County

   Heard Co., GA    495      Gas    Peaking

Rockingham

   Rockingham, NC    825      Gas/Oil    Peaking
         
           

Total Southeast-SERC

        1,640            

West-WECC

                     

Cabrillo I—Encina (4)

   Carlsbad, CA    480      Gas    Intermediate

Black Mountain (5)

   Las Vegas, NV    43      Gas    Baseload

El Segundo (4)

   El Segundo, CA    335      Gas    Intermediate

Cabrillo II (4)

   San Diego, CA    87      Gas    Peaking
         
           

Total West-WECC

        945            

Texas-ERCOT

                     

CoGen Lyondell

   Houston, TX    610      Gas    Baseload
         
           

TOTAL

        11,699            
         
           

(1) We own 100% of each unit listed except as otherwise indicated. For each unit in which we own less than a 100% interest, the Total Net Generating Capacity set forth in this table includes only our proportionate share of such unit’s gross generating capacity.
(2) We own a 50% interest in this facility and the remaining 50% interest is held by NRG Energy, Inc.

 

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(3) We lease the Roseton facility and units 3 and 4 of the Danskammer facility pursuant to a leveraged lease arrangement that is further described in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements—DNE Leveraged Lease beginning on page 45.
(4) We own a 50% interest in each of these facilities through West Coast Power, L.L.C., a joint venture with NRG Energy. Our 50% interest in West Coast Power’s Long Beach generation facility has not been included because this asset was retired effective January 1, 2005 as discussed further below.
(5) We own a 50% interest in this facility and the remaining 50% interest is held by ChevronTexaco.
(6) We lease this facility.

 

Midwest region—Mid-America Interconnected Network (MAIN). At December 31, 2004, we owned nine generating facilities with an aggregate net generating capacity of 3,991 MWs located within MAIN. The generating capacity of our MAIN facilities represents approximately 6% of the generating capacity within the MAIN region. The MAIN market includes all of Illinois and portions of Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan.

 

Approximately 50% of the power generated by our MAIN facilities was sold pursuant to a former power purchase agreement between DMG and Illinois Power which expired at the end of 2004. This agreement, which was served through Illinois Power’s former generation facilities now owned by DMG, provided Illinois Power with approximately 70% of its capacity requirements through December 2004. The contract provided for fixed capacity payments based on the capacity reserved, as well as variable energy payments for each MWh of energy delivered under the contract based on DMG’s cost of generation. Under the former agreement, DMG served as the provider of last resort to Illinois Power, providing the resources through which Illinois Power fulfilled its load obligations; it also supplied all ancillary services required by Illinois Power. This power purchase agreement provided a substantial portion of the operating income from our power generation business in 2004.

 

In connection with our sale of Illinois Power to Ameren in the third quarter 2004, we entered into a new contract to sell to Illinois Power 2,800 MWs of capacity at $48 per KW-yr and up to 11.5 million MWh of energy at a fixed price of $30 per MWh to Illinois Power for two years beginning in January 2005. We also agreed to sell 300 MWs of capacity in 2005 and 150 MWs of capacity in 2006 to Illinois Power at a fixed price of $16 per KW-yr with an option to purchase energy at market-based prices. Under this arrangement, we no longer are the provider of last resort to Illinois Power. Please read Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Results of Operations—2005 Outlook—GEN Outlook beginning on page 67 for further discussion.

 

Approximately 9% of our total capacity in this region which is not committed under the Illinois Power power purchase agreement will be sold under capacity contracts in 2005, including 165 MWs related to our interest in Rocky Road through 2009. The remainder of the capacity and energy is sold primarily into wholesale markets in MAIN, the neighboring East Central Reliability, or ECAR, and the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland market, or PJM.

 

All of our MAIN facilities (except Rocky Road, which is located in PJM) are located in a market to be administered by the Midwest ISO Regional Transmission Organization, or MISO. Formation of MISO was approved by the FERC in 2001, and MISO currently administers transmission operations. MISO has received FERC approval to begin operating energy markets on April 1, 2005. MISO has indicated that it plans to use locational-pricing for energy, as well as financial transmission rights to allow market participants to manage transmission risks. MISO has proposed implementation of a capacity market by June 1, 2006, but has not yet committed to a specific market design. The impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows of MISO capacity market structures, should they be implemented, cannot currently be estimated.

 

The MAIN region currently has excess generation capacity as a result of recent development projects. This overcapacity is evidenced by the NERC’s estimated 2004 reserve margin of 30%. MISO proposals to implement

 

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reserve requirements and capacity markets are currently under development, but we expect reserve margin targets will generally be consistent with the 15% target reserve margin of Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection, LLC, or PJM. Overcapacity in the MAIN region has depressed energy and capacity prices and likely will continue to do so absent peak demand growth and/or plant retirements. Based on current expectations of future demand growth and retirements, we believe that reserve margins are likely to return to target levels within the next 3-5 years.

 

Midwest region—East Central Area Reliability Council (ECAR). We own or lease interests in five generating facilities with an aggregate net generating capacity of 2,805 MWs located within ECAR. The majority of the power generated by our ECAR facilities is sold to wholesale customers in the ECAR market, which includes all or portions of the states of Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

 

At the end of 2003, we entered into a contract for 495 MWs of our Renaissance facility’s generating capacity, which expired in September 2004. In July 2004, we entered into an agreement with a term from June 2005 through May 2006 to sell 500 MWs of capacity from our peaking facilities in the ECAR region. In August 2004, we entered into an additional agreement with a term from May 2005 through September 2005 to sell 330 MWs of our Renaissance facility’s net generating capacity. The generating capacity of our ECAR facilities represents approximately 2% of the generating capacity within the region.

 

Our Renaissance and Bluegrass facilities are located in the MISO. Our Riverside, Rolling Hills, and Foothills facilities are located within PJM. PJM’s geographic area has significantly expanded in the past two years, including the addition of the AEP service area in which the Riverside, Rolling Hills, and Foothills facilities are located. The boards of PJM and MISO have committed to establish a “joint and common market” across their respective regions; however, there can be no assurance that efforts to integrate the two market structures will be successful.

 

PJM currently administers markets for wholesale electricity and provides transmission planning for the region. PJM operates day-ahead and real time markets into which generators can bid to provide electricity and ancillary services. To account for transmission congestion and losses, PJM calculates prices using a locational-based pricing model that is also used to determine generation unit dispatch. Wholesale electricity prices in PJM are currently capped at $1,000 per MWh. PJM also administers markets for installed capacity, which are an important potential revenue source for peaking facilities. PJM has proposed changes to its capacity markets, including establishing longer-term markets for capacity to improve market signals for new generation, although there are no assurances that such proposals will be implemented. The future economic impact, if any, of PJM and MISO policies and proposals on our ECAR facilities cannot currently be estimated.

 

The ECAR region currently has excess generation capacity as a result of recent development projects. This overcapacity is evidenced by the NERC’s estimated 2004 reserve margin of 27%. MISO has indicated that it will enforce the current reserve requirement in each Reliability Region (i.e., MAIN, ECAR and MAPP) until such time that a capacity market is implemented. The reserve requirement to apply during the period following establishment of such capacity market has not been determined. This overcapacity has depressed energy and capacity values in this region and likely will continue to do so absent peak demand growth and/or plant retirements. Based on current expectations of future demand growth and retirements, we believe that reserve margins are likely to return to target levels within the next 3-5 years.

 

Northeast region—Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC). We lease two generating facilities in New York, which we refer to as the DNE facilities, with an aggregate net generating capacity of 1,708 MWs. Our DNE facilities’ sites are adjacent and share common resources such as fuel handling, a docking terminal, personnel and systems. The generating capacity of these facilities represents approximately 5% of the generating capacity in the state of New York.

 

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On January 31, 2005, we acquired from Exelon Corporation the 1,021 MW Independence power generating facility in New York. Prior to this acquisition, we were entitled to 955 MW of the power generated by this facility under the Independence tolling arrangement. The toll remained in effect and was transformed into an intercompany obligation under our GEN segment. Additionally, we acquired four natural gas-fired merchant facilities in New York and four hydroelectric generation facilities in Pennsylvania. Approximately 72% of the Independence facility’s capacity is obligated under a capacity sales agreement, which runs through 2014. Please read Note 3—Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Acquisitions—Sithe Energies beginning on page F-23 for further discussion of this acquisition.

 

The New York Independent System Operator, or NYISO, administers the statewide transmission system and spot markets for electricity and, like PJM, calculates electricity prices and dispatches generation using a locational-based pricing model. NYISO also administers markets for installed capacity, operating reserves and regulation service. NYISO employs an AMP in its day-ahead electricity market that caps energy bids when certain bid screen criteria are exceeded. In 2003, NYISO implemented a “Demand Curve” mechanism for calculating pricing for installed capacity for three locational zones: New York City, Long Island, and the rest of the State of New York. Our facilities operate outside of New York City and Long Island. Capacity pricing is calculated as a function of NYISO’s 18% target reserve margin, estimated cost of “new entrant” generation, estimated peak demand, and the actual amount of capacity bid into the market. The demand curve mechanism provides for incrementally higher capacity pricing at lower reserve margins, such that “new entrant” economics become attractive as the reserve margin approaches target levels.

 

Due to transmission constraints, prices vary across the state and are generally higher in the Eastern part of New York, where our Roseton and Danskammer facilities are located, and in New York City. Our Independence facility is located in the Northwest part of the state. Current reserve margins of 21% are somewhat above the NYISO’s target reserve margin of 18%. We believe that reserve margins are likely to return to target levels within the next 3-5 years.

 

Southeast region—Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC). We own interests in three generating facilities with an aggregate net generating capacity of 1,640 MWs located within SERC. SERC includes all or portions of the states of Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. The generating capacity of these facilities represents approximately 1% of the generating capacity in SERC. Of our 1,640 MWs of net generating capacity in SERC, 665 MWs, or 40%, is sold under contract. A contract for our Calcasieu facility’s 320 MWs of capacity expired in December 2004. In January and February 2004, we signed two agreements to sell an aggregate 215 MWs of our Rockingham facility’s net generation capacity, with terms beginning in 2006 and expiring in 2010. We also signed an agreement in January 2004 covering an additional 165 MWs of our Rockingham facility’s net generating capacity, which expired in September 2004.

 

Our SERC assets are located within the control areas of vertically integrated utilities and municipalities. All power sales and purchases are consummated between individual parties and are physically delivered either within or across the control areas of the transmission owners. The present market framework in SERC is not a centralized market, and the timing of any transition to centralized competitive markets for energy and capacity is currently unknown.

 

The SERC region currently has excess generation capacity as a result of recent development projects. This overcapacity is evidenced by the NERC’s estimated 2004 reserve margin of 51%, which significantly exceeds SERC’s estimated target reserve margin of approximately 17%. This overcapacity has depressed energy and capacity values in this region and likely will continue to do so absent peak demand growth and/or plant retirements. Overcapacity is concentrated in the Entergy and Southern sub-regions of SERC, and these regions are unlikely to see reserve margins near target levels within the next ten years. Overcapacity is less severe in the VACAR sub-region of SERC, where we believe market conditions may require new capacity additions within the next 4-6 years.

 

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West region—Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). We own interests in four generating facilities with an aggregate net generating capacity of 945 MWs within WECC. The WECC regional market includes all or parts of the states of Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, South Dakota, Utah and Washington. Our generating capacity in the WECC represents less than 1% of the overall generating capacity in this region.

 

Of our 945 MWs of net generating capacity in the WECC, 902 MWs consists of our 50% share of the 1,804 MWs of facilities owned by West Coast Power. All of the West Coast Power facilities are located in southern California, and the generation output of the facilities was substantially covered by a contract, which we refer to as the CDWR contract, between one of our marketing subsidiaries, as agent for the facility owners, and the CDWR. This contract expired in December 2004.

 

Since the expiration of the CDWR contract, all of our West Coast Power assets have been operating under Reliability Must Run (RMR) Condition II contracts with the Cal ISO, except for the Long Beach facility, which is discussed below. Under the terms of these RMR contracts, Cal ISO reimburses West Coast Power for 100% of approved costs plus a rate of return specified in the contracts. When the facilities are instructed to provide power by the Cal ISO, they are reimbursed for their variable production costs. Under RMR Condition II, the facilities are 100% committed to the Cal ISO and, therefore, do not experience changes in market conditions through bilateral energy or capacity sales to third parties that might otherwise be consummated. The RMR contracts are effective for calendar year 2005. The Cal ISO may renew or terminate the RMR contracts at its sole option on an annual basis as of the first of the following year. In addition West Coast Power, through one of our marketing subsidiaries, as agent for the facility owner, has entered into a power sales agreement with a major California utility for the sale of 100% of the capacity and associated energy from the El Segundo facility from May through December 2005. During the term of this agreement, the purchaser will be entitled to primary energy dispatch rights for the facility’s generating capacity. The agreement is subject to the amendment of the El Segundo RMR agreement to switch to RMR Condition I and to otherwise allow the purchaser to exercise its primary dispatch rights under this agreement while preserving Cal ISO’s ability to call on the El Segundo facility as a reliability resource under the RMR agreement, if necessary.

 

In California’s current energy market, the West Coast Power generating facilities are significantly less profitable under RMR contracts or as merchant facilities, and we may consider other alternatives if necessary, including shutting down units if we no longer consider them commercially viable. Based on our ongoing evaluation of strategic alternatives for our West Coast Power assets, we determined that it was not economically feasible to continue to operate our Long Beach generation facility beyond the expiration of the CDWR contract. Therefore, we retired the asset as of January 1, 2005.

 

Our West Coast Power facilities are located in the Cal ISO control area, which includes facilities serving approximately 75% of California’s demand. The Cal ISO schedules transmission transactions, arranges for ancillary services, and administers a real time balancing energy market. Day ahead purchases and sales are executed bilaterally and scheduled for physical delivery by the Cal ISO. There is currently no capacity market in the Cal ISO. The Cal ISO is continuing its plan to move toward a market design similar to PJM and NYISO, although the timing and final structure of any such market design cannot currently be predicted.

 

For a discussion of litigation and other legal proceedings related to energy market restructuring in California, the impact of current regulations on our WECC facilities and related uncertainty associated with the California wholesale market, please read Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies—Summary of Material Legal Proceedings—California Market Litigation beginning on page F-58.

 

Texas region—Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). We own a generating facility with a generating capacity of 610 MWs located in ERCOT. This facility represents less than 1% of the generating capacity in the ERCOT region. The ERCOT market is comprised of the majority of the state of Texas.

 

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Approximately 13% of our capacity in this region, consisting of 80 MWs of capacity at our CoGen Lyondell facility, is sold under a capacity agreement which expires in December 2006.

 

Our Texas facility participates in a market administered by the ERCOT ISO, which oversees competitive wholesale and retail markets. ERCOT’s operations are overseen by the PUCT. ERCOT operates as the single control area within its region, and operates capacity and energy markets for market participants. Price mitigation measures in ERCOT include a $1,000 per MWh offer cap. ERCOT is considering wholesale market design changes including locational-based pricing similar to markets in NYISO and PJM in response to a PUCT rule; however, there can be no assurances that such design changes will be implemented.

 

By most measures, the ERCOT region currently has excess generation capacity as a result of recent development projects. This overcapacity is evidenced by the NERC’s estimated 2004 reserve margin of 26%, which is significantly in excess of the ERCOT’s target minimum reserve margin of 12.5%. This overcapacity has depressed energy and capacity values in this region and will likely continue to do so absent peak demand growth and/or plant retirements. However, recently released reports from ERCOT indicate that reserve margins may fall below the 12.5% level within the next 1—2 years due to recently announced generating retirements and mothballed units.

 

International. In addition to our U.S. generating assets, as of December 31, 2004, we owned a 50% interest in a generating facility located in Panama. Upon expiration of a capacity contract in January 2005, this facility is operating on a merchant basis. We are continuing to pursue opportunities to sell our interest in this facility Panama project, as we do not consider it core to our power generation business. Our 18% interest in a 74 MW generation asset in Jamaica was sold in January 2004 for $5.5 million.

 

Retail Supply Business. We selectively enter into short- and long-term contracts with individual commercial and industrial customers to serve their load requirements in markets where we have a generation presence and where the regulatory environment supports these efforts. Our current sales and retail operations are directed toward Texas, Illinois and New York. In early 2005, we made the decision to formally exit the Retail Supply Business.

 

Natural Gas Liquids

 

General. Our natural gas liquids segment consists of our midstream asset operations, located principally in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico, and our North American natural gas liquids marketing business. This segment has both upstream and downstream components. The upstream components include natural gas gathering and processing; while the downstream components include fractionating, storing, terminalling, transporting, distributing and marketing natural gas liquids.

 

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The following graphic depicts the revenue opportunities that exist throughout our upstream and downstream operations.

LOGO

 

Upstream Business

 

Our upstream business includes the gathering of natural gas produced from oil and gas wells and processing this raw natural gas into merchantable natural gas by extracting natural gas liquids and removing impurities. We own interests in 17 gas processing plants, including 11 plants we operate. We also operate over 9,385 miles of natural gas gathering pipeline systems associated with the 11 operated facilities and two stand-alone natural gas gathering pipeline systems where gas is treated and/or processed at third-party plants. Our upstream assets are located in the growing oil and gas exploration and production areas of North Texas and Louisiana, and the mature Permian Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. During 2004, we processed an average of 1.6 Bcf/d of natural gas and produced an average of 82,120 barrels per day of natural gas liquids, in each case, net to our ownership interests. We are also party to natural gas processing agreements with five third-party plants.

 

Our upstream business is significantly impacted by the types of contracts under which we process gas. There are four primary types of gas processing contracts where natural gas liquids are extracted: percent of proceeds, percent of liquids, keep-whole and wellhead purchase.

 

    Under percent of proceeds, or POP, contracts, a producer delivers to us a percentage of the natural gas liquids and a percentage of the natural gas as payment for our services and retains the value of the remaining natural gas liquids and natural gas at the processing plant tailgate. The producer retains this value by either taking its share of the natural gas liquids and natural gas in kind or by receiving its share of the proceeds from our sale of their share of the commodities.

 

    Under percent of liquids, or POL, contracts, a producer delivers to us a percentage of the natural gas liquids as payment for our services and retains the value of the remaining natural gas liquids and all of the natural gas at the processing plant tailgate. Similar to POP contracts, the producer will either take their share of the natural gas liquids in kind or take the proceeds from our sale of their share of the natural gas liquids.

 

    Under keep-whole, or KW, contracts, we extract natural gas liquids and return to the producer volumes of merchantable natural gas containing the same Btu content as the unprocessed natural gas that was delivered to us. We retain the natural gas liquids as our payment for processing. We must purchase and return to the producer sufficient volumes of merchantable natural gas to replace the Btus that were removed as natural gas liquids through processing so that the producer is kept whole on a Btu basis. This contract type is fully exposed to the “frac spread,” which is the relative difference in value between natural gas liquids and natural gas on a Btu basis.

 

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    Under wellhead purchase, or WHP, contracts, we purchase unprocessed natural gas from a producer at the wellhead at a discount to the market value of the gas. This discount, together with any value increase for natural gas liquids extracted from the natural gas, is our margin for gathering and processing.

 

Factors influencing the contract mix at a particular facility include, among other things, the Btu content of the gas, which determines if natural gas liquids must be extracted from the natural gas to meet natural gas pipeline quality specifications; the investment in extensive gathering systems to bring gas to a particular plant; the term of the gas supply contracts behind a processing plant; and the prevailing competitive factors when contracts are negotiated.

 

We characterize our natural gas processing plants in two categories—field plants and straddle plants. The processing contract mix varies significantly between the two categories.

 

Field Plants. Field plants connect volumes of unprocessed gas from multiple onshore producing wells. Through extensive gathering systems, these volumes are aggregated into sufficient volumes to be economically processed to extract natural gas liquids and to remove water vapor, solids and other contaminants to provide marketable natural gas, commonly referred to in the industry as “residue gas.” The following map depicts our field plant assets, including our capacity, 2004 natural gas throughput and natural gas liquids production levels for the assets as of year end 2004. Our field plants are located in the mature and prolific Permian Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico, and in North Texas, where we are ideally situated to benefit from the high volume growth Barnett Shale production development.

 

LOGO

 

In our field plants we process natural gas primarily under POP contracts. In 2004, approximately 99% of the volumes processed were under POP settlement terms and the remainder was processed under KW or WHP contracts. We expect a similar contract mix in 2005. This is particularly important because the natural gas processed by all of these facilities contains natural gas liquids in sufficient quantities to require that the natural gas be processed to extract enough of the natural gas liquids to meet gas pipeline and market quality specifications. Having essentially all POP contracts removes the significant price spread risk associated with KW and WHP contracts and makes the key economic drivers for our field plants natural gas and natural gas liquids volumes and the absolute price of both residue gas and natural gas liquids.

 

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Our field plants recovered an average of 4.28 gallons of natural gas liquids per Mcf of raw gas processed in 2004. The component split of mixed natural gas liquids produced by our field plants in 2004 was as follows:

 

LOGO

 

We are also impacted by producer drilling activity, which is sensitive to commodity prices. Additionally, safe, low-cost and reliable operation of our facilities, together with highly efficient plant operation, improves our competitiveness in attracting new gas volumes to replace intrinsic declines in natural gas well production at the same or better contractual terms.

 

Straddle Plants. Straddle plants generally are situated on mainline natural gas pipelines. Our straddle plants are located on pipelines transporting natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico to key Midwest and East Coast natural gas markets. The following map depicts our straddle plant assets as of year end 2004, including our capacity, 2004 natural gas throughput and natural gas liquids production levels.

 

LOGO

 

We process natural gas in our straddle plants under POL and KW contracts as well as hybrid contracts that contain different settlement terms. Under hybrid contracts, the settlement outcome can be either POL, KW or a fee and is usually triggered by market conditions, most often automatically, or, in some cases, by the election of one or both of the parties. When it is economical to extract natural gas liquids, these hybrid contracts typically settle under POL terms.

 

When it is not profitable to extract natural gas liquids (i.e., when the value of the natural gas liquids is less than the value of natural gas on an equivalent Btu basis), most of the volumes processed under these hybrid

 

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contracts automatically convert to a fee-based processing arrangement. This fee is generally paid in the form of cash and/or a nominal percentage of the natural gas liquids processed. For some of these volumes, the producer and/or the processor have contract settlement election options. The producer can elect to either process or not process, generally on a POL basis. If the producer elects to not process, we often have the option to process on a KW basis. If we elect to not process, either we can cause the gas to bypass the plant, where such capabilities exist, or the producer pays us a per-unit fee to process the gas.

 

The charts below show the current and expected contract mix for our straddle plants. On the left, the current mix does not reflect an expected FERC approval of hydrocarbon dew point specifications on natural gas pipelines along the Gulf of Mexico. Assuming FERC approves hydrocarbon dew point specifications, significant production historically processed under KW contracts will be generally settled under fee or hybrid contracts. The chart on the right shows our anticipated contract mix following enforcement of hydrocarbon dew point specifications on pipelines in the Gulf area and reflects our expectation of a significant decline in our frac spread exposure.

 

LOGO

LOGO

 

The results of our straddle plant operations are heavily dependent on the absolute price of natural gas liquids. This is particularly true when processing economics are favorable, as the hybrid contracts settle under POL terms. When processing economics are less favorable, we do have some KW exposure to the frac spread. Our view is that strong natural gas prices will generally continue to depress the frac spread for the foreseeable future. However, our frac spread exposure is limited because most of the hybrid contracts in this price environment settle on fee terms.

 

As with our field plants, our straddle plants are impacted by producer drilling activity, which is sensitive to commodity prices, as well as our ability to operate safely, reliably and efficiently.

 

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The straddle plants recovered an average of 1.13 gallons of natural gas liquids per Mcf of raw gas processed in 2004. The component split of mixed natural gas liquids produced by our straddle plants in 2004 was as follows:

 

LOGO

 

Major customers of our upstream business include ChevronTexaco and many other large and small producers. We have a contractual right to process substantially all of ChevronTexaco’s gas in North America. Generally, with respect to gas they produce from all areas other than the Gulf of Mexico, we process the gas at field plants owned by us or by third parties. The ChevronTexaco gas processed in our field plants is processed on a POP basis and is based on ChevronTexaco’s commitment of such production for the life of the lease from which the production is obtained.

 

With respect to the gas produced from the Gulf of Mexico area, ChevronTexaco’s gas is processed in both straddle plants in which we own an interest and in plants owned by third parties. We operate five of the plants in which we own an interest. ChevronTexaco gas produced from the Gulf of Mexico area is processed on a POL basis when processing is economical or is processed on a fee basis if natural gas liquids extraction is not profitable. The leases, or portions thereof, committed under this agreement are committed for the life of the leases dedicated to us for processing. Until September 1, 2006, ChevronTexaco has agreed to dedicate to us for processing any gas attributable to new production obtained from oil, gas and/or mineral leases not previously dedicated to us for processing as of March 1, 2002. These dedications made by ChevronTexaco may be limited to certain productive horizons and/or may only be partially committed as to acreage.

 

Both types of processing agreements with ChevronTexaco allow either party to initiate renegotiation of the commercial terms for processing previously dedicated natural gas production effective in September 2006 and on each successive 10-year anniversary thereafter for ChevronTexaco gas processed in field plants; and, five years thereafter, for gas produced from the Gulf of Mexico and processed in Louisiana straddle plants. During 2004 and 2003, respectively, ChevronTexaco gas accounted for 32% and 46% of the total volume of gas we processed.

 

Hedging Strategy. As a result of our POP and POL contracts, we take ownership of natural gas and natural gas liquids as payment for our services. We have a comprehensive hedging strategy and related control procedures to manage price risk on these equity volumes. We limit volume considered for hedging and forward selling to Dynegy-owned volumes received at our field processing facilities that must operate for gas to meet natural gas pipeline quality specifications. The portion of equity natural gas and natural gas liquids that we hedge is monitored closely against our field processing plant operations to ensure we hedge no more than the volume we own. We seek to mitigate correlation risk by hedging each natural gas liquid product against our physical production of that product. Realized loss on hedged volumes was $10 million below the average realized price for unhedged volumes for 2004 as compared to $7 million below the average realized price for unhedged volumes for 2003.

 

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Downstream Business

 

In our downstream business, we use our integrated assets to fractionate, store, terminal, transport, distribute and market natural gas liquids. Our downstream assets are generally connected to and supplied, in part, by our upstream assets and are located in Mont Belvieu, Texas, the hub of the U.S. natural gas liquids business, and West Louisiana. The following map depicts our downstream assets, including our capacity and throughput capabilities.

 

LOGO

 

Fractionation. When pipeline-quality natural gas is separated from natural gas liquids at processing plants, the natural gas liquids are generally in the form of a commingled stream of light liquid hydrocarbons, which is referred to as “mixed” or “raw” natural gas liquids. The mixed natural gas liquids are separated at fractionation facilities through a distillation process into the following component products:

 

    Ethane, or a mixture of ethane and propane known as EP mix;

 

    Propane;

 

    Normal butane;

 

    Isobutane; and

 

    Natural gasoline.

 

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The percentages of these products produced at our fractionators in 2004 were as follows:

 

LOGO

 

We fractionate volumes for customers, from both our own upstream operations and third parties, under contracts that typically include a base fee per gallon plus other fee components that are subject to adjustment for variable costs such as energy consumed in fractionation. We have ownership interests in three stand-alone fractionation facilities that are strategically located on the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. We operate two of the facilities, one at Mont Belvieu, Texas and the other at Lake Charles, Louisiana. During 2004, these facilities fractionated an aggregate average of 183,000 gross barrels per day (net to Dynegy’s ownership interests). We also have an equity investment in a third fractionator located in Mont Belvieu, which is subject to a 1996 consent decree with the FTC that prevents us from participating in commercial decisions regarding rates paid by third parties for fractionation services.

 

The results of our fractionation operations are significantly impacted by the following factors: our ability to attract term volumes of raw natural gas liquids at profitable margins; the impact of frac spreads on the supply of natural gas liquids available for fractionation; the composition of the liquids received; energy costs; and operational efficiencies.

 

Storage & Terminalling. Our natural gas liquids storage facilities have extensive pipeline connections to third-party pipelines, third-party facilities and to our own fractionation and terminalling facilities. In addition, some of these storage facilities are connected to marine, rail and truck loading and unloading facilities that provide service and products to our customers. We provide long- and short-term storage services and throughput capability to affiliates and third-party domestic customers for a fee.

 

We own and/or operate a total of 41 storage wells with an aggregate capacity of 108 MMBbls, the usage of which may be limited by brine handling capacity. Brine is utilized to displace natural gas liquids from storage. When large volumes of natural gas liquids are stored, we store the displaced brine in our brine storage ponds adjacent to our storage facilities and, depending on the volume, may inject excess brine in our brine disposal wells. When reduced volumes of natural gas liquids are stored, we utilize the brine from our brine storage ponds to displace the volumes of natural gas liquids removed and, if necessary, can produce additional brine from wells dedicated for that purpose through a process known as brine leaching.

 

The results of our storage operations are significantly impacted by the following factors: the petrochemical industry’s level of capacity utilization and their specific feedstock requirements; our ability to utilize our integrated asset base flexibly to meet changing customer and market demands; and safe, low-cost, efficient operations.

 

Transportation and Logistics. Our natural gas liquids transportation and logistics infrastructure comprises a wide range of transportation and distribution assets supporting both third-party customers and the delivery requirements of our distribution and marketing business. We provide a fee-based transportation service to refineries and petrochemical companies throughout the Gulf Coast area. These assets are also deployed to serve our wholesale distribution terminals, fractionation facilities, underground storage facilities, pipeline injection terminals and many of the nation’s crude oil refineries and petrochemical facilities. Our marine terminals are

 

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located in Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. We also have wholesale propane terminals located in Tennessee, Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Florida, and lease capacity at third-party storage facilities throughout North America. These distribution assets provide a variety of ways to transport and deliver products to our customers. Our transportation assets include:

 

    More than 2,000 railcars owned or leased by ChevronTexaco that we manage pursuant to a services agreement with ChevronTexaco;

 

    78 transport tractors and 114 tank trailers;

 

    More than 550 miles of gas liquids pipelines, primarily in the Gulf Coast area; and

 

    21 natural gas liquids pressurized barges with more than 320,000 barrels of capacity.

 

Distribution and Marketing Services. Our distribution and marketing services include: (1) Refinery services; (2) Wholesale propane marketing; and (3) Purchasing mixed natural gas liquids and natural gas liquids products from natural gas liquids producers and other sources and selling the natural gas liquids products to petrochemical manufacturers, refineries and other marketing and retail companies.

 

    Refinery Services. In our refinery services business, we provide LPG balancing services, purchasing natural gas liquids products from refinery customers and selling natural gas liquids products to various customers. We also use our storage, transportation, distribution and marketing assets to assist refinery customers in managing their natural gas liquids product demand and production schedules. This includes both feedstocks consumed in refinery processes and the excess LPG produced by those same refining processes. Under our “netback” contracts, we generally retain a portion of the resale price of natural gas liquids sold or receive a fixed minimum fee per gallon on products sold. Also under netback contracts, fees are obtained for locating and supplying natural gas liquids feedstocks to the refineries either based on a percentage of the cost to obtain such supply or through a minimum fee per gallon. In 2004, we sold an average of 38,000 barrels of LPG per day through our refinery services business.

 

We have refinery services contracts with each of ChevronTexaco’s refineries situated in El Segundo, California; Pascagoula, Mississippi; Richmond, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Barbers Point, Hawaii. All of these contracts allow us to market excess LPG produced during the refining process. With respect to all of the ChevronTexaco refineries, except Hawaii, these agreements also require us to supply to ChevronTexaco natural gas liquids utilized in their refining process as required by the refinery. The agreements require us to obtain, on behalf of the refineries, natural gas liquids feedstocks that each refinery requires on a daily basis. These agreements extend through August 2006. Approximately 47% and 44% of the business’ natural gas liquids volumes purchased in 2004 and 2003, respectively, were from ChevronTexaco.

 

Key factors impacting the results of our refinery services business include propane and butane prices, our ability to perform receipt, delivery and transportation services and refinery demand.

 

    Wholesale Propane Marketing. Our wholesale propane marketing operations include the sale of propane and related logistics services to major multi-state retailers, independent retailers and other end users. Our propane supply primarily originates from both our refinery/gas supply contracts and our other owned and/or managed distribution and marketing assets. We generally sell propane at a fixed or posted price at the time of delivery. In 2004, we sold an average of 44,500 barrels of propane per day.

 

Our wholesale propane marketing business is significantly impacted by weather-driven demand, particularly in the winter, the price of propane in the markets we serve and our ability to deliver propane to customers to satisfy peak winter demand.

 

   

Distribution and Marketing Services. We market our own natural gas liquids production and also purchase natural gas liquid products from other natural gas liquids producers and marketers for resale. In 2004, our distribution and marketing services business sold an average of 200,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids in North America. We generally purchase mixed natural gas liquids from producers

 

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at a monthly pricing index less applicable fractionation, transportation and marketing fees and resell these products to petrochemical manufacturers, refineries and other marketing and retail companies. This is primarily a physical business in which we earn margins from purchasing and selling natural gas liquid products from producers under contract. We also earn margins by purchasing and reselling natural gas liquids products in the spot and forward physical markets.

 

We also have the right to purchase or market substantially all of ChevronTexaco’s natural gas liquids pursuant to a Master Natural Gas Liquids Purchase Agreement that extends through August 31, 2006.

 

This business is impacted by a number of factors, including our ability to prudently manage inventories during periods of market price movements and meeting our delivery obligations under term contracts.

 

In 2004 and 2003, approximately 35% and 32%, respectively, of our specification natural gas liquids sales were made to ChevronTexaco or one of its affiliates pursuant to the refinery agreements discussed above and pursuant to an agreement we have with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company. In the latter agreement, we supply a significant portion of Chevron Phillips Chemical’s natural gas liquids feedstock needs in the Mont Belvieu area and collect a cents-per-barrel fee for storage and product delivery.

 

Regulated Energy Delivery

 

General. Our regulated energy delivery segment consisted of our former Illinois Power Company subsidiary, which we sold in September 2004. Please read Note 3–Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations–Dispositions and Contract Terminations–Sale of Illinois Power beginning on page F-23 for further discussion. Illinois Power is a regulated public utility based in Decatur, Illinois, and is engaged in the transmission, distribution and sale of electric energy and the distribution, transportation and sale of natural gas in the state of Illinois. Illinois Power provides retail electric and natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial consumers in substantial portions of northern, central and southern Illinois. Illinois Power also currently supplies electric transmission service to electric cooperatives, municipalities and power marketing entities in the state of Illinois.

 

From February 1, 2002 through July 31, 2002, this segment also included the results of Northern Natural. We acquired Northern Natural from Enron Corp. in connection with our terminated merger and subsequently sold Northern Natural to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company in August 2002. Northern Natural is accounted for as a discontinued operation in the accompanying financial statements. Please read Note 3— Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Discontinued Operations—Northern Natural beginning on page F-27 for further discussion.

 

Customer Risk Management

 

Our CRM segment is comprised largely of our three remaining power tolling arrangements (including the Gregory toll, which expires in July 2005, but excluding the Independence toll). Upon the closing of our Sithe Energies acquisition in January 2005, the Independence tolling arrangement was transformed into an intercompany obligation under our GEN segment, which now includes the Independence facility. In addition, we have mitigated the effect of our Kendall tolling arrangement through November 2008 by entering into a “back-to-back” power purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Constellation Energy, whereby we will receive payments which offset our obligations to LSP-Kendall. Pursuant to these power tolling arrangements, we are obligated to make aggregate payments of approximately $1.3 billion to our counterparties in exchange for access to power generated by their facilities, resulting in a total obligation of $1.2 billion, net of $161 million to be received from Constellation. In addition to these tolling arrangements, our CRM segment includes gas transportation contracts and our remaining gas and power trading positions. We are actively pursuing opportunities to terminate, assign or renegotiate the terms of our contractual obligations related to our remaining obligations under these agreements.

 

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The following table contains a listing of our power tolling arrangements, including the name and location of each related project, the term of each arrangement, the project capacity and our annual capacity payments, as well as other CRM fixed obligations.

 

CRM Obligations

 

                  Annual Capacity Payments

 

Project


  Location

  Expiration
Date


    MWs

  2005

    2006

    2007

    2008 – 2017

 
                  (in millions)  

Sterlington/Quachita

  Louisiana   9/2017 (1)   835   $ 59     $ 61     $ 63     $ 627  

Gregory

  Texas   7/2005     335     13       —         —         —    

Kendall

  Illinois   3/2017 (1)(2)   578     39       41       42       374  

Independence

  New York   11/2014 (3)   955     4       —         —         —    
                 


 


 


 


Total annual capacity payments

                  115       102       105       1,001  

Other fixed obligations

                  8       2       2       —    

Less: Payments to be received from Constellation (2)

                  (39 )     (41 )     (42 )     (39 )
                 


 


 


 


Net cash commitments

                $ 84     $ 63     $ 65     $ 962  
                 


 


 


 



(1) Includes a five-year extension option pursuant to which either party can elect to continue the arrangement depending on the market price for power at the expiration of the initial contract term.
(2) We have entered into an offsetting agreement with a subsidiary of Constellation Energy through November 2008, under which we will receive payments equal to those owed under our Kendall tolling arrangement.
(3) On January 31, 2005, we completed the Sithe Energies acquisition, which resulted in the transformation of our obligations under the Independence tolling arrangement and related derivative instrument into intercompany obligations under our GEN segment.

 

Regarding our legacy gas and power trading positions, we have substantially reduced the size of our mark-to-market portfolio since October 2002, when we initiated our efforts to exit the CRM business. As of December 31, 2004, we have exited approximately 90% of our physical and financial gas business. We expect to have effectively exited this business by the end of 2007, with the exception of a minimal number of physical gas transactions that expire between 2010 and 2017. Additionally, we have forward obligations to deliver emissions allowances. Currently, we own adequate allowances to satisfy the forward obligations. Our remaining CRM power business, exclusive of our power tolling arrangements, will be effectively exited by the end of 2005; with the exception of a minimum number of positions that will remain until 2010. We will continue our efforts to exit the remaining transactions as allowed by market liquidity and credit requirements.

 

Other

 

Our Other results include corporate governance roles and functions, which are managed on a consolidated basis, and specialized support functions such as finance, accounting, risk control, tax, legal, human resources, administration and technology. Corporate general and administrative expenses, income taxes and corporate interest expenses, which we previously allocated among our operating divisions, are included in our other reported results, as are corporate-related other income and expense items. Interest expense associated with borrowings incurred by our operating divisions, such as our power generation facility financings, will continue to be reflected in the appropriate business segment’s results. Other results for the periods presented also include our discontinued global communications business.

 

The communications business was established during the fourth quarter 2000 and included an optically switched, mesh fiber-optic network with more than 16,000 route miles that reached 44 cities in the United States. During the first quarter 2003, we sold our European communications business, which operated a high-capacity, broadband network with access points in 32 cities throughout Western Europe. During the second quarter 2003, we sold our U.S. communications business. Since we have substantially completed our exit from the global communications business, we do not expect that this business will be included in our Other results for future periods.

 

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COMPETITION

 

Power Generation. Demand for power may be met by generation capacity based on several competing technologies, such as gas-fired, coal-fired or nuclear generation and power generating facilities fueled by alternative energy sources, including hydro power, synthetic fuels, solar, wind, wood, geothermal, waste heat and solid waste sources. Our power generation business competes with other non-utility generators, regulated utilities, unregulated subsidiaries of regulated utilities and other energy service companies in the development and operation of energy-producing projects. We believe that our ability to compete effectively in this business will be driven in large part by our ability to achieve and maintain a low cost of production, primarily by managing fuel costs, and to provide reliable service to our customers. We believe our primary competitors in this business consist of approximately 19 companies.

 

Natural Gas Liquids. Our natural gas liquids businesses face significant and varied competitors, including major integrated oil companies, major pipeline companies and their marketing affiliates and national and local gas gatherers, processors, fractionators, brokers, marketers and distributors of varying sizes and experience. The principal areas of competition include obtaining gas supplies for gathering and processing operations, obtaining supplies of raw product for fractionation, purchase and marketing of natural gas liquids, residue gas, condensate and sulfur, and transportation of natural gas and natural gas liquids and storage of natural gas liquids. Competition typically is based on location and operating efficiency of facilities, reliability of services, delivery capabilities and price. We believe our primary competitors in this business consist of approximately 21 companies.

 

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REGULATION

 

We are subject to regulation by various federal, state, local and foreign agencies, including the regulations described below.

 

Please read “—Environmental and Other Matters” beginning on page 24 for a discussion of environmental regulations affecting our business.

 

Power Generation Regulation. The FERC has exclusive ratemaking jurisdiction over wholesale power sales in interstate commerce. Our power generation operations are subject to FERC regulation with respect to rates, the procurement and provision of certain services and operating standards. All of our current QF projects are qualifying facilities and, as such, are exempt from the ratemaking and other provisions of the FPA. Our EWGs, which are not QFs, have been granted market-based rate authority and comply with the FPA requirements governing approval of wholesale rates and subsequent transfers of project ownership interests. We are subject to the jurisdiction of the PUCT with respect to our operations in ERCOT.

 

In certain markets where we own power generation facilities, specifically California and New York, the FERC has, from time to time, approved temporary price caps on wholesale power sales or other market mitigation measures. In New York, the FERC approved and extended indefinitely an Automated Mitigation Procedure, or AMP, that caps bid prices based on the cost characteristics of power generating facilities, such as our DNE facilities and the Independence facility we acquired in January 2005. In January 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion vacating and remanding the FERC’s orders approving the AMP in the day-ahead market outside of New York City, where our DNE facilities and Independence facility are located. At this time it is not known whether the NYISO and others have sought reconsideration of this decision; consequently, the AMP currently remains in effect.

 

In February 2004, the FERC accepted, subject to certain modifications, the NYISO’s proposed real-time scheduling software, but rejected the NYISO’s proposal to extend the real-time AMP to areas outside New York City. On rehearing in August 2004, the FERC granted rehearing and allowed the NYISO to apply the real-time AMP in the area outside New York City.

 

As a consequence of the California energy crisis, which arose in 2000, generation within the Cal ISO is subject to mitigation consisting primarily of a $250/MWh offer cap and an AMP that under certain conditions limits the pricing of the electricity we generate in California. All power generating facilities in California fueled by fossil fuels, including all of our California facilities, are still obligated to offer all available output subject to these restrictions.

 

The energy crisis also precipitated a number of other FERC actions related to the California energy market, and the Western market generally, in addition to price caps and market mitigation measures. These actions included investigations concerning alleged manipulation of energy prices in the West, including claims of false reporting of trading data to publications that publish energy indices, and complaints requesting the FERC to reform or void various long-term power sales contracts. The FERC investigation with respect to us regarding false reporting to trade publications concluded in July 2003. Additionally, in October 2004, the FERC approved an agreement providing for the settlement of certain FERC claims relating to western energy market transactions that occurred from January 2000 through June 2001. Finally, we are awaiting the outcome of an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the validity of our CDWR contract, which expired in December 2004. Please read Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies—Summary of Material Legal Proceedings—FERC and Related Regulatory Investigations—Requests for Refunds beginning on page F-59 for further discussion of the settlement.

 

We are also subject to the FERC’s market behavior rules, which emerged from its consideration of market manipulation in the Western markets. The rules apply to sales in organized and bilateral markets and spot

 

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markets, as well as long-term sales. The remedies for violating the rules could include disgorgement of unjust profits, suspension or revocation of the authority to sell at market-based rates and penalties. The extent to which the rules will affect the costs or other aspects of our operations is uncertain. However, we believe that our entities subject to the FERC’s market behavior rules, which consists of our entities with market-based rates for wholesale power sales and our entity with blanket natural gas sales certificate authority, are in compliance with these rules.

 

The FERC’s market-based rate authority allows the sale of power at negotiated rates through the bilateral market or within an organized energy market, conditioned on periodic re-review. In April 2004, the FERC issued an order concerning the ability of companies to sell electricity at market-based rates. In this order, the FERC adopted two new tests for assessing generation market power. If an applicant for market-based rate authority is found to possess generation market power under these tests and is unsuccessful in challenging that finding, the applicant may either propose mitigation measures or adopt cost-based rates. If the FERC finds that the proposed mitigation measures fail to eliminate the ability to exercise market power, the applicant’s market-based rate authority will be revoked and the applicant will be subject to cost-based default rates, or other cost-based rates proposed by the applicant and approved by the FERC. The FERC issued a follow up order in May 2004 which (i) addressed the implementation process for pending and new market-based rate applications and (ii) established a timeline for entities with FERC market-based rate authority to provide the FERC with their market power assessment. Despite challenges from numerous industry participants, in July 2004 the FERC upheld the April 2004 order. These orders require entities that were previously granted market-based rate authority by the FERC, including entities with pending applications for re-review, to resubmit their applications in accordance with the new directive. Consequently, Dynegy entities with applications pending since February 2002 timely resubmitted their applications to the FERC on February 7, 2005, as required. The entities we acquired in January 2005 in connection with the Sithe Energies acquisition previously submitted updated market-based rate applications in September 2004.

 

In December 2004, the FERC ruled that once the MISO becomes a single market and performs functions such as single central commitment and dispatch with FERC-approved market monitoring and mitigation (currently scheduled for April 1, 2005), MISO would be considered to have a single geographic market for purposes of assessing generation market power. This ruling will enlarge the geographic area in which our DMG facilities would be evaluated for generation market power for the relevant period. Although we cannot predict with any certainty whether our applications to renew our market based rate authority will be approved or the loss of revenues that would result from the imposition of cost-based rates, an adverse outcome with respect to these applications, and the resulting requirement that we charge cost-based rates, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

 

Electricity Marketing Regulation. Our electricity marketing operations are regulated pursuant to the FPA by the FERC with respect to rates, terms and conditions of services and various reporting requirements. As discussed above, current FERC policies permit trading and marketing entities to market electricity at market-based rates.

 

Natural Gas Processing. Our natural gas processing operations could become subject to FERC regulation. While the FERC has found that its jurisdiction under the NGA applies to plants that perform processing necessary for the safe and efficient transportation of natural gas, the FERC has historically held that the extraction of liquid hydrocarbons for their economic value is not necessary for the safe and efficient transportation of gas. Thus, if a processing plant’s primary function is the extraction of natural gas liquids for their economic value, the plant is not subject to the FERC’s jurisdiction. We believe our gas processing plants are primarily involved in removing natural gas liquids for economic purposes and, therefore, are exempt from FERC jurisdiction. Nevertheless, the FERC has made no specific finding as to our gas processing plants. As such, no assurance can be given that all of our processing operations will remain exempt from FERC regulation.

 

Natural Gas Gathering. The NGA exempts gas gathering facilities from the jurisdiction of the FERC, while interstate transmission facilities remain subject to FERC jurisdiction, as described above. We believe our gathering facilities and operations meet the FERC’s current tests for determining non-jurisdictional gathering

 

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facility status, although the FERC’s articulation and application of such tests have varied over time. Nevertheless, the FERC has made no specific findings as to the exempt status of any of our facilities. No assurance can be given that all of our gas gathering facilities will remain classified as such and, therefore, remain exempt from FERC regulation. Some states regulate gathering facilities to varying degrees; generally, rates are not state-regulated.

 

Illinois Power Company. During the period in which Illinois Power was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Illinova and Dynegy, it was an electric utility company as defined in PUHCA. As a result of such ownership, Illinova, the direct parent company of Illinois Power, and Dynegy were holding companies as defined in PUHCA. During this period Illinova and Dynegy were generally exempt from regulation under PUHCA based on their status as intrastate holding companies and on the application for exemption from PUHCA filed by Chevron Corporation and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. Upon the consummation of the sale of Illinois Power to Ameren in September 2004, Illinova and Dynegy were no longer holding companies as defined in PUHCA.

 

Natural Gas Regulation. The transportation, storage and sale for resale of natural gas in interstate commerce is subject to regulation by the FERC under the NGA and, to a lesser extent, the NGPA. The FERC regulates the rates interstate pipelines charge for interstate transportation and storage services. The FERC also has jurisdiction over, among other things, the construction and operation of pipeline and related facilities used in the transportation and storage of natural gas in interstate commerce, including the extension, expansion, acquisition, disposition, or abandonment of such facilities; maintenance of accounts and records; depreciation and amortization policies; and transactions with and conduct of interstate pipelines relating to affiliates. Venice Gathering System, in which we own a minority interest, is a regulated interstate pipeline. Like other interstate pipelines, Venice Gathering System must comply with FERC’s open-access transportation regulations. The FERC continues to review and modify its open-access regulations and some appeals are pending.

 

State Regulatory Reforms. Our domestic power generation business is subject to various regulations from the states in which we operate. Proposed reforms to these regulations are proceeding in several states. In Illinois, both the regulators and the legislature are considering alternatives for the regulation of the retail electric markets, including how the procurement of power and energy by electric utilities will be handled following the expiration of the mandatory transition period at the end of 2006. In addition, in Texas, the PUCT has passed various rules regarding wholesale market re-design which will take effect during 2005 and 2006. In California, rules regarding resource adequacy requirements are expected to be determined by the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, during 2005 and fully implemented in 2006. Although we are not regulated by the CPUC, the results of some or all of these reforms could have a material affect on our operations.

 

Legislation. The U.S. Congress is considering passage of comprehensive energy legislation that will impact us. We cannot predict with certainty if or when the U.S. Congress will finish its work on the energy legislation and send it to the President for signature or what effect any final legislation will have. Also, as noted above, in Illinois, both the regulators and the legislature are considering alternatives for the regulation of the retail electric markets, including how the procurement of power and energy by electric utilities will be handled following the expiration of the mandatory transition period at the end of 2006.

 

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ENVIRONMENTAL AND OTHER MATTERS

 

General. We incorporate environmental protection and stewardship as an integral part of the design, construction, operation and maintenance of our facilities. An important part of all of these strategies and actions is our commitment to conduct all business activities in an environmentally responsible manner.

 

Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state and local statutes, rules and regulations governing the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise relating to environmental, health and safety protection. Environmental laws and regulations, including environmental regulators’ interpretations of these laws and regulations, are complex, change frequently and have become more stringent over time. Many environmental laws require permits from governmental authorities before construction on a project may commence or before wastes or other materials may be discharged into the environment. The process for obtaining necessary permits can be lengthy and complex, and can sometimes result in the establishment of permit conditions that make the project or activity for which the permit was sought either unprofitable or otherwise unattractive. Even where permits are not required, compliance with environmental laws and regulations can require significant capital and operating expenditures, and we may be required to incur costs to remediate contamination from past releases of wastes into the environment. Failure to comply with these statutes, rules and regulations may result in the assessment of administrative, civil and even criminal penalties. Furthermore, the failure to obtain or renew an environmental permit could prevent operation of one or more of our facilities.

 

In general, the construction and operation of our facilities are subject to federal, state and local environmental laws, regulations and permitting requirements governing the siting and operation of energy facilities, the discharge of pollutants and other materials into the environment, the protection of wetlands, endangered species, and other natural resources, the control and abatement of noise and other similar requirements. A variety of permits are typically required before construction of a project commences, and additional permits are typically required for facility operation.

 

Environmental Expenditures. Our aggregate expenditures for compliance with laws and regulations related to the protection of the environment were approximately $25 million in 2004, compared to approximately $51 million in 2003 and approximately $82 million in 2002. We estimate that total environmental expenditures (both capital and operating) in 2005 will be approximately $40 million. In 2005, the projected costs are associated primarily with enhanced air pollution controls and the handling of combustion byproducts. Changes in environmental regulations or the outcome of litigation could result in additional requirements that could necessitate increased future spending. Please read “—Environmental and Other Matters—The Clean Air Act” below for a discussion of the litigation brought by the Environmental Protection Agency against us relating to activities at our Baldwin generating station in Illinois.

 

The Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act and comparable state laws and regulations relating to air emissions impose responsibilities on owners and operators of sources of air emissions, including requirements to obtain construction and operating permits and annual compliance and reporting obligations. In addition to the new source performance standards applicable to sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the Clean Air Act requires that fossil-fueled plants have sufficient sulphur dioxide and, in some geographical regions of the country, nitrogen oxides emission allowances, as well as meet certain pollutant emission standards. Our electric generation facilities are presently in compliance with these allowance and emission rate requirements. Although the impact of future air quality regulations cannot be predicted with certainty, these regulations are expected to become increasingly stringent, particularly for electric power generating facilities. Current Clean Air Act requirements include the following:

 

    The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 required a two-phase reduction by electric utilities in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by 2000 as part of an overall plan to reduce acid rain in the eastern United States. Installation of control equipment and changes in fuel mix and operating practices have been completed at our facilities as necessary to comply with the emission reduction requirements of the acid rain provision of the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990.

 

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    In October 1998, the EPA issued a final rule on regional ozone control that required 22 eastern states and the District of Columbia to revise their State Implementation Plans to significantly reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides. The compliance deadline for implementation of these emission reductions was May 31, 2004. In January 2000, the EPA finalized another ozone-related rule under Section 126 of the Clean Air Act that has similar emission control requirements. The required capital expenditures and installation of the necessary emission control equipment to meet these requirements was completed before the compliance deadline; as a result, our power generation system met the specified compliance deadlines for implementation. Portions of our GEN and NGL businesses are also subject to similar ozone rules applicable to the Houston area. We have plans in place to satisfy these requirements and could incur capital expenditures of up to $23 million through 2007 pursuant to such plans.

 

Baldwin Station Litigation. Since November 1999, DMG has been the subject of an NOV from the EPA and a complaint filed by the EPA and the DOJ in federal district court alleging violations of the Clean Air Act and related federal and Illinois regulations related to certain maintenance, repair and replacement activities at our Baldwin generating station. We have reached agreement with the EPA, the DOJ, the State of Illinois and the environmental group intervenors on terms to settle the litigation. A consent decree was signed by all parties and lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on March 7, 2005, and is subject to final approval of the Court following public comment. The consent decree requires us to (i) pay a $9 million civil penalty; (ii) fund several environmental projects in the additional aggregate amount of $15 million; and (iii) invest $321 million through 2010, and $224 million from 2011 through 2012, respectively, in emission control projects at our Baldwin, Vermilion and Havana plants. Please read Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies—Summary of Material Legal Proceedings—Baldwin Station Litigation beginning on page F-57 for further discussion of this lawsuit and consent decree.

 

Remedial Laws. We are also subject to environmental requirements relating to the handling and disposal of toxic and hazardous materials, including provisions of CERCLA and RCRA and similar state laws. CERCLA imposes liability, regardless of fault or the legality of the original conduct, on persons that contributed to the release of a “hazardous substance” into the environment. These persons include the current or previous owner and operator of a facility and companies that disposed, or arranged for the disposal, of the hazardous substance found at a facility. CERCLA also authorizes the EPA and, in some cases, private parties to take actions in response to threats to public health or the environment and to seek recovery for the costs of cleaning up the hazardous substances that have been released and for damages to natural resources from such responsible party. Further, it is not uncommon for neighboring landowners and other affected parties to file claims for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by the hazardous substances released into the environment. CERCLA or RCRA could impose remedial obligations at a variety of our facilities.

 

Additionally, the EPA may develop new regulations that impose additional requirements on facilities that store or dispose of non-hazardous fossil fuel combustion materials, including coal ash. If so, power generators like us may be required to change current waste management practices and incur additional capital expenditures to comply with these regulations.

 

As a result of their age, a number of our facilities contain quantities of asbestos insulation, other asbestos containing materials and lead-based paint. Existing state and federal rules require the proper management and disposal of these materials. We have developed a management plan that includes proper maintenance of existing non-friable asbestos installations and removal and abatement of asbestos-containing materials where necessary because of maintenance, repairs, replacement or damage to the asbestos itself.

 

Pipeline Safety. In addition to environmental regulatory issues, the design, construction, operation and maintenance of some of our pipeline facilities are subject to the safety regulations established by the Secretary of the DOT pursuant to the NGPSA and the HLPSA, or by state regulations meeting the requirements of the NGPSA and the HLPSA, or to similar statutes, rules and regulations in other jurisdictions. In December 2000, the DOT adopted new regulations requiring operators of interstate pipelines to develop and follow an integrity management program that provides for continual assessment of the integrity of all pipeline segments that could

 

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affect so-called “high consequence” environmental impact areas, through periodic internal inspection, pressure testing or other equally effective assessment means. An operator’s program to comply with the new rule must also provide for periodically evaluating the pipeline segments through comprehensive information analysis, remediating potential problems found through the required assessment and evaluation, and assuring additional protection for the high consequence segments through preventative and mitigative measures. Although the requirements of this DOT rule have increased the costs of pipeline operations, we do not believe that such costs are material to our financial condition or results of operations.

 

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Coast Guard has developed a security guidance document for marine terminals and has issued a security circular that defines appropriate countermeasures for protecting them and explains how the Coast Guard plans to verify that operators have taken appropriate action to implement satisfactory security procedures and plans. Using the guidelines provided by the Coast Guard, we have specifically identified certain of our facilities as marine terminals and therefore potential terrorist targets. In compliance with the Coast Guard guidance, we performed vulnerability analyses on such marine terminals. Future analyses of our security measures may result in additional measures and procedures, which measures or procedures have the potential for increasing our costs of doing business. Regardless of the steps taken to increase security, however, we cannot be assured that our marine terminals will not become the subject of a terrorist attack. Please read “—Operational Risks and Insurance” beginning on page 29 for further discussion.

 

Health and Safety. Our operations are subject to the requirements of OSHA and other comparable federal, state and provincial statutes. The OSHA hazard communication standard, the EPA community right-to-know regulations under Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act and similar state statutes require that information be organized and maintained about hazardous materials used or produced in our operations. Some of this information must be provided to employees, state and local government authorities and citizens. We believe we are currently in substantial compliance, and expect to continue to comply in all material respects, with these rules and regulations.

 

Summary. Subject to final approval of the Baldwin consent decree announced in March 2005 and described in Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies—Summary of Material Legal Proceedings —Baldwin Station Litigation beginning on page F-57, management believes that it is in substantial compliance with, and is expected to continue to comply in all material respects with, applicable environmental statutes, regulations, orders and rules. Further, to management’s knowledge, other than the previously referenced complaints, there are no existing, pending or threatened actions, suits, investigations, inquiries, proceedings or clean-up obligations by any governmental authority or third-party relating to any violations of any environmental laws with respect to our assets or pertaining to any indemnification obligations with respect to properties we previously owned or operated, which could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on our operations, cash flows and financial condition.

 

Ongoing Environmental Initiatives

 

Following is a description of ongoing environmental initiatives for which we could incur significant capital expenditures, depending on the outcome.

 

Multi-Pollutant Air Emission Initiatives. In recent years, various federal and state legislative and regulatory multi-pollutant initiatives have been introduced to replace multiple overlapping regulatory regimes with a limited number of programs and to streamline and simplify compliance planning.

 

There are currently numerous multi-pollutant initiatives being considered by state and federal governments which target many of the same pollutants but contain different compliance targets and timelines, such as the “Clear Skies” initiative, the Clean Air Interstate Rule, or CAIR, and the Clean Air Mercury Rule. The major issues addressed by these initiatives include the transportation of ozone and particulate matter, visibility impairment or “Regional Haze” and emissions of other pollutants, including mercury. These initiatives are aimed

 

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at long-term reductions of multiple pollutants produced from electric generating facilities. Some of these proposed initiatives, if enacted, would also impose controls on emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which is emitted by all combustion sources.

 

Additional EPA initiatives include designation of areas as attainment, non-attainment or non-classifiable for purposes of (i) the new particulate matter 2.5 standard, or PM 2.5 standard, and (ii) the new 8-hour ozone standard. The PM 2.5 standard is aimed at the reduction of fine (smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter) particulate matter, and would impose limitations on emissions of the precursor pollutants sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The new ozone standard may result in additional nitrogen oxides reductions from power generating facilities in affected locations. Fossil fuel-fired power plants in the U.S. would be affected by the adoption of these programs or other multi-pollutant legislation currently proposed by Congress addressing similar issues. Such programs would require compliance to be achieved either by the installation of pollution controls, the purchase of emission allowances, the curtailment of operations or some combination thereof. Based on court-ordered deadlines and Congressional activity, we anticipate that some of these new requirements will be finalized in 2005. The final requirements would specify the target emission or cap levels as well as the timeframe in which compliance must be achieved.

 

Water Issues. Our wastewater discharges are permitted under the Clean Water Act and analogous state laws. These permits are subject to review every five years. The state-issued water discharge permits associated with our DNE facilities expired in 1992. However, under New York State law, the authorization arising under these permits remains in effect and allows for continued operation under the terms of the original permit, provided that a timely and sufficient application requesting renewal has been filed as required. In May 1992, the then owner of the Danskammer facility filed a renewal application which we believe was timely and sufficient. In November 2002, several environmental groups filed suit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York seeking, among other things, a declaratory judgment that the Danskammer water intake and discharge permit expired because of alleged deficiencies in the renewal application process. In September 2004, the Court ruled that the water intake and discharge permit for our Danskammer facility is void, but stayed the enforcement of the decision pending further review by the Court or by the Appellate Division.

 

In October 2004, we filed our appeal of the Court’s decision with the Appellate Division, and we intend to pursue vigorously our challenge to the Court’s ruling voiding our permit. We will also continue to seek approval of our application to renew the water intake and discharge permit in proceedings before the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. If our appeal is ultimately unsuccessful, we may be required to suspend operations at our Danskammer facility pending receipt of final approval of the renewal of our water intake and discharge permit. We cannot predict with any certainty the outcome of these proceedings; however, an adverse outcome, particularly a requirement that we suspend operations at our Danskammer facility for any period of time, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

 

In February 2004, the EPA issued final rules, which we refer to as Rule 316(b), establishing national standards aimed at protecting aquatic life at power generating facilities with existing cooling water intake structures. This rule requires that final compliance plans be in place by January 2008. We believe that the requirements of Rule 316(b) are consistent with the provisions proposed in the Danskammer permit application. However, we expect that several of our other facilities will be impacted by the requirements of Rule 316(b), and we cannot predict what plant modifications may be necessary to comply with this rule.

 

As with air quality, the requirements applicable to water quality are expected to increase in the future. A number of efforts are under way within the EPA to evaluate water quality criteria for parameters associated with the by-products of fossil fuel combustion. These parameters include arsenic, mercury and selenium. Significant changes in these criteria could impact station discharge limits and could require our facilities to install additional water treatment equipment.

 

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Global Climate Change. The international treaty relating to global warming (commonly known as the Kyoto Protocol) would have required reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide and methane, by energy companies, including us, if adopted by the United States. As an alternative to Kyoto, which became effective (without ratification by the United States) in February 2005, current U.S. policy regarding greenhouse gases favors voluntary reductions, increased operating efficiency, and continued research and technology development. Although several bills have been introduced in Congress that would compel reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, none have advanced through the legislature and there are presently no federal mandatory greenhouse gas reduction requirements. The likelihood of any federal mandatory carbon dioxide emissions reduction program being adopted in the near future, and the specific requirements of any such program, are uncertain. However, a number of states in the Northeast and the West are in the process of developing regulatory programs to manage greenhouse gas emissions. The final program requirements and subsequent impact to our operations are not known at this time, but the Northeast states currently intend to finalize carbon dioxide emissions requirements for electric generating facilities during 2005. To the extent that any of the federal or state governments adopt or enact laws or regulations mandating a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, such mandatory reduction requirements could have far-reaching and significant implications for industry in those jurisdictions, particularly the energy industry in which we operate. Although we cannot predict the potential impact of such laws or regulations on our future financial condition, results of operations or cash flows, we will continue to monitor and participate in greenhouse gas policy developments in the regions in which we operate and will continue to assess and respond to the potential impact on our business operations.

 

For all of the ongoing environmental matters described above, it is difficult to predict the form that proposed rules will ultimately take and the impact that such rules, if approved, will have on our operations. It is possible that the result of these ongoing initiatives could require us and other similarly situated companies to incur material environmental compliance costs over a period of years, beginning as early as 2005.

 

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OPERATIONAL RISKS AND INSURANCE

 

We are subject to all risks inherent in the various businesses in which we operate. These risks include, but are not limited to, explosions, fires, terrorist attacks, product spillage, weather, nature, inadequate maintenance of rights-of-way and the public, which could result in damage to or destruction of operating assets and other property, or could result in personal injury, loss of life or pollution of the environment, as well as curtailment or suspension of operations at the affected facility. We maintain general public liability, property/boiler and machinery, and business interruption insurance in amounts that we consider to be appropriate for such risks. Such insurance is subject to deductibles that we consider reasonable and not excessive given the current insurance market environment. The costs associated with these insurance coverages have increased significantly during recent periods, and may continue to do so in the future. The occurrence of a significant event not fully insured or indemnified against, or the failure of a party to meet its indemnification obligations, could materially and adversely affect our operations and financial condition. While we currently maintain levels and types of insurance that we believe to be prudent under current insurance industry market conditions, our potential inability to secure these levels and types of insurance in the future could negatively impact our business operations and financial stability, particularly if an uninsured loss were to occur. No assurance can be given that we will be able to maintain these levels of insurance in the future at rates we consider commercially reasonable, particularly in the area of terrorism insurance should the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 not be extended beyond December 2005.

 

In our CRM segment, we also face market, price, credit and other risks relative to our exit from the CRM business. Please read Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk beginning on page 83 for further discussion of these risks.

 

In addition to these commercial risks, we also face the risk of damage to our reputation and financial loss as a result of inadequate or failed internal processes and systems. A systems failure or failure to enter a transaction properly into the records and systems may result in an inability to settle a transaction in a timely manner or cause a contract breach. Our inability to implement the policies and procedures that we have developed to minimize these risks could increase our potential exposure to damage to our reputation in the industries in which we compete and to financial loss. Please read Item 9A. Controls and Procedures beginning on page 85 for further discussion of our internal control systems.

 

SIGNIFICANT CUSTOMER

 

For the years ended December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002, approximately 17%, 16% and 15%, respectively, of our consolidated revenues and approximately 22%, 22% and 44%, respectively, of our consolidated cost of sales were derived from transactions with ChevronTexaco and its subsidiaries. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenues or consolidated cost of sales during 2004, 2003 or 2002.

 

EMPLOYEES

 

At December 31, 2004, we had approximately 643 employees at our administrative offices and approximately 1,580 employees at our operating facilities. Approximately 844 employees at Dynegy-operated facilities are subject to collective bargaining agreements with various unions. We believe relations with our employees are satisfactory.

 

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Item 1A. Executive Officers

 

Set forth below are the names and positions of our executive officers as of March 11, 2005, together with their ages and years of service with us.

 

Name


   Age

  

Position(s)


 

Served With the

Company Since


Bruce A. Williamson

   45   

President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

  2002

Alec G. Dreyer

   46   

Executive Vice President, Generation

  2000

Stephen A. Furbacher

   57   

Executive Vice President, Natural Gas Liquids

  1996

Nick J. Caruso

   59   

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

  2002

Carol F. Graebner

   51   

Executive Vice President and General Counsel

  2003

Peter J. Wilt

   57   

Vice President, Investor Relations

  2004

R. Blake Young

   46   

Executive Vice President, Administration and Technology

  1998

 

The executive officers named above will serve in such capacities until the next annual meeting of our Board of Directors, or until their respective successors have been duly elected and have been qualified, or until their earlier death, resignation, disqualification or removal from office.

 

Bruce A. Williamson has served as President, CEO and as a director of Dynegy since October 2002 and as Chairman of the Board of Dynegy since May 2004. Prior to joining Dynegy, Mr. Williamson served in various capacities with Duke Energy and its affiliates, most recently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Duke Energy Global Markets. In this capacity, he was responsible for all Duke Energy business units with global commodities and international business positions. Mr. Williamson joined PanEnergy Corporation in June 1995, which then merged with Duke Power in June 1997. Prior to the Duke-PanEnergy merger, he served as PanEnergy’s Vice President of Finance. Before joining PanEnergy, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Shell Oil Company, advancing over a 14-year period to Assistant Treasurer.

 

Alec G. Dreyer has served as Executive Vice President of our GEN segment since October 2002. Mr. Dreyer joined us in February 2000 upon consummation of the Illinova acquisition and has served various functions in our corporate finance department and power generation business. Prior to joining us, Mr. Dreyer served Illinova and its affiliates for 8 years, most recently as President of Illinova Generating Company and Senior Vice President of Illinova and Illinois Power. He was responsible for developing Illinova’s spin off of its fossil-fueled generation fleet into an unregulated entity, which is now known as DMG.

 

Stephen A. Furbacher has served as Executive Vice President of our NGL segment since September 1996. He joined us in May 1996, just prior to our acquisition of Chevron’s midstream business. Before joining us, he served as President of Warren Petroleum Company, the natural gas liquids division of Chevron U.S.A. He began his career with Chevron in August 1973 and served in positions of increasing responsibility before being named President of Warren Petroleum Company in July 1994.

 

Nick J. Caruso has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since December 2002. Mr. Caruso is responsible for our internal audit, risk management, tax, treasury, accounting and finance functions. He was previously employed by Shell Oil Company from June 1969 to December 2001. He most recently served as that company’s Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer before retiring in December 2001. He was responsible for the controller’s organization, treasury, insurance, auditing and retirement funds, interfacing with the board of directors on internal controls, and preparation of financial statements.

 

Carol F. Graebner has served as our Executive Vice President and General Counsel since March 2003. Prior to joining us, Ms. Graebner was employed by Duke Energy International, where she served as senior vice president and general counsel and was responsible for providing all legal, regulatory and governmental affairs

 

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services for that company’s international merchant energy business. Prior to joining Duke Energy International in November 1998, she served in various positions of increasing responsibility at Conoco Inc., advancing over a 16-year period to general counsel of Conoco Global Power, Inc.

 

Peter J. Wilt has served as our Vice President, Investor Relations since April 2004. Mr. Wilt is responsible for serving as a liaison between our management, the investing public and the financial community, including portfolio managers and research analysts. He is also responsible for communicating our financial results, operational performance and business strategies to the investment community. Mr. Wilt previously served Duke Energy International as Executive Vice President, Europe from May 2002 through April 2004, and as Executive Vice President, Latin America, from November 1999 through May 2002.

 

R. Blake Young has served as our Executive Vice President of Administration and Technology since October 2002. Formerly President of Global Technology, Mr. Young is responsible for strategic planning, corporate technology, corporate communications, human resources, divestitures and corporate shared services. In addition, Mr. Young served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Illinois Power from February 2004 through April 2004, and as President of Illinois Power from April 2004 through September 2004. In these capacities he assumed the overall responsibility for Illinois Power and its transition to Ameren during the regulatory approval process. Prior to joining us in October 1998, he worked for Campbell Soup Company where he was responsible for technology deployment across its U.S. grocery division and served as head of global business systems strategy. Mr. Young was previously employed by Tenneco Energy for approximately 13 years, where he served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

 

Item 2. Properties

 

We have included descriptions of the location and general character of our principal physical operating properties by segment in “Item 1. Business” beginning on page 1. Those descriptions are incorporated herein by this reference. Substantially all of our assets, including the physical operating properties we own, are pledged as collateral with respect to the DHI amended credit facility and the DHI second priority senior secured notes on a first lien and second lien, respectively. Please read Note 11—Debt beginning on page F-42 for further discussion of the amended credit facility.

 

Our principal executive office located in Houston, Texas is held under a lease that expires in December 2007. We also lease additional offices in the states of California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas.

 

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

 

For a description of our material legal proceedings, please read Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies beginning on page F-55, which is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

 

No matter was submitted to a vote of our security holders during the fourth quarter 2004.

 

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PART II

 

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchase of Equity Securities

 

Our Class A common stock, no par value per share, is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “DYN.” The number of stockholders of record of our Class A common stock as of March 4, 2005, based upon records of registered holders maintained by our transfer agent, was 20,712.

 

Our Class B common stock, no par value per share, is neither listed nor traded on any exchange. All of the shares of Class B common stock are owned by Chevron U.S.A. Inc., which we refer to as Chevron.

 

The following table sets forth the high and low closing sales prices for the Class A common stock for each full quarterly period during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange Composite Tape.

 

Summary of Dynegy’s Common Stock Price

 

     High

   Low

2004:

             

Fourth Quarter

   $ 5.86    $ 4.27

Third Quarter

     4.99      3.93

Second Quarter

     4.44      3.75

First Quarter

     5.15      3.46

2003:

             

Fourth Quarter

   $ 4.35    $ 3.45

Third Quarter

     4.65      2.85

Second Quarter

     5.23      2.54

First Quarter

     2.63      1.29

 

During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, our Board of Directors did not elect to pay a common stock dividend. Please read “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Dividends on Preferred and Common Stock” beginning on page 48 for further discussion of our dividend policy and the impact of dividend restrictions contained in our financing agreements. Any decision to pay a dividend is at the discretion of the Board of Directors, but we do not expect to pay a common stock dividend in the foreseeable future.

 

Shareholder Agreement

 

In June 1999, Chevron, now a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco, entered into a shareholder agreement with us governing certain aspects of our relationship. The agreement was executed in February 2000, upon closing of the merger with Illinova, and reflected agreements negotiated between us and Chevron relating to Chevron’s significant ownership interest in Dynegy. The agreement amended certain of the rights and obligations previously agreed between us and Chevron at the time of Chevron’s initial investment in 1996. In August 2003, we entered into an amended and restated shareholder agreement with Chevron in connection with the consummation of the Series B Exchange. Please read Note 12—Related Party Transactions—Series B Preferred Stock beginning on page F-47 for further discussion of the Series B Exchange. The material terms of this amended and restated shareholder agreement, which we refer to as the shareholder agreement, are described below.

 

The shareholder agreement grants Chevron preemptive rights to acquire shares of our common stock in proportion to its then-existing interest in our equity value whenever we issue any equity securities, including

 

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securities issued pursuant to employee benefit plans. Chevron agreed to waive its preemptive rights in respect of the equity securities we issued in connection with the Series B Exchange and our August 2003 refinancing and up to $250 million in equity securities we may issue in one or more future underwritten offerings.

 

In addition, Chevron and its affiliates may acquire up to 40% of the total combined voting power of our outstanding voting securities without restriction in the shareholder agreement. Shares of Class B common stock issued to Chevron upon the mandatory conversion of Chevron’s Class C convertible preferred stock are not counted when calculating this 40% threshold. We have agreed not to take any action that would cause Chevron’s ownership to exceed this 40% threshold.

 

If Chevron or its affiliates wish to acquire more than 40% of the total combined voting power of our outstanding voting securities, the shareholder agreement requires Chevron to make an offer to acquire all of our outstanding voting securities for cash or freely tradable securities listed on a national securities exchange. Any offer by Chevron or its affiliates for all of our outstanding voting securities would be subject to the auction procedures outlined in the agreement.

 

Chevron’s ownership of our Class B common stock entitles it to designate up to three members of our Board of Directors. The shareholder agreement prohibits Chevron from selling or transferring shares of Class B common stock except in the following transactions:

 

    a widely-dispersed public offering;

 

    an unsolicited sale to a third party, provided that we or our designee are given the opportunity to purchase the shares proposed to be sold; or

 

    a solicited sale to an acceptable third party, provided that if we advise Chevron that the sale to a third party is not acceptable, we must purchase all of the offered shares for cash at a purchase price equal to 105% of the third party offer.

 

Upon the sale or transfer to any person other than an affiliate of Chevron, the shares of Class B common stock automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock.

 

The shareholder agreement further provides that we may require Chevron and its affiliates to sell all of the shares of Class B common stock under specified circumstances. These rights are triggered if Chevron or its Board designees block—which they are entitled to do under our Bylaws—any of the following transactions two times in any 24-month period or three times over any period of time:

 

    the issuance of new shares of stock where the aggregate consideration to be received exceeds the greater of $1 billion or one-quarter of our total market capitalization;

 

    any disposition of all or substantially all of our NGL business while substantial agreements between Chevron and us exist (except for a contribution of such liquids business to an entity in which we have a majority direct or indirect interest);

 

    any merger, consolidation, joint venture, liquidation, dissolution, bankruptcy, acquisition of stock or assets, or issuance of common or preferred stock, any of which would result in payment or receipt of consideration having a fair market value exceeding the greater of $1 billion or one-quarter of our total market capitalization; or

 

    any other material transaction or series of related transactions which would result in the payment or receipt of consideration having a fair market value exceeding the greater of $1 billion or one-quarter of our total market capitalization.

 

However, upon occurrence of one of these triggering events and in lieu of selling Class B common stock, Chevron may elect to retain the shares of Class B common stock but forfeit its right and the right of its Board

 

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designees to block the subject transaction. A block consists of a vote against a proposed transaction by either (a) all of Chevron’s representatives on our Board of Directors present at the meeting where the vote is taken (if the transaction would otherwise be approved by our Board of Directors) or (b) any of the Class B common stock held by Chevron and its affiliates if the transaction otherwise would be approved by at least two-thirds of all other shares entitled to vote on the transaction, excluding shares held by our management, directors or subsidiaries.

 

The shareholder agreement also prohibits us from taking the following actions:

 

    issuing any shares of Class B common stock to any person other than Chevron and its affiliates;

 

    adopting a shareholder rights plan, “poison pill” or similar device that prevents Chevron from exercising its rights to acquire shares of common stock or from disposing of its shares when required by us; and

 

    acquiring, owning or operating a nuclear power facility, other than being a passive investor in a publicly-traded company that owns a nuclear facility.

 

Generally, the provisions of the shareholder agreement terminate on the date Chevron and its affiliates cease to own shares representing at least 15% of our outstanding voting power. At such time all of the shares of Class B common stock held by Chevron would convert to shares of Class A common stock.

 

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

 

The following table sets forth certain information as of December 31, 2004 as it relates to our equity compensation plans for our Class A common stock, the only class with respect to which we offer equity compensation.

 

Plan Category


  

Number of

securities

to be issued upon

exercise of

outstanding

options,

warrants and

rights

(a)


  

Weighted-average

exercise price of

outstanding

options, warrants
and rights

(b)


  

Number of securities

remaining available

for future issuance

under equity

compensation plans

(excluding securities

reflected in column (a))

(c)


Equity compensation plans approved by security holders

   7,506,236    $ 16.83    26,931,419

Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders (1)

   3,856,434    $ 18.01    5,996,678
    
  

  

Total

   11,362,670    $ 17.23    32,928,097
    
  

  

(1) The plans that were not approved by our security holders are as follows: Extant Plan, Dynegy 2001 Non-Executive Stock Incentive Plan and Dynegy UK Plan. Please read Note 18—Capital Stock—Stock Options beginning on page F-71 for a brief description of our equity compensation plans, including these plans.

 

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

 

The selected financial information presented below was derived from, and is qualified by reference to, our Consolidated Financial Statements, including the notes thereto, contained elsewhere herein. The selected financial information should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. Earnings (loss) per share (“EPS”), shares outstanding for EPS calculation and cash dividends per common share have been adjusted for a two-for-one stock split on August 22, 2000 and, for all periods prior to February 1, 2000, the 0.69-to-one exchange ratio in the Illinova acquisition.

 

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As discussed in the Explanatory Note to the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements, the historical information in the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements has been restated. Please read the Explanatory Note to the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements beginning on page F-10 for additional information about these restatements. The selected financial data that follows has been adjusted to reflect these restatements.

 

Dynegy’s Selected Financial Data

 

    Year Ended December 31,

 
    2004

    2003

    2002

    2001

    2000

 
          (Restated)     (Restated)     (Restated)     (Restated)  
    (in millions, except per share data)  

Statement of Operations Data (1):

                                       

Revenues

  $ 6,153     $ 5,787     $ 5,326     $ 9,124     $ 9,715  

Depreciation and amortization expense

    (323 )     (454 )     (466 )     (452 )     (386 )

Goodwill impairment

    —         (311 )     (814 )     —         —    

Impairment and other charges

    (83 )     (225 )     (190 )     —         —    

General and administrative expenses

    (352 )     (346 )     (325 )     (420 )     (312 )

Operating income (loss)

    192       (594 )     (1,058 )     971       770  

Interest expense

    (480 )     (509 )     (297 )     (255 )     (247 )

Income tax benefit (expense)

    89       246       343       (366 )     (231 )

Net income (loss) from continuing operations

    (10 )     (713 )     (1,199 )     481       416  

Income (loss) from discontinued operations (3)

    (5 )     (19 )     (1,154 )     (82 )     27  

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principles

    —         40       (234 )     2       —    

Net income (loss)

  $ (15 )   $ (692 )   $ (2,587 )   $ 401     $ 443  

Net income (loss) applicable to common stockholders

    (37 )     321       (2,917 )     359       408  

Basic earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations

  $ (0.09 )   $ 0.80     $ (4.18 )   $ 1.35     $ 1.26  

Basic net income (loss) per share

    (0.10 )     0.86       (7.97 )     1.10       1.35  

Diluted earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations

  $ (0.09 )   $ 0.73     $ (4.18 )   $ 1.29     $ 1.21  

Diluted net income (loss) per share

    (0.10 )     0.78       (7.97 )     1.05       1.30  

Shares outstanding for basic EPS calculation

    378       374       366       326       302  

Shares outstanding for diluted EPS calculation

    504       423       370       340       315  

Cash dividends per common share

  $ —       $ —       $ 0.15     $ 0.30     $ 0.25  

Cash Flow Data:

                                       

Cash flows from operating activities

  $ 5     $ 876     $ (25 )   $ 550     $ 420  

Cash flows from investing activities

    262       (266 )     677       (3,828 )     (1,539 )

Cash flows from financing activities

    (115 )     (900 )     (44 )     3,450       1,131  

Cash dividends or distributions to partners, net

    (22 )     —         (55 )     (98 )     (112 )

Capital expenditures, acquisitions and investments

    (314 )     (338 )     (981 )     (4,687 )     (2,415 )

 

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     December 31,

     2004

   2003

   2002

   2001

   2000

          (Restated)    (Restated)    (Restated)    (Restated)
     (in millions)

Balance Sheet Data (2):

                                  

Current assets

   $ 2,752    $ 3,086    $ 7,586    $ 8,956    $ 10,827

Current liabilities

     1,802      2,450      6,748      8,538      10,286

Property and equipment, net

     6,130      8,178      8,458      9,269      7,148

Total assets

     9,852      12,810      20,029      25,083      22,572

Long-term debt (excluding current portion)

     4,332      5,893      5,454      5,016      3,754

Notes payable and current portion of long-term debt

     34      331      861      458      118

Serial preferred securities of a subsidiary

     —        11      11      46      46

Subordinated debentures

     —        —        200      200      300

Series B Preferred Stock (4)

     —        —        1,212      882      —  

Series C convertible preferred stock

     400      400      —        —        —  

Minority interest (5)

     106      121      146      1,040      1,022

Capital leases not already included in long-term debt

     —        —        15      29      15

Total equity

     1,867      1,886      2,167      4,867      3,376

(1) The following acquisitions were accounted for in accordance with the purchase method of accounting and the results of operations attributable to the acquired businesses are included in our financial statements and operating statistics beginning on the acquisitions’ effective date for accounting purposes:
    Northern Natural—February 1, 2002;
    BGSL—December 1, 2001;
    iaxis—March 1, 2001;
    Extant—October 1, 2000; and
    Illinova—January 1, 2000.
(2) The Northern Natural, BGSL, iaxis, Extant and Illinova acquisitions were each accounted for under the purchase method of accounting. Accordingly, the purchase price was allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values as of the effective dates of each transaction. See note (1) above for respective effective dates.
(3) Discontinued operations includes the results of operations from the following businesses:
    Northern Natural (sold third quarter 2002);
    U.K. Storage—Hornsea facility (sold fourth quarter 2002) and Rough facility (sold fourth quarter 2002);
    DGC (portions sold in fourth quarter 2002 and first and second quarters 2003);
    Global Liquids (sold fourth quarter 2002); and
    U.K. CRM (substantially liquidated in first quarter 2003).
(4) The 2002 amount equals the $1.5 billion in proceeds related to the Series B Preferred Stock less the $660 million implied dividend recognized in connection with the beneficial conversion option plus $372 million in accretion of the implied dividend through December 31, 2002. The 2001 amount equals the $1.5 billion in proceeds less the $660 million implied dividend plus $42 million in accretion of the implied dividend through December 31, 2001. Please read Note 12—Related Party Transactions—Series B Preferred Stock beginning on page F-47 for further discussion.
(5) The 2001 and 2000 amounts include amounts relating to the Black Thunder Secured Financing. This financing involved (i) our investment of $100 million in June 2000 in Catlin Associates, L.L.C., an entity which holds indirect economic interests in some of our Midwest generation assets, including the coal-fired generation units in Illinois, and (ii) our obligation to purchase the $850 million interest held by a third party on or before June 2005. We repaid the balance owed under this financing in August 2003.

 

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

The following discussion should be read together with the audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in this report.

 

OVERVIEW

 

We are a holding company and conduct substantially all of our business operations through our subsidiaries. Our current business operations are focused primarily in two areas of the energy industry: power generation and natural gas liquids. Because of the diversity among their respective operations, we report the results of each business as a separate segment in our consolidated financial statements. As described below, our regulated energy delivery business, which was conducted through Illinois Power and its subsidiaries, was sold to Ameren Corporation in September 2004. We also separately report the results of our customer risk management business, which primarily consists of our three remaining power tolling arrangements (excluding the Independence toll, which is now part of our GEN segment) as well as our gas transportation contracts, and legacy gas and power trading positions. Our consolidated financial results also reflect corporate-level expenses such as general and administrative, interest and infrastructure depreciation and amortization, but because of their nature, these items are not reported as a separate segment.

 

Following is a brief discussion of each of our three current business segments, including a list of key factors that have affected, and are expected to continue to affect, their respective earnings and cash flows. We also present a brief discussion of our corporate-level expenses. This “Overview” section concludes with a discussion of strategic growth opportunities and a summary of our current liquidity position and items that could impact our liquidity position in 2005 and beyond. Please note that this “Overview” section is merely a summary and should be read together with the remainder of this Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, as well as our audited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, and the other information included in this report.

 

Power Generation. Our power generation business owns or leases more than 12,700 MWs of net generating capacity located in six regions of the United States, including the facilities recently acquired in the Sithe Energies acquisition. Our power generating fleet is diversified by facility type (base load, intermediate and peaking), fuel source and geographic location. We generate earnings and cash flows in this business through sales of energy and capacity.

 

The primary factors impacting our power generation earnings and cash flows are the prices for power, natural gas and coal, which in turn are largely driven by supply and demand. Demand for power can vary regionally due to, among other things, weather and general economic conditions. Power supplies similarly vary by region and are impacted significantly by available generating capacity, transmission capacity and federal and state regulation. We also are impacted by the relationship between prices for power and natural gas, commonly referred to as the “spark spread,” and its impact on the cost of generating electricity. However, we believe that our significant coal-fired and fuel oil generating facilities partially mitigate our sensitivity to changes in the spark spread, in that coal and fuel oil prices are relatively stable and insensitive to changes in gas prices, and position us for potential increases in earnings and cash flows in an environment where both power and gas prices increase. We have entered into long-term coal supply and transportation agreements for our Midwest fleet. Please read “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Internal Liquidity Sources—Cash Flows from Operations” beginning on page 48 for a discussion of our views on the current pricing environment and its anticipated long-term recovery.

 

Other factors that have impacted, and are expected to continue to impact, earnings and cash flows for this business include:

 

    our ability to control our capital expenditures, which primarily are limited to maintenance, safety, environmental and reliability projects, and to control other costs through disciplined management and safe, efficient operations;

 

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    our ability to optimize our assets through hedging activities and similar transactions, which is affected by general market liquidity and the need to satisfy counterparties’ collateral requirements given our non-investment grade credit ratings; and

 

    our ability to enter into new sales contracts and to renew our existing contracts.

 

Natural Gas Liquids. Our natural gas liquids business owns natural gas gathering and processing, or upstream, assets in key producing areas of Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas. This business also owns integrated downstream assets used to fractionate, store, terminal, transport, distribute and market natural gas liquids. These downstream assets generally are connected to and supplied by our and third parties’ upstream assets and are located in Mont Belvieu, Texas, the hub of the U.S. natural gas liquids business, and West Louisiana.

 

We generate earnings and cash flows in the upstream business by selling our gathering, processing and treating services to producers. We generate earnings and cash flows in our downstream business through sales of our fractionation, storage, transportation and terminalling services and sales of natural gas liquids through our marketing operations.

 

The earnings and cash flows that we generate in this business are sensitive to natural gas and natural gas liquids prices and, to a lesser extent, the relationship between the two, commonly referred to as the “frac spread.” Our current contract mix has minimal exposure to frac spread risk. Please read Item 1. Business—Segment Discussion—Natural Gas Liquids—Upstream Business beginning on page 10 for a detailed discussion of our current upstream contract portfolio.

 

In addition to commodity prices, other factors that have impacted, and are expected to continue to impact, the earnings and cash flows for this business include:

 

    our ability to control our capital expenditures, which primarily are limited to maintenance, safety and reliability projects, and control other costs through disciplined management and safe, efficient operations;

 

    reduced market liquidity and our obligation to post collateral to or prepay counterparties because of our non-investment grade credit ratings, which limit our ability to contract forward physically for some of our natural gas liquids products;

 

    producer drilling activity, which is significantly affected by commodity prices;

 

    a varying frac spread environment and the resulting impact on volumes available for fractionation, distribution and marketing;

 

    the petrochemical industry’s need for and utilization of our natural gas liquids as feedstocks and related natural gas liquids facilities to provide distribution and logistics services;

 

    our ability to manage our natural gas liquids inventories efficiently; and

 

    our ability to meet customer demands for timely delivery and transportation.

 

Regulated Energy Delivery. Our regulated energy delivery segment was comprised of our Illinois Power subsidiary prior to its sale to Ameren in September 2004. From February 2002 through July 2002, this segment, formerly called the Transmission and Distribution segment, also included the results of Northern Natural. Northern Natural’s results for this period are reflected in Discontinued Operations in our consolidated statements of operations.

 

Customer Risk Management. Our customer risk management business primarily consists of the Gregory power tolling arrangement, which expires in July 2005, the Kendall power tolling arrangement, the effect of which we have mitigated through November 2008 and the Sterlington power tolling arrangement, as well as our gas transportation contracts and legacy gas and power trading positions. Please read Note 3—Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Dispositions and Contract Terminations—Kendall beginning on page F-25 below for further discussion of the Kendall toll. Our Independence

 

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power tolling arrangement and the related gas transportation contracts, which were previously part of our CRM segment, were reclassified as intercompany transactions upon our consummation of the Sithe Energies acquisition, and, as of February 2005, are part of our GEN segment, as they relate to the operation of the power generation assets acquired from Exelon. Please read Note 3—Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Acquisitions—Sithe Energies beginning on page F-23 for further discussion. We have significant, long-term fixed obligations associated with our tolling arrangements, which obligations may substantially exceed the earnings and cash flows we expect to generate in connection with these arrangements. Our ability to mitigate partially the negative impact of these arrangements on our earnings and cash flows depends on the price of power and the spark spread in the regions where the plants covered by those tolls are located. It also will be significantly impacted by our ability to restructure or terminate one or more of our remaining power tolling arrangements, which we expect would require a significant cash payment.

 

Regarding our legacy gas and power trading positions, we have substantially reduced the size of our portfolio relative to when we were primarily a marketing and trading company. Please read Item 1. Business—Segment Discussion—Customer Risk Management beginning on page 18 for further discussion.

 

Other. Beginning January 1, 2003, Other includes corporate-level items that were previously allocated to our operating segments. Significant items impacting future earnings and cash flows include:

 

    interest expense, which increased beginning in 2003 as a result of our refinancing and restructuring activities and will continue to reflect our non-investment grade credit ratings;

 

    general and administrative costs, with respect to which we have implemented a number of initiatives that have yielded savings; general and administrative costs also will be impacted by, among other things, (i) any future corporate-level litigation reserves or settlements and (ii) potential funding requirements under our pension plans; and

 

    income taxes, with respect to which we currently only pay minimal state and foreign income taxes; income taxes will also be impacted by our ability to realize our significant deferred tax assets, including loss carryforwards.

 

In addition, dividends associated with our outstanding preferred stock will continue to affect our earnings available to our common shareholders.

 

Strategic Growth Opportunities. With only a few significant legacy matters remaining to be addressed, more of our company’s resources are available to continue our efforts to operate our energy businesses safely, reliably and efficiently, to manage the costs across our organization and to deliver value to our investors. We are also continuing to focus on identifying and evaluating strategic growth opportunities, particularly organic or “bolt-on” projects, such as the conversion of our Havana power generating facility to lower-cost and lower-emission PRB coal, to improve the operational performance and efficiency of certain assets, enabling us to realize costs savings and to capture even more of the benefit of increases in commodity prices. Such opportunities may also include merger and acquisition activities, which we discuss and evaluate as part of our ongoing business strategy. In the power generation industry, in particular, we believe that consolidation is likely to occur within the next several years. We further believe that our efficient and scalable operations platform, together with our multi-fuel capabilities and multi-region presence, position us to benefit from opportunities that might arise in connection with any acquisition or consolidation transactions. However, our desire or ability to pursue in any such opportunities is subject to a number of factors beyond our control. As such, we cannot guarantee that any such opportunities will be available to us, nor can we predict with any degree of certainty the impact of any such opportunities on our financial condition or results of operations.

 

Liquidity. As of March 4, 2005, we had cash on hand of $365 million and available borrowing capacity of $611 million, for total liquidity of nearly $1 billion. During 2004, we continued to reduce our debt and other obligations while maintaining liquidity between $1.2 billion and $1.7 billion. The sale of Illinois Power provided significant cash proceeds and advanced our business strategy of focusing on our unregulated energy businesses. In January 2005, we used approximately $135 million of liquidity to pay the cash portion of the purchase price for the Sithe Energies acquisition.

 

For the next twelve months, assuming continuation of the current commodity pricing environment, we expect that our operating cash flows will be positive, but insufficient to satisfy our capital expenditures and debt maturities. However, we believe that our cash on hand and the $100 million deposited into escrow in connection with the sale of Illinois Power, which we expect to receive following approval of the Baldwin consent decree announced in March 2005, together with capacity under our $700 million revolving credit facility, will be

 

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sufficient to discharge these obligations. To further our deleveraging efforts, we may consider other capital-raising activities, including potential equity issuances.

 

Over the longer term and through the anticipated recovery of the U.S. power markets, we expect to maintain sufficient liquidity to satisfy our debt and commercial obligations and provide collateral support through operating cash flows, capacity under our revolving credit facility (or any refinancing thereof), as well as proceeds from anticipated refinancings of debt maturities.

 

Our ability to generate operating cash flows will be impacted by a number of factors, some of which are beyond our control, including weather, commodity prices, particularly for power and natural gas, and the success of our ongoing efforts to manage operating costs, particularly fuel requirements, and capital expenditures. Our ability to refinance our substantial debt maturities is primarily dependent upon our ability to generate operating cash flows, which is subject to the factors described in the preceding sentence. Over the longer term we believe that power prices will improve in some or all of the regions in which we operate as the supply-demand imbalance for power decreases. Much of our restructuring work has positioned us to benefit from earnings and growth opportunities associated with an expected recovery in the U.S. power markets. Additionally, our NGL business is currently operating in a highly favorable pricing environment. Our future financial condition and results of operations will be materially adversely affected if the U.S. power markets fail to recover in accordance with our expectations or if we experience significant, prolonged pricing deterioration below price levels experienced over the last few years in our NGL segment.

 

Our longer term liquidity position and financial condition will also be significantly impacted by the availability of, and our ability to pursue, strategic growth opportunities. However, our desire or ability to pursue any such opportunities is subject to a number of factors beyond our control. As such, we cannot guarantee that any such opportunities will be available to us, nor can we predict with any degree of certainty the impact of any such opportunities on our financial condition or results of operations.

 

Please read “Uncertainty of Forward-Looking Statements and Information” for additional factors that could impact our future operating results and financial condition.

 

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

 

Overview

 

Our liquidity and capital requirements are primarily a function of our debt maturities and debt service requirements, collateral requirements, fixed capacity payments and contractual obligations, capital expenditures, legal settlements and working capital needs. Examples of working capital needs include prepayments or cash collateral associated with purchases of commodities, particularly natural gas, coal and natural gas liquids, facility maintenance costs and other costs such as payroll. Our liquidity and capital resources are primarily derived from cash flows from operations, cash on hand, borrowings under our financing agreements, asset sale proceeds and proceeds from capital market transactions, to the extent that we engage in these activities prospectively.

 

Debt Obligations

 

During 2004, we continued our efforts to reduce our debt maturities and extend our maturity profile, which included the following transactions:

 

    Replacement of our $1.1 billion credit facility, scheduled to mature in February 2005, with a new $1.3 billion credit facility comprised of a revolving credit facility and a term loan, which are scheduled to mature in May 2007 and May 2010, respectively;

 

    Prepayment of all outstanding indebtedness and other amounts owed under the ABG Gas Supply Financing, primarily through use of $154 million in proceeds from the May 2004 term loan;

 

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    Payment of $81 million in connection with the termination of the Tilton capital lease;

 

    The sale of Illinois Power to Ameren Corporation, which eliminated Illinois Power’s $1.8 billion in debt and preferred stock obligations from our consolidated balance sheet; and

 

    Redemption of all outstanding ChevronTexaco junior notes, primarily through the use of $125 million of the proceeds from the Illinois Power sale.

 

As a result of our efforts, our aggregate maturities for long-term debt as of December 31, 2004 were reduced to $24 million in 2005, $28 million in 2006, $188 million in 2007 (excluding the maturity of our $700 million revolving credit facility), $231 million in 2008, $6 million in 2009 and approximately $3.9 billion thereafter. Maturities for 2005 represent our principal payments on our term loan and our 8.125% DHI senior notes and exclude the non-cash amortization of basis adjustments included in Notes payable and current portion of long-term debt on our consolidated balance sheets.

 

Furthermore, upon the closing of the Sithe Energies acquisition, our balance sheet will reflect the consolidation of the fair value of approximately $919 million in face value project debt. Please read Note 3— Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Acquisitions—Sithe Energies beginning on page F-23 for further discussion of this transaction.

 

We have incurred significant debt service obligations in the course of extending our debt maturities. We also are subject to covenants in the related transaction agreements that are substantially more restrictive than those typically found in financing agreements of borrowers with investment grade credit ratings, including covenants limiting our ability to incur additional debt and sell certain assets. We are currently in compliance with these restrictive covenants, but our future financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected by our ability to comply with these restrictive covenants in the future.

 

The following table depicts our consolidated third-party debt obligations, including the principal-like maturities associated with the DNE leveraged lease, and the extent to which they are secured as of December 31, 2004 and 2003:

 

     December 31,
2004


    December 31,
2003


 
     (in millions)  

First Secured Obligations

                

Dynegy Holdings Inc.

   $ 1,551     $ 1,127  

Illinois Power (1)

     —         1,967  
    


 


Total First Secured Obligations

     1,551       3,094  

Second Secured Obligations

     1,750       1,750  

Unsecured Obligations

     1,831       2,160  
    


 


Subtotal

     5,132       7,004  

Preferred Obligations

     400       411  
    


 


Total Obligations

   $ 5,532     $ 7,415  
    


 


Less: DNE Lease Financing (3)

     (771 )     (758 )

Less: Preferred Obligations

     (400 )     (411 )

Other (2)

     5       (22 )
    


 


Total Notes Payable and Long-term Debt

   $ 4,366     $ 6,224  
    


 



(1) Ameren assumed Illinois Power’s debt obligations on September 30, 2004 upon closing of our sale of Illinois Power. Please read Note 3—Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Dispositions and Contract Terminations—Sale of Illinois Power beginning on page F-23 for further discussion.

 

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(2) Consists of net premiums on debt of $5 million at December 31, 2004; net discounts on debt of $12 million at December 31, 2003; and the $10 million difference between the carrying value of the Tilton capital lease and the purchase obligation of $81 million at December 31, 2003.
(3) Represents present value of future lease payments discounted at 10%.

 

Collateral Postings

 

We continue to use a significant portion of our capital resources, in the form of cash and letters of credit, to satisfy counterparty collateral demands. These counterparty collateral demands reflect our non-investment grade credit ratings and counterparties’ views of our financial condition and ability to satisfy our performance obligations, as well as commodity prices and other factors. The following table summarizes our consolidated collateral postings to third parties by segment at March 4, 2005, December 31, 2004 and December 31, 2003:

 

    

March 4,

2005


  

December 31,

2004


  

December 31,

2003


     (in millions)

By Segment:

                    

GEN

   $ 176    $ 192    $ 136

CRM

     80      94      121

NGL

     167      167      179

REG

     10      10      38

Other

     9      7      8
    

  

  

Total

   $ 442    $ 470    $ 482
    

  

  

By Type:

                    

Cash

   $ 353    $ 376    $ 294

Letters of Credit

     89      94      188
    

  

  

Total

   $ 442    $ 470    $ 482
    

  

  

 

The increase in collateral postings for the GEN of $40 million is primarily a result of increased commodity prices, particularly the price of electricity, as well as increased coal purchases and collateral posted in connection with new electric capacity sales transactions. Additionally, as of February 2005, our Independence power tolling arrangement and financial derivative instrument and the related gas transportation contracts (and the collateral posted in connection with these obligations), which were previously part of our CRM segment, were transformed into intercompany obligations under our GEN segment. Please read Note 3—Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Acquisitions—Sithe Energies beginning on page F-23 for further discussion.

 

This increase in our collateral postings was offset by reductions in collateral postings in our other segments, including the $41 million reduction of collateral posted in support of our CRM segment primarily resulting from (i) the termination of the ABG Gas Supply contract in August 2004 and (ii) the execution of a master netting agreement with a significant counterparty, which were offset by $22.5 million of collateral posted in connection with an existing natural gas transaction. Additionally, the year end 2003 balance, in support of our NGL segment, included collateral posted with respect to the purchase of natural gas liquids inventory transported by barge. Finally, collateral postings at our REG segment have decreased by $28 million due to the sale of Illinois Power. We expect that the remaining $10 million of collateral relating to that segment will be eliminated in the first quarter 2005.

 

While the total amount of collateral posted decreased, we have increased the proportion of cash used to satisfy counterparty collateral demands. As of December 31, 2003, approximately 61% of the aggregate collateral posted (or approximately $294 million) consisted of cash, compared to approximately 80% cash

 

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collateral (or approximately $376 million) as of December 31, 2004 and 80% cash collateral (or approximately $353 million) as of March 4, 2005. This increase is the result of the termination of the ABG Gas Supply contract and our ongoing efforts to post cash collateral in lieu of letters of credit, to the extent economical, to avoid paying the 4.00% per annum letter of credit fee payable under our revolving credit facility.

 

Going forward, we expect counterparties’ collateral demands to continue to reflect changes in commodity prices, including seasonal changes in weather-related demand, as well as their views of our creditworthiness. Considering current commodity price estimates, our credit ratings, the timing of contract settlements, the anticipated level of new capacity sales agreements and forward hedging transactions, we believe that collateral requirements will be between $375 million and $400 million at year-end 2005. We believe that we have sufficient capital resources to satisfy counterparties’ collateral demands, including those for which no collateral is currently posted, for at least the next twelve months. Over the longer term, we expect to achieve incremental reductions associated with the completion of our exit from the CRM business.

 

Disclosure of Contractual Obligations and Contingent Financial Commitments

 

We incur contractual obligations and financial commitments in the normal course of our operations and financing activities. Contractual obligations include future cash payments required under existing contracts, such as debt and lease agreements. These obligations may result from both general financing activities and from commercial arrangements that are directly supported by related operating activities. Financial commitments represent contingent obligations, such as financial guarantees, that become payable only if specified events occur. Details on these obligations are set forth below.

 

Contractual Obligations

 

The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2004. Cash obligations reflected are not discounted and do not include related interest, accretion or dividends.

 

     Payments Due by Period

     Total

   2005

   2006

   2007

   2008

   2009

   Thereafter

Long-Term Debt (including Current Portion)

   $ 4,366    $ 34    $ 28    $ 188    $ 231    $ 6    $ 3,879

Redeemable Preferred Securities

     400      —        —        —        —        —        400

Operating Leases

     1,622      93      93      141      158      161      976

Capacity Payments

     2,242      208      191      194      200      201      1,248

Conditional Purchase Obligations

     124      14      13      14      14      14      55

Pension Funding Obligations

     73      28      19      26      —        —        —  
    

  

  

  

  

  

  

Total Contractual Obligations

   $ 8,827    $ 377    $ 344    $ 563    $ 603    $ 382    $ 6,558
    

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Long-Term Debt (including Current Portion). Total amounts of Long-Term Debt (including Current Portion) are included in the December 31, 2004 Consolidated Balance Sheet. For additional explanation, please read Note 11—Debt beginning on page F-42.

 

Additionally, we have entered into various joint ventures principally to share risk or optimize existing commercial relationships. These joint ventures maintain independent capital structures and, where necessary, have financed their operations on a non-recourse basis to us. Please read Note 9—Unconsolidated Investments beginning on page F-37 for further discussion of these joint ventures.

 

Redeemable Preferred Securities. Total amounts of Redeemable Preferred Securities are included in the December 31, 2004 Consolidated Balance Sheet. For additional explanation, please read Note 14—Redeemable Preferred Securities beginning on page F-54.

 

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Operating Leases. Operating leases includes the minimum lease payment obligations associated with our DNE leveraged lease. For additional information, please read “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements—DNE Leveraged Lease” beginning on page 45. Amounts also include minimum lease payment obligations associated with office and office equipment leases.

 

In addition, we are party to two charter party agreements relating to VLGCs previously utilized in our global liquids business. The aggregate minimum base commitments of the charter party agreements are approximately $13 million each year for the years 2005 through 2007, and approximately $79 million through lease expiration. The charter party rates payable under the two charter party agreements float in accordance with market based rates for similar shipping services. The $13 million and $79 million numbers set forth above are based on the minimum obligations set forth in the two charter party agreements. The primary term of one charter is through August 2013 while the primary term of the second charter is through August 2014. On January 1, 2003, in connection with the sale of our global liquids business, we sub-chartered both VLGCs to a wholly owned subsidiary of Transammonia Inc. The terms of the sub-charters are identical to the terms of the original charter agreements. We are currently in negotiations with the owners of the VLGCs and their lenders to obtain a novation and release of our operating subsidiary from the two charter party agreements and partial releases of our parent guarantees. Until such time as the novations and partial releases are granted, we continue to rely on the sub-charters with a subsidiary of Transammonia to satisfy the obligations of our two charter party agreements. To date, the subsidiary of Transammonia has complied with the terms of the sub-charter agreements.

 

Capacity Payments. Capacity payments include future payments aggregating $2.1 billion under our four remaining power tolling arrangements, including our Gregory tolling arrangement which expires in July 2005, as further described in Item 1. Business—Segment Discussion—Customer Risk Management beginning on page 18. This amount includes the fixed payments associated with a derivative instrument related to the Independence tolling arrangement, which is reflected at its fair value on our Consolidated Balance Sheets in Risk-Management Liabilities, as well as amounts relating to contracts that are accounted for on an accrual basis. At December 31, 2004, approximately $295 million of fixed payments have been reflected in the fair value of the Independence derivative instrument.

 

As a result of the Sithe Energies acquisition, which we completed in January 2005, we have reclassified approximately $747 million of our obligations under the Independence tolling arrangement and related derivative instrument as intercompany transactions within our GEN segment beginning February 1, 2005. Although this acquisition transformed the Independence toll and financial derivative instrument into intercompany agreements, those contracts currently remain in effect and we are still obligated to make all fixed capacity payments under those contracts that are reflected in the table above. Please read Note 3—Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Acquisitions—Sithe Energies beginning on page F-23 for further discussion.

 

In November 2004, we entered into a “back-to-back” power purchase agreement under which a subsidiary of Constellation Energy receives our rights to capacity and energy under the Kendall tolling arrangement for a four year term expiring effectively in November 2008. Although we are still obligated under the Kendall toll, we will receive approximately $161 million in aggregate cash payments from Constellation to offset our fixed payment obligations under the Kendall toll through November 2008, which payment obligations are reflected in the table above. We paid Constellation $117.5 million in cash in connection with this transaction. Please read Note 3—Acquisitions, Dispositions, Contract Terminations and Discontinued Operations—Dispositions and Contract Terminations—Kendall beginning on page F-25 below for further discussion.

 

We are exploring opportunities to renegotiate or terminate one or more of our remaining long-term tolling arrangements on terms we consider economical. Please read “—Results of Operations—2005 Outlook—CRM Outlook” beginning on page 70 for further discussion of the anticipated effects of these arrangements on our future results of operations.

 

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In addition, capacity payments include fixed obligations associated with transmission, transportation and storage arrangements totaling approximately $170 million.

 

Conditional Purchase Obligations. Amounts relate to our co-sourcing agreement with Accenture Ltd. This 10-year agreement runs through 2013 and may be cancelled after two years upon the payment of a termination fee which ranges from $6 million for the first quarter 2005, declining to $2 million through 2013. This termination fee is in addition to amounts due for services provided through the termination date.

 

Pension Funding Obligations. Amounts include estimated defined benefit pension funding obligations for 2005 ($28 million), 2006 ($19 million) and 2007 ($26 million). Although we expect to incur significant funding obligations subsequent to 2007, such amounts have not been included in this table because our estimates are imprecise.

 

Contingent Financial Obligations

 

The following table provides a summary of our contingent financial obligations as of December 31, 2004 on an undiscounted basis. These obligations represent contingent obligations that may require a payment of cash upon the occurrence of specified events.

 

     Expiration by Period

     Total

   Less than 1
Year


   1-3 Years

   3-5 Years

  

More than

5 Years


     (in millions)

Letters of Credit (1)

   $ 94    $ 94    $ —      $ —      $ —  

Surety Bonds (2)(4)

     54      54      —        —        —  

Guarantees (3)

     4      —        —        4      —  
    

  

  

  

  

Total Financial Commitments

   $ 152    $ 148    $ —      $ 4    $ —  
    

  

  

  

  


(1) Amounts include outstanding letters of credit.
(2) Surety bonds are generally on a rolling 12-month basis.
(3) As part of the power purchase agreement with Constellation, under which Constellation effectively receives our rights to purchase approximately 570 MWs of capacity and energy arising from our tolling contract with Kendall, we have guaranteed Constellation the receipt of $3.5 million in reactive power revenues over the four year period of the power purchase agreement. Receipt of these reactive power revenues is predicated on, among other things, filing a reactive power tariff with the FERC.
(4) $40 million of the surety bonds were supported by collateral.

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

DNE Leveraged Lease. We established our presence in the Northeast region by acquiring the DNE power generating facilities in January 2001 for $950 million.

 

In May 2001, we entered into an asset-backed sale-leaseback transaction relating to these facilities to provide us with long-term financing for our acquisition. In this transaction, which was structured as a sale-leaseback to minimize our operating cost of the facilities on an after-tax basis and to transfer ownership to the purchaser, we sold for approximately $920 million four of the six generating units comprising these facilities to Danskammer OL LLC and Roseton OL LLC, each of which was newly formed by an unrelated third-party investor, and we concurrently agreed to lease them back from these entities, which we refer to as the owner lessors. The owner lessors used $138 million in equity funding from the unrelated third-party investor to fund a portion of the purchase of the respective facilities. The remaining $800.4 million of the purchase price and the related transaction expenses was derived from proceeds obtained in a private offering of pass-through trust certificates issued by two of our subsidiaries, Dynegy Danskammer, L.L.C. and Dynegy Roseton, L.L.C., who

 

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serve as lessees of the applicable facilities. The pass-through trust certificate structure was employed, as it has been in similar financings historically executed in the airline and energy industries, to optimize the cost of financing the assets and to facilitate a capital markets offering of sufficient size to enable the purchase of the lessor notes from the owner lessors. The pass-through trust certificates were sold to qualified institutional buyers in a private offering and the proceeds were used to purchase debt instruments, referred to as lessor notes, from the owner lessors. The lease payments on the facilities support the principal and interest payments on the pass-through trust certificates, which are ultimately secured by a mortgage on the underlying facilities.

 

As of December 31, 2004, future lease payments are $60 million for 2005 and 2006, $108 million for 2007, $144 million for 2008 and $141 million for 2009, with $919 million in the aggregate due from 2010 through lease expiration. The Roseton lease expires on February 8, 2035 and the Danskammer lease expires on May 8, 2031. We have no option to purchase the leased facilities at the end of their respective lease terms. DHI has guaranteed the lessees’ payment and performance obligations under their respective leases on a senior unsecured basis. At December 31, 2004, the present value (discounted at 10%) of future lease payments was $771 million.

 

The following table sets forth our lease expenses and lease payments relating to these facilities for the periods presented.

 

     2004

   2003

   2002

     (in millions)

Lease Expense

   $ 50    $ 50    $ 50

Lease Payments (Cash Flows)

   $ 60    $ 60    $ 60

 

If one or more of the leases were to be terminated because of an event of loss, because it had become illegal for the applicable lessee to comply with the lease or because a change in law had made the facility economically or technologically obsolete, DHI would be required to make a termination payment in an amount sufficient to redeem the pass-through trust certificates related to the unit or facility for which the lease was terminated at par plus accrued and unpaid interest. As of December 31, 2004, the termination payment at par would be approximately $1 billion for all of the DNE facilities, which exceeds the $920 million we received on the sale of the facilities. If a termination of this type were to occur with respect to all of the DNE facilities, it would be difficult for DHI to raise sufficient funds to make this termination payment. Alternatively, if one or more of the leases were to be terminated because we determine, for reasons other than as a result of a change in law, that it has become economically or technologically obsolete or that it is no longer useful to our business, DHI must redeem the related pass-through trust certificates at par plus a make-whole premium in an amount equal to the discounted present value of the principal and interest payments still owing on the certificates being redeemed less the unpaid principal amount of such certificates at the time of redemption. For this purpose, the discounted present value would be calculated using a discount rate equal to the yield-to-maturity on the most comparable U.S. treasury security plus 50 basis points.

 

Capital Expenditures

 

We continue to tightly manage costs and capital expenditures. We had approximately $311 million in capital expenditures during 2004. Our 2004 capital spending by segment was as follows (in millions):

 

GEN

   $ 145

NGL

     61

REG

     92

Other

     13
    

Total

   $ 311
    

 

Capital spending in our GEN segment primarily consisted of maintenance capital projects, as well as approximately $41 million spent on development capital. Development capital spending primarily related to the

 

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conversion of our Havana facility to PRB coal. Capital spending in our NGL segment primarily related to maintenance capital projects and wellconnects, as well as approximately $21 million in development capital. Development capital included approximately $13 million for gathering system expansion, additional compression and plant de-bottlenecking in North Texas related to increased gas from the Barnett Shale formation and approximately $8 million for a significant upgrade in compression technology and efficiencies at our Monument gas processing plant. Capital spending in our REG segment primarily related to projects intended to maintain system reliability and new business services.

 

We expect capital expenditures for 2005 to approximate $279 million. This primarily includes maintenance capital projects, environmental projects, contributions to equity investments and limited GEN and NGL development projects. The capital budget is subject to revision as opportunities arise or circumstances change. Estimated funds budgeted for the aforementioned items by segment in 2005 are as follows (in millions):

 

GEN

   $ 190

NGL

     78

Other

     11
    

Total

   $ 279
    

 

We anticipate increased capital spending in our GEN segment primarily due to an increase in long-term capital maintenance expenditures, including those at our newly acquired Independence facility. We anticipate increased capital spending in the NGL segment primarily due to $6 million for gathering system expansion, additional compression and plant de-bottlenecking in North Texas related to increased gas from the Barnett Shale formation and $20 million for a project under consideration at our Mont Belvieu facility.

 

As reflected in this section, the capital spending in our NGL segment includes 100% of the expenditures of our consolidated partnerships, Versado Gas Processors, LLC and Cedar Bayou Fractionators, LP. Our ownership percentages of these partnerships are 63% and 88%, respectively, and net funding equal to our ownership percentage is achieved through adjustments to partnership distributions. Adjusted for our partners’ share of capital expenditures, our expenditures would have been $52 million in 2004 and are expected to be $72 million in 2005.

 

Our capital expenditures in 2005 and beyond will continue to be limited by negative covenants contained in our debt instruments. These covenants place specific dollar limitations on our ability to incur capital expenditures. Please read Note 11—Debt—DHI Term Loan and Credit Facility beginning on page F-43 for further discussion of these limitations. Our long term capital expenditures will also be significantly impacted by the Baldwin consent decree announced in March 2005. If ultimately approved by the Illinois federal district court, this consent decree would obligate us to, among other things, invest $321 million through 2010, and $224 million from 2011 through 2012, respectively, in emission control projects at our Baldwin, Vermilion and Havana plants. Please read Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies—Summary of Material Legal Proceedings—Baldwin Station Litigation beginning on page F-57 for further discussion of this consent decree.

 

Financing Trigger Events

 

Our debt instruments and other financial obligations include provisions, which, if not met, could require early payment, additional collateral support or similar actions. These trigger events include leverage ratios and other financial covenants, insolvency events, defaults on scheduled principal or interest payments, acceleration of other financial obligations and change of control provisions. We do not have any trigger events tied to specified credit ratings or stock price in our debt instruments and are not party to any contracts that require us to issue equity based on credit ratings or other trigger events.

 

Commitments and Contingencies

 

Please read Note 16—Commitments and Contingencies beginning on page F-55, which is incorporated herein by reference, for a discussion of our commitments and contingencies.

 

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Dividends on Preferred and Common Stock

 

Dividend payments on our common stock are at the discretion of our Board of Directors. We do not foresee a declaration of dividends in the near term, particularly given our financial condition and the dividend restrictions contained in our financing agreements. We have, however, continued to make the required dividend payments on our outstanding trust preferred securities.

 

The Series B Preferred Stock issued to ChevronTexaco in November 2001 had no dividend requirement. Because of ChevronTexaco’s discounted conversion option, however, we accreted an implied preferred stock dividend over the redemption period, as required by GAAP. Please read Note 12—Related Party Transactions—Series B Preferred Stock beginning on page F-47 for further discussion of this non-cash implied dividend and the Series B Exchange. In conjunction with the Series B Exchange, we recognized a gain of approximately $1.2 billion as a preferred stock dividend during 2003.

 

We accrue dividends on our Series C preferred stock at a rate of 5.5% per annum. We accrued and made dividend payments on the Series C preferred stock during the year ended December 31, 2004 totaling approximately $22 million. Dividends are payable on the Series C preferred stock in February and August of each year, but we may defer payments for up to 10 consecutive semi-annual periods. Please read Note 14—Redeemable Preferred Securities—Series C Convertible Preferred Stock beginning on page F-54 for further discussion.

 

Internal Liquidity Sources

 

Our primary internal liquidity sources are cash flows from operations, cash on hand and available capacity under our $700 million revolving credit facility, which is scheduled to mature in May 2007.

 

Current Liquidity. The following table summarizes our consolidated revolver capacity and liquidity position at March 4, 2005, December 31, 2004 and December 31, 2003:

 

     March 4,
2005


    December 31,
2004


    December 31,
2003


 
     (in millions)  

Total Revolver Capacity

   $ 700 (1)   $ 700 (1)   $ 1,100  

Outstanding Letters of Credit Under Revolving Credit Facility

     (89 )     (94 )     (188 )
    


 


 


Unused Revolver Capacity

     611       606       912  

Cash

     365 (2)     628 (2)     477  
    


 


 


Total Available Liquidity

   $ 976     $ 1,234     $ 1,389