Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

18. Commitments and Contingencies

Restricted Cash

In connection with certain of the above noted sale/leaseback agreements, cash of $552.8 million and $573.5 million was required to be restricted as security as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, which restricted cash will be released over the lease term. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company also had certain letters of credit backed by security deposits totaling $351.8 million and $370.7 million, respectively, of which $321.0 million and $340.0 million are security for the above noted sale/leaseback agreements, respectively, and $30.8 million and $30.7 million are customs related letters of credit, respectively.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company had $76.9 million and $76.8 million held in escrow related to the construction of certain hydrogen production plants, respectively.

The Company also had $1.2 million and $0.2 million of consideration held by our paying agent in connection with each of the Joule and CIS acquisitions, respectively, reported as restricted cash as of March 31, 2024, with a corresponding accrued liability on the Company’s unaudited interim condensed consolidated balance sheet. Additionally, the Company had $12.3 million and $11.7 million in restricted cash as collateral resulting from the Frames acquisition as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

Litigation

Legal matters are defended and handled in the ordinary course of business. The outcome of any such matters, regardless of the merits, is inherently uncertain; therefore, assessing the likelihood of loss and any estimated damages is difficult and subject to considerable judgment. We describe below those legal matters for which a material loss is either (i) possible but not probable, and/or (ii) not reasonably estimable at this time. Liabilities for loss contingencies arising from claims, assessments, litigation, fines, and penalties and other sources are recorded when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Legal costs incurred in connection with loss contingencies are expensed as incurred. The Company has not recorded any accruals related to any legal matters.

Securities Litigation and Related Stockholder Derivative Litigation

2021 Securities Action and Related Derivative Litigation

Two actions are pending in which alleged stockholders of the Company assert claims derivatively, on the Company’s behalf, based on allegations and claims that had been asserted in a putative securities class action, In re Plug Power, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 1:21-cv-2004 (S.D.N.Y. (the “2021 Securities Action”). In an opinion and order entered in August 2023, the district court dismissed the 2021 Securities Action with prejudice, and the plaintiffs in that action did not appeal.

A consolidated stockholder derivative action relating to the claims and allegations in the 2021 Securities Action is pending in the Court of Chancery for the State of Delaware, styled In re Plug Power Inc. Stockholder Derivative

Litigation, Cons. C.A. No. 2022-0569-KSJM (Del. Ch.). By stipulation and order, the consolidated action was stayed until motions to dismiss were finally resolved in the 2021 Securities Action. On March 8, 2024, the alleged stockholder plaintiffs filed a consolidated amended complaint in which claims have been asserted against our officers Andrew J. Marsh, Paul B. Middleton, Gerard L. Conway, Jr., and Keith Schmid, and against our current or former directors George C. McNamee, Gary K. Willis, Maureen O. Helmer, Johannes M. Roth, Gregory L. Kenausis, Lucas Schneider, and Jonathan Silver. The Company is named as nominal defendant. Based on allegations in the first and second amended complaints in the 2021 Securities Action, the plaintiffs assert claims against the individual defendants for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, disgorgement, and unjust enrichment based on alleged transactions in the Company’s securities while allegedly in possession of material non-public information concerning (i) the Company’s financial accounting prior to the announcement that the Company would need to restate certain financial statements and (ii) the potential amendment and termination of a warrant agreement between the Company and a significant customer. Defendants’ responses to the complaint are due by May 10, 2024.

On May 13, 2021, alleged stockholder Romario St. Clair filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, asserting claims derivatively on behalf of the Company against certain current or former directors and officers of the Company. The action is styled St. Clair v. Plug Power Inc. et al., Index No. 653167/2021 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cty.). By stipulation and order, the action was stayed until motions to dismiss were finally resolved in the 2021 Securities Action. On March 25, 2024, the alleged stockholder plaintiff filed an amended complaint in which claims have been asserted against Mr. Marsh, Mr. Middleton, Mr. McNamee, Mr. Willis, Ms. Helmer, Mr. Kenausis, Mr. Roth, Mr. Schneider, and Mr. Silver, with the Company named as nominal defendant. As had been alleged in the 2021 Securities Action, the amended complaint alleges that the individual defendants knew or consciously disregarded that the Company was experiencing known but undisclosed material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting and had made certain accounting errors later corrected in the Company’s financial restatement in 2021. The complaint further alleges that Mr. Marsh and Mr. Middleton engaged in transactions in the Company’s securities before these issues were disclosed. The plaintiff asserts claims against the individual defendants, derivatively on behalf of the Company, for breach of fiduciary and unjust enrichment. Defendants’ responses to the amended complaint are due by May 21, 2024.

2023 Securities Action and Related Derivative Litigation

A consolidated action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware asserting claims under the federal securities laws against the Company and certain of its senior officers on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of the Company’s securities, styled In re Plug Power, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 1:23-cv-00576-MN (the “2023 Securities Action”). The plaintiffs filed a consolidated complaint on September 28, 2023, in which they assert claims under the federal securities laws against the Company and four of its senior officers, Mr. Marsh, Mr. Middleton, Sanjay Shrestha, and former officer David Mindnich, on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of Plug Power common stock between January 19, 2022 and March 1, 2023. The complaint alleges that the defendants made “materially false and/or misleading statements” about the Company’s business and operations, including that “the Company was unable to effectively manage its supply chain and product manufacturing, resulting in reduced revenues and margins, increased inventory levels, and several large deals being delayed until at least 2023, among other issues The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on December 14, 2023, and briefing was completed in March 2024. All proceedings are stayed pending resolution of the motion to dismiss.

Beginning on September 13, 2023, three separate actions were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York asserting claims derivatively and on behalf of the Company against certain former and current Company officers and directors based on the claims asserted in the 2023 Securities Action. Those cases have been consolidated in the District of Delaware under the caption In re Plug Power, Inc. Stockholder Deriv. Litig., No. 1:23-cv-01007-MN (D. Del.). The defendants named in the constituent complaint were Mr. Marsh, Mr. Middleton, Mr. Mindnich, Martin Hull, Ms. Helmer, Mr. Kenausis, Mr. McNamee, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Silver, Mr. Willis, and current or former directors Jean Bua, Kavita Mahtani, and Kyungyeol Song. In an order entered on April 26, 2024, the Court approved the parties’ stipulation to stay all proceedings until motions to dismiss have been resolved in the 2023 Securities Action.

2024 Securities Litigation

On March 22, 2024, Ete Adote filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York asserting claims under the federal securities laws against the Company, Mr. Marsh, and Mr. Middleton, on behalf of an alleged class of purchasers of Plug common stock between May 9, 2023 and January 16, 2024, styled Adote v. Plug Power, Inc. et al., No. 1:24-cv-00406-MAD-DJS (N.D.N.Y.). The allegations in the 2024 Securities Action are substantially similar to those in the consolidated 2023 Securities Action but cover a different putative class period that extends into 2024. On April 30, 2024, a second complaint asserting substantially similar claims against the same defendants, but on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of Plug Power common stock between March 1, 2023 and January 16, 2024, was filed in the Northern District of New York, styled Lee v. Plug Power, et al., No. 1:24;cv-0598-MAD-DJS (N.D.N.Y.).

Other Litigation

On May 2, 2023, a lawsuit entitled Jacob Thomas and JTurbo Engineering & Technology, LLC v. Joule Processing, LLC and Plug Power Inc., Case No. 4:23-cv-01615, was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas against Joule Processing, LLC and Plug Power Inc. The complaint alleges misappropriation of trade secrets under both the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, 18 U.S.C. § 1836, and the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, three breach of contract claims, and four common law claims under Texas law. On December 5, 2023, the Court granted, in part, the partial motion to dismiss filed by Joule Processing, LLC and Plug Power Inc., and the Court dismissed with prejudice one of the breach of contract claims and the four common law claims. The Court also transferred another of the breach of contract claims to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Case No. 1:23-cv-01528. That claim was dismissed without prejudice, and that matter was closed on April 4, 2024. Currently pending before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas is Plaintiff[s’] Verified Amended Application for Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction and Permanent Injunctive Relief (the “Amended Application for Injunctive Relief”). Joule Processing, LLC and Plug Power Inc. filed their Response in Opposition to the Amended Application for Injunctive Relief on March 27, 2024, and Jacob Thomas and JTurbo Engineering & Technology, LLC filed their Reply in Support of the Amended Application for Injunctive Relief on April 4, 2024.

On May 10, 2023, an action entitled Ringling v. Plug Power, Inc., et al, Case No. 1:23-cv-572, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York asserting claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the New York State Human Rights Law against the Company, Tom Rourke, individually, and/or Tom O’Grady, individually. The complaint asserts that the plaintiff is seeking damages to redress injuries suffered as a result of harassment and discrimination on the basis of his race, together with creating a hostile work environment, failure to promote, retaliation, and constructive discharge. The parties entered into a settlement agreement and filed a stipulation of dismissal.

On July 24, 2023, an action entitled Felton v. Plug Power, Inc., Case No. 1:23-cv-887, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York asserting claims against the Company pursuant to the New York State Human Rights Law. The complaint asserts that the plaintiff is seeking damages to redress injuries suffered as a result of harassment and discrimination on the basis of his race, together with creating a hostile work environment, and retaliation. Plug disagrees with plaintiff’s representations about his time at Plug and intends to vigorously defend against his allegations. Plaintiff’s counsel moved to withdraw from the case, which the court approved on March 18, 2024, and therefore plaintiff is now pro se.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to credit risk consist principally of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and accounts receivable. Cash and restricted cash are maintained in accounts with financial institutions, which, at times may exceed the Federal depository insurance coverage of $250 thousand. The Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes, based upon the quality of the financial institutions, that the credit risk with regard to these deposits is not significant.

Concentrations of credit risk with respect to receivables exist due to the limited number of select customers with whom the Company has commercial sales arrangements. To mitigate credit risk, the Company performs appropriate evaluation of a prospective customer’s financial condition.

At March 31, 2024, three customers comprised approximately 30.3% of the Company’s consolidated accounts receivable balance. At December 31, 2023, one customer comprised approximately 21.5% of the Company’s consolidated accounts receivable balance.

For purposes of assigning a customer to a sale/leaseback transaction completed with a financial institution, the Company considers the end user of the assets to be the ultimate customer. For the three months ended March 31, 2024, two customers accounted for 44.2% of total consolidated revenues. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, two customers accounted for 25.5% of total consolidated revenues.

Guarantee

On May 30, 2023, our joint venture, HyVia, entered into a government grant agreement with Bpifrance. As part of the agreement, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Plug Power France, was required to issue a guarantee to Bpifrance in the amount of €20 million through the end of January 2027. Plug Power France is liable to the extent of the guarantee for sums due to Bpifrance from HyVia under the agreement based on the difference between the total amount paid by Bpifrance and the final amount certified by HyVia and Bpifrance. As part of the agreement, there are certain milestones that HyVia is required to meet, and the nonperformance of these milestones or termination of this agreement could result in this guarantee being called upon. As of March 31, 2024, no payments related to this guarantee have been made by the Company and Plug Power France did not record a liability for this guarantee as the likelihood of the guarantee being called upon is remote.

Unconditional Purchase Obligations

The Company has entered into certain off–balance sheet commitments that require the future purchase of goods or services (“unconditional purchase obligations”). The Company’s unconditional purchase obligations primarily consist of supplier arrangements, take or pay contracts and service agreements. For certain vendors, the Company’s unconditional obligation to purchase a minimum quantity of raw materials at an agreed upon price is fixed and determinable; while certain other raw material costs will vary due to product forecasting and future economic conditions.

Future payments under non-cancelable unconditional purchase obligations with a remaining term in excess of one year as of March 31, 2024, were as follows (in thousands):

Remainder of 2024	$	37,742
2025		8,023
2026		8,023
2027		2,638
2028		—
2029 and thereafter		—
Total		56,426