Note 7 - Revenue

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Notes to Financial Statements

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block]

(7) REVENUE 

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

We account for a contract with a customer when the parties have approved the contract and are committed to performing their respective obligations, the rights of each party are identified, payment terms are identified, the contract has commercial substance, and it is probable substantially all the consideration will be collected. We recognize revenue when we satisfy a performance obligation by transferring control of a good or service to a customer.

Electric operations

We concluded that for a Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) that is not determined to be a lease or derivative, the definition of a contract and the criteria in ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers ("ASC 606"), is met at the time a PPA is executed by the parties, as this is the point at which enforceable rights and obligations are established. Accordingly, we concluded that a PPA that is not determined to be a lease or derivative constitutes a valid contract under ASC 606.

We recognize revenue daily, based on an output method of capacity made available as part of any stand-ready obligations for contract capacity performance obligations and daily, based on an output method of MWh of electricity delivered.

For the delivered energy performance obligation in the PPA with Hoosier, we recognize revenue daily for actual delivered electricity plus the amortization of the contract liability as a result of the Asset Purchase Agreement with Hoosier.  For delivered energy to all other customers, we recognize revenue daily for the actual delivered electricity.

Coal operations

Our coal revenue is derived from sales to customers of coal produced at our facilities. Our customers typically purchase coal directly from our mine sites where the sale occurs and where title, risk of loss, and control pass to the customer at that point. Our customers arrange for and bear the costs of transporting their coal from our mines to their plants or other specified discharge points. Our customers are typically domestic utility companies. Our coal sales agreements with our customers are fixed-priced, fixed-volume supply contracts, or include a pre-determined escalation in price for each year. Price re-opener and index provisions  may allow either party to commence a renegotiation of the contract price at a pre-determined time. Price re-opener provisions  may automatically set a new price based on the prevailing market price or, in some instances, require us to negotiate a new price, sometimes within specified ranges of prices. The terms of our coal sales agreements result from competitive bidding and extensive negotiations with customers. Consequently, the terms of these contracts vary by customer.

Coal sales agreements will typically contain coal quality specifications. With coal quality specifications in place, the raw coal sold by us to the customer at the delivery point must be substantially free of magnetic material and other foreign material impurities and crushed to a maximum size as set forth in the respective coal sales agreement. Price adjustments are made and billed in the month the coal sale was recognized based on quality standards that are specified in the coal sales agreement, such as Btu factor, moisture, ash, and sulfur content, and can result in either increases or decreases in the value of the coal shipped.

Disaggregation of Revenue

Revenue is disaggregated by revenue source for our electric operations and by primary geographic markets for our coal operations, as we believe this best depicts how the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of our revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors.

Electric operations

For the three months ended March 31, 2024, electric sales revenue from delivered energy generation and capacity sales revenue was $47.0 million and $11.8 million, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, electric sales revenue from delivered energy generation and capacity sales revenue was $76.4 million and $16.0 million, respectively. 

Coal operations

For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, 36% and 52%, respectively, of our coal revenue was sold to outside third-party customers in the State of Indiana with the remainder sold to customers in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.  

Performance Obligations

Electric operations

We concluded that each megawatt-hour ("MWh") of delivered energy is capable of being distinct as a customer could benefit from each on its own by using/consuming it as a part of its operations.  We also concluded that the stand-ready obligation to be available to provide electricity is capable of being distinct as each unit of capacity provides an economic benefit to the holder and could be sold by the customer.

During 2022, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (“APA”) with Hoosier (“Hoosier APA”) in which Hallador Power shall sell, and Hoosier shall buy, at least 70% of the delivered energy quantities through 2025 at the contract price, which is $34.00 per MWh. We have remaining delivered energy obligations to Hoosier totaling $99.3 million through 2025 as of March 31, 2024. The agreement was amended  August 31, 2023 to extend through 2028 with additional obligations to Hoosier of $186.6 million as of March 31, 2024.

In addition to delivered energy, under the Hoosier APA, Hallador Power shall provide a stand-ready obligation to provide electricity, also known as contract capacity. The contract capacity that Hallador Power shall provide to Hoosier is 917 megawatts (“MW”) for contract year one, and on average 300 MW for contract years two to four. Hoosier shall pay Hallador Power the capacity price of $5.80 per kilowatt month for the contract capacity. We have remaining capacity obligations to Hoosier through 2025 totaling $35.2 million as of March 31, 2024.  The agreement was amended  August 31, 2023 to extend through 2028 with additional capacity obligations to Hoosier of $60.9 million as of March 31, 2024. 

We also have energy and capacity obligations outside of the Hoosier APA to customers through 2029 totaling $111.97 million and $163.51 million, respectively, as of March 31, 2024. We have $46.7 million of deferred revenue as of March 31, 2024, related to these obligations.

Coal operations

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract with a customer to provide distinct goods or services. Performance obligations are the unit of account for purposes of applying the revenue recognition standard and therefore determine when and how revenue is recognized. In most of our coal contracts, the customer contracts with us to provide coal that meets certain quality criteria. We consider each ton of coal a separate performance obligation and allocate the transaction price based on the base price per the contract, increased or decreased for quality adjustments.

We recognize revenue at a point in time as the customer does not have control over the asset at any point during the fulfillment of the contract. For substantially all of our customers, this is supported by the fact that title and risk of loss transfer to the customer upon loading of the truck or railcar at the mine. This is also the point at which physical possession of the coal transfers to the customer, as well as the right to receive substantially all benefits and the risk of loss in ownership of the coal.  

We have remaining coal sales performance obligations relating to fixed priced contracts to third-party customers of approximately $270.2 million, which represents the average fixed prices on our committed contracts as of March 31, 2024. We expect to recognize approximately 47% of this coal sales revenue in 2024, with the remainder recognized through 2027.

We have remaining performance obligations relating to coal sales contracts with price reopeners of approximately $155.0 million, which represents our estimate of the expected reopener price on committed contracts as of March 31, 2024. We expect to recognize all of this coal sales revenue 2025 through 2027.

The coal tons used to determine the remaining performance obligations are subject to adjustment in instances of force majeure and exercise of customer options to either take additional tons or reduce tonnage if such an option exists in the customer contract.

Contract Balances

Under ASC 606, the timing of when a performance obligation is satisfied can affect the presentation of accounts receivable, contract assets, and contract liabilities. The main distinction between accounts receivable and contract assets is whether consideration is conditional on something other than the passage of time. A receivable is an entity’s right to consideration that is unconditional.

Under the typical payment terms of our contracts with customers, the customer pays us a base price for the coal, increased or decreased for any quality adjustments, electricity, or capacity. Amounts billed and due are recorded as trade accounts receivable and included in accounts receivable in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of  January 1, 2023, accounts receivable for coal sales billed to customers was $16.3 million.