Unconsolidated Subsidiaries

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

Unconsolidated Subsidiaries

Unconsolidated Subsidiaries

Each of the Company's wholly owned Unconsolidated Subsidiaries, within the Coal Mining and NAMining segments, meet the definition of a VIE. The Unconsolidated Subsidiaries are capitalized primarily with debt financing provided by or supported by their respective customers, and generally without recourse to NACCO and NACoal. Although NACoal owns 100% of the equity and manages the daily operations of the Unconsolidated Subsidiaries, the Company has determined that the equity capital provided by NACoal is not sufficient to adequately finance the ongoing activities or absorb any expected losses without additional support from the customers. The customers have a controlling financial interest and have the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the economic performance of the entities. As a result, the Company is not the primary beneficiary and therefore does not consolidate these entities' financial positions or results of operations. See Note 1 for a discussion of these entities.

The Investment in the unconsolidated subsidiaries and related tax positions totaled $18.5 million and $19.1 million at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. The Company's maximum risk of loss relating to these entities is limited to its invested capital, which was $5.1 million and $7.6 million at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. Earnings of unconsolidated operations were $14.6 million and $15.3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

The contract mining agreement between Bisti and NTEC was terminated effective September 30, 2021. As of October 1, 2021, NTEC assumed control and responsibility for operation and all reclamation of the Navajo Mine.

NACoal is a party to certain guarantees related to Coyote Creek. Under certain circumstances of default or termination of Coyote Creek’s Lignite Sales Agreement (“LSA”), NACoal would be obligated for payment of a "make-whole" amount to Coyote Creek’s third-party lenders. The “make-whole” amount is based on the excess, if any, of the discounted value of the remaining scheduled debt payments over the principal amount. In addition, in the event Coyote Creek’s LSA is terminated on or after January 1, 2024 by Coyote Creek’s customers, NACoal is obligated to purchase Coyote Creek’s dragline and rolling stock for the then net book value of those assets. To date, no payments have been required from NACoal since the inception of these guarantees. The Company believes that the likelihood NACoal would be required to perform under the guarantees is remote, and no amounts related to these guarantees have been recorded.