TXNM Energy (TXNM) Risk Factors

Following the transfer of the PVNGS Unit 1 Leased Interest to SRP in January 2023 and the expiration of the leased interest in Unit 2 in January 2024, PNM currently has a 7.3% undivided interest in PVNGS. PVNGS represented 10.7% of PNM's total generating capacity as of December 31, 2023. PVNGS is subject to environmental, health, and financial risks including but not limited to the ability to obtain adequate supplies of nuclear fuel and water, the ability to dispose of spent nuclear fuel, decommissioning of the plant (see above), securing the facilities against possible terrorist attacks, and unscheduled outages due to equipment failures. The NRC has broad authority under federal law to impose licensing and safety-related requirements for the operation of nuclear generation facilities. Events at nuclear facilities of other operators or which impact the industry generally may lead the NRC to impose additional requirements and regulations on all nuclear generation facilities, including PVNGS. A major incident at a nuclear facility anywhere in the world could cause the NRC to limit or prohibit the operation or licensing of any domestic nuclear unit and to promulgate new regulations that could require significant capital expenditures and/or increase operating costs. In the event of noncompliance with its requirements, the NRC has the authority to impose a progressively increasing inspection regime that could ultimately result in the shutdown of a unit, civil penalties, or both, depending upon the NRC's assessment of the severity of the situation, until compliance is achieved. Increased costs resulting from penalties, a heightened level of scrutiny, and/or implementation of plans to achieve compliance with NRC requirements could adversely affect the financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows of PNMR and PNM. Although PNM has no reason to anticipate a serious nuclear incident at PVNGS, if an incident did occur, it could materially and adversely affect PNM's results of operations and financial condition. PNM has external insurance coverage to minimize its financial exposure to some risks. However, it is possible that liabilities associated with nuclear operations could exceed the amount of insurance coverage. See Note 16.

PNM has interests in a nuclear power plant, two coal-fired power plants, and several natural gas-fired power plants and is obligated to pay its share of the costs to decommission these facilities. PNM is also obligated to pay for its share of the costs of reclamation of the mines that supply coal to the coal-fired power plants. Likewise, other owners or participants are responsible for their shares of the decommissioning and reclamation obligations and it is important to PNM that those parties fulfill their obligations. Rates charged by PNM to its customers, as approved by the NMPRC, include a provision for recovery of certain costs of decommissioning, remediation, reclamation, and restoration. The NMPRC has established a cap on the amount of costs for the final reclamation of the surface coal mines that may be recovered from customers. PNM records estimated liabilities for its share of the legal obligations for decommissioning and reclamation. These estimates include many assumptions about future events and are inherently imprecise. In the event the costs to decommission the facilities or to reclaim the mines serving the plants exceed current estimates, or if amounts are not approved for recovery by the NMPRC, results of operations could be negatively impacted. The costs of decommissioning any nuclear power plant are substantial. PNM is responsible for all decommissioning obligations related to its entire interest in PVNGS, including portions under lease both during and after termination of the leases. PNM maintains trust funds designed to provide adequate financial resources for decommissioning PVNGS and SJGS, and for reclamation of the coal mine that served SJGS and continue to serve Four Corners at the end of their expected lives. However, if the PVNGS units are decommissioned before their planned date or the coal mine serving Four Corners is shut down sooner than expected, these funds may prove to be insufficient.

Continued supply chain issues were initially experienced during high inflation, actions by the Federal Reserve to address inflationary concerns or other market conditions, geopolitical activity and the resulting impact on the economy and financial markets could adversely affect the Company's business, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, and access to the capital markets. The Company provides critical electric services and has implemented business continuity and emergency response plans to continue to provide these services to its customers and to support the Company's operations. The Company is also continuing to work with our suppliers to understand and mitigate the potential impacts to our supply chain and have taken steps to ensure the availability of critical components by increasing lead times and maintaining integrity of our systems. However, there is no assurance that the continued effects of these market conditions will not adversely impact our business, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, ability to access the capital markets, and the trading value of the Company's common stock and debt securities. These effects could adversely impact the Company by: - reducing usage and/or demand for electricity by our customers in New Mexico and Texas;- causing delays and disruptions in the availability of and timely delivery of materials and components used in our operations;- causing delays and disruptions in the supply chain resulting in disruptions in the commercial operation dates of certain projects;- causing a deterioration in the credit quality of our counterparties, including power purchase agreement providers, contractors or retail customers, that could result in credit losses;- causing impairments of goodwill or long-lived assets and adversely impacting the Company's ability to develop, construct and operate facilities;- impacting the Company's ability to meet the requirements of the covenants in our existing credit facilities, including covenants regarding debt to capitalization;- causing a deterioration in our financial metrics or the business environment that impacts our credit ratings;- decreasing the value of our investment securities held in trusts for pension and other postretirement benefits, and for nuclear decommissioning, SJGS decommissioning, and coal mine reclamation, which could lead to increased funding requirements;- impacting our liquidity position and cost of and ability to access funds from financial institutions and capital markets; and - causing other unpredictable events.

PNM and TNMP have large networks of electric transmission and distribution facilities. Weather conditions including severe drought, high winds, and the natural desert vegetation in the U.S. Southwest region and Texas could contribute to wildfires in or near PNM's and TNMP's service territories. PNM and TNMP take proactive steps to mitigate wildfire risk. However, wildfire risk is always present and PNM and TNMP could be held liable for damages incurred as a result of wildfires caused, or allegedly caused, by their transmission and distribution systems. In addition, wildfires could cause damage to PNM's and TNMP's assets that could result in loss of service to customers or make it difficult to supply power in sufficient quantities to meet customer needs. These events could have negative impacts on the Company's financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.

Compliance with federal, state, tribal, and local environmental laws and regulations, including those addressing climate change, air quality, CCRs, discharges of wastewater originating from fly ash and bottom ash handling facilities, cooling water, ESG matters, GHG emissions, and other matters, may result in increased capital, operating, and other costs, particularly with regard to enforcement efforts focused on power plant emission control obligations. These costs could include remediation, containment, civil liability, and monitoring expenses. The Company cannot predict how it would be affected if existing environmental laws and regulations were to be repealed, revised, or reinterpreted, or if new environmental laws or regulations were to be adopted. See Note 16 and the Climate Change Issues subsection of the Other Issues Facing the Company section of MD&A. The utility industry is facing increasing stakeholder scrutiny related to ESG matters. Recently, PNMR has seen a rise in certain stakeholders, such as investors, customers, employees, and lenders, placing increasing importance on the impact and social cost associated with climate change. Federal GHG reduction measures setting emission guidelines remain in a state of uncertainty. Therefore, PNMR is dealing with an uncertain regulatory and policy environment and increased scrutiny and changing stakeholder expectations with respect to environmental and climate change programs, judicial decisions, and international accords. Under the Biden Administration, EPA and other federal agencies have sought to expand climate change regulations and work to aggressively reduce GHG emissions. Many state agencies, environmental advocacy groups, and other organizations will continue to focus on decarbonization with enhanced attention on GHG from fossil-fueled generation facilities. See discussion above and Note 17, regarding PNM's abandonment applications and the ETA. PNM currently depends on fossil-fueled generation for 43.3% of its electricity. As discussed under Climate Change Issues, this type of generation could be subject to future EPA or state regulations requiring GHG reductions. The anticipated expansion of federal and state regulations could result in additional operating restrictions on facilities and increased generation and compliance costs. CCRs from the operation of SJGS were used in the reclamation of a surface coal mine. These CCRs consist of fly ash, bottom ash, and gypsum. Any new regulation that would affect the reclamation process, including any future decision regarding classification of CCRs as hazardous waste, could significantly increase the costs of the disposal of CCRs and the costs of mine reclamation. In addition, PNM would incur additional costs to the extent the rule requires the closure or modification of CCR units at Four Corners or the construction of new CCR units beyond those already anticipated or requires corrective action to address releases from CCR disposal units at the site. See Note 16. A regulatory body may identify a site requiring environmental cleanup, including cleanup related to catastrophic events such as hurricanes or wildfires, and designate PNM or TNMP as a responsible party. There is also uncertainty in quantifying exposure under environmental laws that impose joint and several liability on all potentially responsible parties. Failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations, even if such non-compliance is caused by factors beyond PNM's or TNMP's control, may result in the assessment of civil or criminal penalties and fines. In the first round of the CAA regional haze program, BART determinations were made for both SJGS and Four Corners, requiring the facilities to reduce the levels of visibility-impairing emissions, including NOx, through the installation of control technology, resulting in operating cost increases. Deadlines for SIPs for the second planning period were in July 2021 which NMED was unable to meet. NMED is currently preparing its next regional haze SIP and notified PNM that it will not be required to submit a regional haze four-factor analysis for SJGS since PNM retired its share of SJGS in 2022. In February 2024, EPA proposed to impose a federal implementation plan on New Mexico to address the interstate transport of ozone and its precursors, referred to by EPA as the "good neighbor" rule. If finalized as proposed, compliance with the rule would require specified fossil fuel-fired generating resources to participate in an ozone-season NOx emission allowance trading program that will limit total NOx emissions from all affected units within the state of New Mexico. If PNM fails to timely obtain, maintain or comply with any required environmental regulatory approval, operations at affected facilities could be suspended or could subject PNM to additional expenses and potential penalties. Failure to comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations also could result in civil liability arising out of government enforcement actions or private claims. Environmental noncompliance could also result in reputational harm, which may cause stock price decreases or cause certain investors and financial institutions not to purchase the Company's debt securities or otherwise provide the Company with capital or credit on favorable terms, which may cause the cost of capital to increase. In addition, PNMR and its operating subsidiaries may underestimate the costs of environmental compliance, liabilities, and litigation due to the uncertainty inherent in these matters. Although there is uncertainty about the timing and form of the implementation of EPA's regulations regarding GHG emissions, climate change, CCRs, power plant emissions, changes to the ambient air quality standards, and other environmental issues, the promulgation and implementation of such regulations could have a material impact on operations. The Company is unable to estimate these costs due to the many uncertainties associated with, among other things, the nature and extent of future regulations and changes in existing regulations, including the changes in regulatory policy under the Biden Administration. Timely regulatory recovery of costs associated with any environmental-related regulations would be needed to maintain a strong financial and operational profile. The above factors could adversely affect the Company's business, financial position, results of operations, and liquidity.