UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): February 7, 1997
SOUTHWESTERN PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
New Mexico 1-3789 75-0575400
(State or other jurisdiction of (Commission File No.) (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
Tyler at Sixth, Amarillo, Texas 79101
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's Telephone Number, including area code (806) 378-2121
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ITEM 5. other events
Reference is made to the press release filed as an exhibit hereto for
information with respect to the Company's recorded charge related to a
subsidiary project.
ITEM 7. financial statements and exhibits
(c) Exhibits. The following exhibits are filed herewith:
99 Press Release, dated February 7, 1997, of Southwestern
Public Service Company.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
SOUTHWESTERN PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
/s/ Bill D. Helton
By
Bill D. Helton
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
DATE: February 7, 1997
SPS Records Charge Related to Subsidiary Project
Southwestern Public Service Company (NYSE: SPS) today reported it will
record a one-time, after-tax charge of 25 cents per common share for the period
ended Dec. 31, 1996, to write-off the $16 million investment of its Quixx
Corporation subsidiary in the BCH waste-to-energy cogeneration project in
Fayetteville, N.C.
The BCH project had been accepting municipal waste for a year, but
experienced operating problems primarily related to deficiencies in the
waste-fuel handling system. Quixx, other equity owners, senior creditors and the
constructor have been unable to restructure the project on mutually agreeable
terms. Banks providing debt financing to the project have withheld funds for BCH
and for a companion waste-to-energy facility, the Carolina Energy Project in
Kinston, N. C. In the judgment of SPS and Quixx management, Quixx's equity
investment in BCH, representing 49 percent ownership in the facility, and
related accounts receivable and expenses are unlikely to be recovered.
SPS also notes that Quixx has an equity investment of $13.2 million,
representing approximately 21 cents per SPS common share, after tax, in the
Carolina Energy Project. Construction at the Kinston facility, originally
scheduled to be completed later this year, has been halted pending an
independent analysis of the project's viability. Quixx's investment equals
one-third ownership interest.
Southwestern Public Service Company primarily provides electric service
to a population of about one million people in a 52,000-square-mile area
covering eastern and southeastern New Mexico, the South Plains and Panhandle of
Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle and southwestern Kansas. Corporate headquarters is
in Amarillo, Texas.
For more information:
News media: Ken Vaughn, Manager of Communication, (806) 378-2116.
Security analysts: Jim Steinhilper, Group Manager of Finance, (806) 378-2843.
