Higher prices for wholesale energy at Tucson Electric Power contributed to a $2.6 million first-quarter net loss for parent company UniSource Energy Corp. A year ago, the company reported a $4.9 million net profit for the three months ending March 31.
"Several of our coal plants experienced outages during the first quarter, leaving us to rely more heavily on natural gas-fired generation and market power at a time when energy prices were high," said James S. Pignatelli, chairman, president and CEO of UniSource Energy and TEP.
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Most of the outages were planned maintenance shutdowns, including a major week-long shut down that was moved earlier so the company would be able to have all of its generating units available during the heavy-usage summer months.
The TEP subsidiary reported a net loss for the first quarter of $9 million, compared with a net profit of $1 million a year ago.
UniSource’s total revenues for the quarter were up 3.9 percent to $330.1 million. Expenses were up 9.7 percent to $306.8 million, giving the company an operating profit that was more than eliminated by other expenses including taxes and capitalized interest.
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