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Exhibit 10.11
AMENDED AND RESTATED
ENERGY MARKETING AGREEMENT
for
Natural Gas
By and between
Virginia Power Energy Marketing, Inc.
a Virginia corporation with offices at
120 Tredegar Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Telephone: 804.787.6051
Fax: 804.787.6467
and
MxEnergy Inc.
a Delaware corporation with offices at
595 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901
Telephone: 203.356.1318
Fax: 203.975.9659
CONFIDENTIAL
Effective Date: December 15,
2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Article 1 Definitions
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1
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Article 2 Nature of Relationship
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4
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Article 3 Purchase Transactions
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6
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Article 4 Sale Contracts
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9
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Article 5 Provision of Credit; Original Agreement
Security Interest
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10
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Article 6 Reporting Obligations
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11
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Article 7 Fees
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12
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Article 8 Lender Financing
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12
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Article 9 Right to Net
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13
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Article 10 New Opportunities and
Non-Solicitation
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13
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Article 11 Representations and
Warranties
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13
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Article 12 Indemnification
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14
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Article 13 Limitation of Liability
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15
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Article 14 Events of Default; Remedies
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15
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Article 15 Guaranty
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17
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Article 16 Miscellaneous
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17
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Exhibits
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Exhibit 1
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ISDA Agreement & Schedule
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Exhibit 2
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Master Agreement
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Exhibit 3
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"Sale Contract" – End-user Base Agreement
& Ordering Exhibit
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Exhibit 4
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Security Agreement
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Exhibit 5
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Master Netting Agreement
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Exhibit 6
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Approved Local Distribution Companies
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Exhibit 7
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Notices
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Exhibit 8
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Transfer Price Schedule
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Exhibit 9
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Form of Standby Letter of Credit
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Exhibit 10
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Form of Dominion Guaranty
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THIS AMENDED AND RESTATED ENERGY MARKETING AGREEMENT
together with all exhibits and any written supplements hereto (this
"Agreement") is made and entered into as of this 15th day of
December 2005 (the "Effective Date"), by and between VIRGINIA POWER
ENERGY MARKETING, INC., a Virginia corporation ("Provider"), and
MxEnergy Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Client"). Each of Provider
and Client may be referred to herein individually as a "Party" or
collectively as "Parties".
WHEREAS , Provider is engaged in the business of
purchasing and selling natural gas;
WHEREAS, Client is engaged in the retail aggregation of
natural gas customers;
WHEREAS , the Parties previously entered into an Energy
Marketing Agreement dated as of the 18th day of September 2002 (the
"Original Agreement"), pursuant to which the Client agreed to
purchase natural gas from Provider, and Provider agreed to provide
to Client certain credit facilities to assist Client in the
purchase of natural gas from Provider and in Client’s sale of
natural gas to its various retail customers; and
WHEREAS , the Parties now desire to amend and restate the
Original Agreement in its entirety as hereinafter provided.
NOW, THEREFORE , in consideration of the mutual covenants
and promises contained herein, and for other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby
acknowledged, the Parties hereby agree to amend and restate the
Original Agreement in its entirety to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1
DEFINITIONS
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1.1
"Affiliate" means (i) any Person that directly, or
indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls the Client
(a "Controlling Person") or (ii) any Person (other than the Client)
which is controlled by or is under common control with a
Controlling Person. As used herein, the term "control" means
possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause
the direction of the management or policies of a Person, whether
through the ownership of voting securities, by contract, or
otherwise.
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1.2
"Approved Third Party Seller" has the meaning set
forth in Section 3.2(C).
1.3
"Bankrupt" or "Bankruptcy" means, with respect to a
Person, (i) the commencement of any voluntary or involuntary case,
proceeding or other action (A) under any existing or future law of
any jurisdiction, domestic or foreign, relating to bankruptcy,
insolvency, reorganization or relief of debtors, seeking to have an
order for relief entered with respect to such Person, or
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seeking to adjudicate such Person a bankrupt or insolvent, or
seeking reorganization, arrangement, adjustment, winding-up,
liquidation, dissolution, composition or other relief with respect
to such Person or its debts, or (B) seeking appointment of a
receiver, trustee, custodian or other similar official for it, or
for all or any substantial part of its assets, (ii) the
making of a general assignment for the benefit of such
Person’s creditors; (iii) the inability of such Person to, or
the admission by such Person of its inability to, pay its debts as
they become due.
1.4
"Business Day" means any day except a Saturday,
Sunday, or a Federal Reserve Bank holiday. A Business Day shall
open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 5:00 p.m. local time for
the relevant Party’s principal place of business. The
relevant Party, in each instance unless otherwise specified, shall
be the Party to whom the notice, Payment or delivery is being sent
and by whom the notice or Payment or delivery is to be
received.
1.5
"Commercial Customer" means an entity that is
neither a residential nor industrial purchaser of natural gas up to
a total aggregate amount of 50,000 MMBtu per year.
1.6
"Customer" means (1) any residential purchaser of
natural gas; (2) any Small Commercial Customer; (3) any Industrial
Customer or (4) any Governmental Entity residing in the Specified
Geographic Region and who agrees to purchase natural gas from
Client.
1.7
"Event of Default" has the meaning set forth in
Section 14.1.
1.8
"Governmental Entity" means any federal, state,
local or foreign government or any court of competent jurisdiction,
administrative or regulatory agency or commission or other
governmental authority or instrumentality, domestic or
foreign.
1.9
"Industrial Customer" means any entity that is a
purchaser of natural gas in excess of a total aggregate amount of
50,000 MMBtu per year.
1.10
"Intercreditor Agreement" means that certain
Subordination and Intercreditor Agreement dated as of December __,
2005 by and among Societe Generale, as Administrative Agent,
Virginia Power Energy Marketing, Inc., Sowood Commodity Partners
Fund, LP, MxEnergy Holdings Inc., MxEnergy, Inc., MxEnergy Electric
Inc. and Other Loan Parties
1.11
"ISDA Agreement & Schedule" means the
International Swaps and Derivatives Association Agreement and
accompanying Schedule, excluding the Credit Support Annex, executed
concurrently with the Original Agreement and a copy of which is
attached hereto as Exhibit 1.
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1.12
"Local Distribution Company" ("LDC") means any of
the approved local natural gas utilities listed in Exhibit
6.
1.13
"Lockbox Agreement" means the executed controlled
account agreement attached as Exhibit 5 to the Original
Agreement.
1.14
"Master Agreement" means the North American Energy
Standards Board, Inc. ("NAESB") Base Contract for Sale and Purchase
of Natural Gas version April 19, 2002 executed concurrently with
the Original Agreement and a copy of which is attached hereto as
Exhibit 2.
1.15
"Monthly Purchase Obligations" means, with respect
to a specified calendar month, the aggregate Purchase Obligations
incurred for such month.
1.16
"Monthly Sale Obligations" means, with respect to a
specified calendar month, the aggregate Sale Obligations incurred
for such month.
1.17
"MMBtu" means one million British Thermal
Units.
1.18
"Payment" or "Payment Obligations" means, as the
context may require, (i) any and all obligations incurred by a
Party to transfer cash to the other Party, whether by netting or
otherwise, under the Master Agreement, the ISDA Agreement &
Schedule and any repayment or prepayment of an extension of credit
under the aforementioned agreements or (ii) any and all obligations
incurred by a Party to transfer cash to a third party in connection
with its obligations under this Agreement.
1.19
"Person" means an individual, a corporation, a
partnership, an association, a trust or any other entity or
organization, including a government or political subdivision or an
agency or instrumentality thereof.
1.20
"Purchase Transaction" means an agreement for the
purchase of natural gas, whether physical or financial and/or
transportation capacity by Client from Provider, which such
agreement has been entered into pursuant to and is governed by a
written contract in a form, which has been negotiated between
Provider and Client.
1.21
"Purchase Obligation" means an obligation to
purchase natural gas, whether physical or financial and/or
associated transportation capacity incurred by Client pursuant to a
Purchase Transaction. Such obligations may be expressed in
MMBtu’s, in dollars or as a percentage of monthly
volume.
1.22
"Residential Customer" means any purchaser of
natural gas for personal, non-commercial, non-industrial
consumption from Client.
1.23
"Sale Contract" means an agreement for the sale of
natural gas by Client to a Customer, which has been entered into
pursuant to and is governed by a
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1.24
"Sale Obligation" means an obligation to sell
natural gas incurred by Client pursuant to a Sale Contract. Such
obligations may be expressed in MMBtu’s, dollars, therms or
cents.
1.25
"Security Agreement" means the Security Agreement
dated as of the date of the Original Agreement between the Client
and the Provider, attached hereto as Exhibit 4, as may be amended,
supplemented or modified from time to time.
1.26
"Specified Geographic Region" means the geographic
area that encompasses the respective Provider approved service
territories of the Local Distribution Companies listed in Exhibit
6.
1.27
"Speculative Trading" means (i) any and all Trading,
whether exchange based or over-the-counter, engaged in for the
purpose of financial gain only or (ii) any and all Trading (a) not
directly related to hedging, mitigating or locking in risks or (b)
that creates a risk position with regard to market price or volume.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Speculative Trading shall not
include transactions by Client, whereby Client locks in a price
spread between physical locations or points in time using its
transportation or storage assets as the basis for such transaction
with the intent of such transactions being the optimization its
transportation or storage assets.
1.28
"Third Party Purchaser" means an entity that is not
a Customer and that agrees to purchase natural gas and/or
transportation capacity from Client.
1.29
"Third Party Seller" means a Person other than
Provider that Client desires to purchase natural gas and/or
transportation capacity from.
1.30
"Trading" means the buying or selling of natural
gas, including without limitation incurring any obligation to buy
or sell natural gas whether contingent or actual.
ARTICLE 2
NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP
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The purpose of this Agreement is to establish a relationship
between the Parties whereby (i) Provider will (a) sell Client its
natural gas requirements, physical and financial, except as
otherwise provided in this Agreement and (b) reduce the various
forms of credit support and other capital-related services as
provided for in the Original Agreement to Client and, in exchange,
(ii) Client will (a) purchase its natural gas requirements,
physical and financial, from Provider, except as otherwise provided
in this Agreement and (b) pay Provider fees for such commodities.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Parties agree
to the following:
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2.1
It is expressly understood and agreed that the
relationship between Provider and Client described herein or
established hereby is not a joint venture or a
partnership.
2.2
Client agrees that it will be solely responsible for
conducting and managing its day-to-day business activities and
shall use commercially reasonable efforts to market natural gas
under this Agreement.
2.3
Client shall be named as the purchaser in all
Purchase Transactions and the seller in all Sale Contracts, and
Client shall be solely responsible for the performance of its
obligations under such contracts. Except for obligations undertaken
by Provider pursuant to Purchase Transactions between Provider and
Client, Provider specifically disclaims any and all liability under
such contracts and Client acknowledges and agrees that Provider
shall have no liability under such contracts.
2.4
Provider will provide Client the opportunity to
purchase financial and physical hedges and derivatives including
New York Mercantile Exchange ("NYMEX") futures, basis, weather
derivatives, call options, and put options, only for the benefit of
Customers and potential Customers and shall have the same
opportunity regarding storage transactions and as further provided
for herein pursuant to the terms of the ISDA Agreement &
Schedule and the Master Agreement. Client shall not transact any
Speculative Trading and any such transaction shall be an Event of
Default. Client shall provide to Provider documentation on a
monthly basis to demonstrate and/or substantiate that all Purchase
Obligations are aligned with offsetting Sales Contracts, provided,
however, that from time to time Client may enter into such Purchase
Obligations for the purpose of supplying potential Sales Contracts,
which Client has a reasonable likelihood of signing during such
time period.
2.5
Neither Party shall be subject to, nor call the
other Party for, margining with respect to fixed-price hedges or
physical fixed price supply. Client acknowledges that Provider
and/or Provider’s Affiliates conduct all risk management
activities on their own behalf. Client further recognizes that
neither Provider nor any of its Affiliates is currently registered
as an "investment advisor" with the Securities and Exchange
Commission or any state or federal regulatory agency or as a
"commodity trading advisor" with the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission or the National Futures Association, and neither
Provider nor any of its Affiliates holds itself out generally to
the public or to Client as such.
2.6
Client agrees not to misrepresent to third parties
its relationship with Provider, as such relationship is described
in this Agreement. Provider shall have the right to review and
approve any and all Client press releases mentioning, making
reference to Provider or implying that Provider is associated with
Client. In the event that Provider determines in its
sole,
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reasonably exercised discretion that Client has misrepresented
its relationship with Provider under this Agreement, such
misrepresentation shall be an Event of Default hereunder.
2.7
It is expressly understood and agreed that nothing
in this Agreement changes the employment relationship between
Client and its employees, nor does it change the employment
relationship between Provider and its employees. Client’s
employees, contractors, and agents are not employees, contractors
and agents of Provider, and it is the Parties’ intent that
nothing in this Agreement or in any other agreement shall be deemed
to constitute or be construed as making Client’s employees,
contractors and agents employees, contractors or agents of
Provider. In addition, nothing in this Agreement or any other
agreement shall be construed to create a joint or co-employment
relationship between the Parties. Client is solely responsible for
any employment related costs and expenses associated with its
employees including, but not limited to, recruiting, taxes,
benefits, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, equipment,
tools, materials, and supplies.
2.8
During the term of this Agreement, Provider and
Client will discuss regularly (at a minimum of once quarterly) the
various array of alternative risk type services that could be
potentially overlaid with the Customer base of Client. The purchase
of any type of risk product from Provider will be at the sole
discretion of Client.
2.9
Client shall first consult with Provider in the
event that Client is contemplating filing for Bankruptcy, and the
Parties shall mutually agree as to the more beneficial course of
action. Should an involuntary petition in Bankruptcy be filed
against Client, Client shall immediately discharge and satisfy any
debt obligations with respect to such Bankruptcy
petition.
2.10
Client shall immediately provide written notice to
Provider in the event of any material change in Client’s
business, including without limitation, any litigation or threat of
litigation, any Commercial or Industrial Customer of Client that is
involved in Bankruptcy or threat of Bankruptcy or any event
obligating Client to file a claim or notice under its insurance
policies as set forth in such policies; provided that the event
associated with the material change must have an actual or
reasonable potential minimum threshold risk of loss of one million
dollars ($1,000,000).
ARTICLE 3
PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS
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3.1
In order to purchase its natural gas requirements,
physical and financial, Client shall enter into Purchase
Transactions with Provider pursuant to the terms of confirmations,
the Master Agreement and the ISDA Agreement and Schedule, as
applicable.
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3.2
Client shall purchase its natural gas (i) directly
from Provider (under terms upon which Client and Provider mutually
agree and pursuant to the Master Agreement and the ISDA Agreement
& Schedule, as applicable) to serve or for the benefit of
Client’s Customers, as the case may be, in the Specified
Geographic Region, (ii) indirectly from Approved Third Party
Sellers through Provider pursuant to the arrangement described in
Sections 3.2(A) – (D) below or (iii) directly from a Third
Party Seller pursuant to the arrangement described in Section 3.3.
For all physical and financial natural gas purchased from Provider
directly, Client shall pay in accordance with the Transfer Price
Schedule set forth in Exhibit 8.
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(A) Client
may elect to purchase from Approved Third Party Sellers, as defined
in Section 3.2(C)), pursuant to the conditions set forth in Section
3.2(B) and the following condition. If Client receives an offer to
buy natural gas, physical or financial, (on terms identical,
including delivery point, delivery period and volume, excepting
price, to the terms offered by Provider) from an Approved Third
Party Seller of natural gas that is more than $0.04 per MMBtu or
equivalent heating value unit less than Provider’s then
current Offer (defined in Exhibit 8) to sell natural gas, physical
or financial, to Client (the "Approved Third Party Offer"), Client
shall introduce such Approved Third Party Seller to Provider and
Provider will then purchase the Approved Third Party Offer and
Provider shall resell such Approved Third Party Offer to Client at
the Approved Third Party Offer plus $0.02 per MMBtu or equivalent
heating value unit. Sections 3.2(A)-(D) and 3.3 shall be the sole
and exclusive remedy to Client for the purchase of Client’s
natural gas, physical or financial, requirements with respect to
pricing disputes between Provider and Client.
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(B)
The following additional conditions shall apply to the purchase of
natural gas, physical or financial, from an Approved Third Party
Seller (any consent required under this Section 3.2(B) shall not be
unreasonably withheld):
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(i)
natural gas purchased under a transaction with an Approved Third
Party Seller shall be purchased on an index related basis if
requested for a term of one year or less, provided that such
request is made by one of Client’s approved supply personnel
as specified by Client to Provider in writing from time to time,
except as otherwise provided in Section 3.2(B)(ii);
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(ii)
natural gas cannot be purchased on a fixed price basis unless it is
either a day-to-day purchase, consent is provided by Provider or
Client is selling such natural gas to a Customer on terms and
conditions, including without limitation quantity and pricing, that
mirror the subject fixed priced purchase agreement;
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(C)
Prior to negotiating a purchase with any Third Party Seller, Client
shall provide the name of such Third Party Seller to Provider.
Provider may investigate the creditworthiness of each such Third
Party Seller and shall notify Client in writing of those Third
Party Sellers that satisfy Provider’s credit requirements
(the "Approved Third Party Sellers") and those that do not satisfy
Provider’s credit requirements (the "Unapproved Third Party
Sellers"). Provider shall have the right to change its credit
requirements at any time and such right shall be exercisable by
Provider in its sole discretion and without prior notice to Client.
Provider shall have the right, upon written notice to Client, to
change the status of any Third Party Seller from an Approved Third
Party Seller to an Unapproved Third Party Seller or vice versa.
There will be no Approved Third Party Seller natural gas purchase
unless a fully executed contract, in a form substantially similar
to the Master Agreement or the ISDA Agreement & Schedule, as
the case may be, exists between Provider and Third Party
Seller.
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(D)
Provider shall use reasonable efforts to notify Client of the
initial status of any Third Party Seller within two (2) Business
Days of Client’s first providing the name of such Third Party
Seller to Provider; provided, however, that failure of Provider to
notify Client within such period shall not constitute or be
construed as a de
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