Document


 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 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): March 19, 2018 (March 13, 2018)
____________________________________________________________
https://cdn.kscope.io/351510815708d81d889da154b7c76a4e-terraformlogospowera50.jpg
TerraForm Power, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
 ______________________________________________________________
Delaware
001-36542
46-4780940
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
(Commission File Number)
(I. R. S. Employer
Identification No.)
 
 
 

7550 Wisconsin Avenue, 9th Floor, Bethesda, Maryland 20814
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(240) 762-7700
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2 below):
o
Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
 
 
o
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
 
 
o
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
 
 
o
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company o
 
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o





Item 4.01 Changes in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant.

(a) Dismissal of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

KPMG LLP (“KPMG”) was previously the principal accountants for TerraForm Power, Inc. (the “Company”). On March 13, 2018, KPMG was dismissed and Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) was engaged as principal accountants of the Company. The decision to change accountants was approved by the audit committee of the board of directors of the Company (the “Audit Committee”).

During the two fiscal years ended December 31, 2017, and the subsequent interim period through March 13, 2018, there were no (1) disagreements with KPMG on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedures, which disagreements if not resolved to their satisfaction would have caused them to make reference in connection with their opinion to the subject matter of the disagreement, or (2) reportable events, except that the reports of KPMG on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting of the Company as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 identified material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. See Exhibits 16.1 and 16.2 to this Form 8-K for a copy of KPMG’s reports on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting of the Company as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

The audit reports of KPMG on the consolidated financial statements of TerraForm Power, Inc. and subsidiaries as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor were they qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles, except that KPMG’s report on the consolidated financial statements of TerraForm Power, Inc. and subsidiaries as of and for the year ended December 31, 2016, contained a separate paragraph stating that “The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, SunEdison, Inc. (the Company’s sponsor) and certain of its affiliates filed for bankruptcy on April 21, 2016. The risk of substantive consolidation of the Company with SunEdison, Inc. and inclusion in the SunEdison, Inc. bankruptcy, as well as existing covenant defaults and risks of future covenant defaults under a number of the Company’s financing arrangements also discussed in note 1, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.” The audit reports of KPMG on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor were they qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles, except that KPMG’s reports indicate that the Company did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 because of the effect of material weaknesses on the achievement of the objectives of the control criteria and contain an explanatory paragraph indicating the material weaknesses identified (as described above).

The Company provided KPMG with a copy of this Current Report on Form 8-K prior to filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and requested that KPMG furnish a letter to the Company, addressed to the SEC, stating whether KPMG agrees with the disclosure above contained in this Form 8-K and, if not, stating the respects in which it does not agree. A copy of such letter is attached to this Form 8-K as Exhibit 16.3.

(b)    Engagement of New Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

On March 13, 2018, the Audit Committee engaged EY as the Company's independent registered





public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2018. During the two most recent fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 and during the subsequent interim period from January 1, 2018 through March 13, 2018, neither the Company nor anyone on its behalf consulted EY regarding either (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company's financial statements, and neither a written report nor oral advice was provided to the Company that EY concluded was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to any accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue, or (ii) any matter that was either the subject of a “disagreement” or a “reportable event”, each as defined Regulation S-K Item 304(a)(1)(iv) and (v), respectively.

Item 9.01 Financial Statement and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit No.
Description
KPMG Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on the Effectiveness of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting to the Board of Directors of TerraForm Power, Inc., dated as of July 21, 2017.
KPMG Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on the Effectiveness of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting to the Stockholders and Board of Directors of TerraForm Power, Inc., dated as of March 7, 2018.
Letter from KPMG to the Securities and Exchange Commission, dated as of March 19, 2018.








SIGNATURES
 
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
 
 
TERRAFORM POWER, INC.
 
 
 
 
Date: March 19, 2018
By:
/s/ Matthew Berger
 
Name:
Matthew Berger
 
Title:
Chief Financial Officer




Exhibit

Exhibit 16.1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm


The Board of Directors
TerraForm Power, Inc.:

We have audited TerraForm Power, Inc.’s (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2016, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). TerraForm Power, Inc.’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The following material weaknesses have been identified and included in Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting:

Ineffective (a) process to ensure that all employees, including management, and outsourced service providers, annually confirm their compliance with the Company’s Code of Business Conduct and that deviations from the expected standards of conduct are identified and remedied in a timely manner and (b) maintenance of a whistleblower hotline;

Ineffective Board oversight and management monitoring activities over financial reporting processes and internal controls;

Insufficient number of trained resources with assigned responsibility and accountability for financial reporting processes and the effective design and operation of internal controls;



Ineffective documented and continuous risk assessment process (a) to identify and analyze risks of financial misstatement due to error and/or fraud; (b) to identify and assess necessary changes in generally accepted accounting principles and financial reporting processes and internal controls impacted by changes in the business model resulting from growth from acquisitions, changes in information systems, changes at SunEdison and transition of key personnel; and (c) to ensure appropriate control activities were established through policies and procedures to carry out management's directives to mitigate risks to the Company's financial reporting objectives;

Ineffective information and communication processes to ensure that appropriate and accurate information is available to financial reporting personnel on a timely basis;

Ineffective general information technology controls over all operating systems, databases, and IT applications supporting financial reporting resulting in ineffective process‑level automated controls and compensating manual controls dependent upon the information derived from IT systems, and end‑user computing controls over spreadsheets used in financial reporting

Ineffective controls over the completeness, existence, and accuracy of revenues and the completeness, existence, accuracy and valuation of accounts receivable;

Ineffective reconciliation controls over the completeness, existence and accuracy of certain balance sheet accounts;

Ineffective controls over the completeness, existence and accuracy of expenses and accounts payable and accrued expenses;

Ineffective controls over the completeness, existence and accuracy of renewable energy facilities, accumulated depreciation, and depreciation expense;

Ineffective controls over the completeness, accuracy and presentation of restricted cash;

Ineffective controls over the completeness and accuracy of information used as part of goodwill impairment, long‑lived asset impairment and asset retirement obligations assessments, fair value measurements of underlying assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations, allocation of income between controlling and noncontrolling interest using the hypothetical liquidation of book value method, and debt covenant compliance and going concern evaluation processes.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of TerraForm Power, Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three‑year period ended December 31, 2016. These material weaknesses were considered in determining the nature, timing, and extent of audit tests applied in our audit of the 2016 consolidated financial statements, and this report does not affect our report dated July 21, 2017, which expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements. Our report on the consolidated financial statements dated July 21, 2017 contains an explanatory paragraph that states there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

In our opinion, because of the effect of the aforementioned material weaknesses on the achievement of the objectives of the control criteria, TerraForm Power, Inc. has not maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2016, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

/s/ KPMG LLP




McLean, Virginia
July 21, 2017


Exhibit

Exhibit 16.2
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm


To the Stockholders and Board of Directors
TerraForm Power, Inc.:

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited TerraForm Power, Inc. and subsidiaries’ (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our opinion, because of the effect of the material weaknesses, described below, on the achievement of the objectives of the control criteria, the Company has not maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2017, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements), and our report dated March 7, 2018 expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The following material weaknesses have been identified and included in management’s assessment:

The Company did not have sufficient resources, including contractors, in place throughout the reporting period with the appropriate training and knowledge of internal controls over financial reporting in order to establish the Company’s financial reporting processes and information technology (IT) systems and to design, implement and operate an effective system of internal control over financial reporting.

The Company did not conduct continuous risk assessment and monitoring activities over financial reporting and IT systems to identify and analyze risks of financial misstatement due to error and/or fraud and to identify and assess necessary changes in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and financial reporting processes and internal controls impacted by changes in the business, information systems, and transition of key personnel.

The Company did not have an effective information and communication process that ensured appropriate and accurate information was available to financial reporting personnel on a timely basis in order that they could fulfill their roles and responsibilities.

The Company did not have effective IT general controls over all operating systems, databases, and IT applications supporting financial reporting. Process-level automated controls and manual controls that were dependent upon the information derived from IT systems were also determined to be ineffective. Additionally, the Company did not have effective end-user computing controls over spreadsheets used in financial reporting.

The Company did not have effective controls over the completeness, existence, and accuracy of revenues and deferred revenue and the completeness, existence, accuracy and valuation of accounts receivable.

The Company did not have effective reconciliation controls over the completeness, existence and accuracy of certain balance sheet accounts. Specifically, the reconciliation controls did not always operate timely and did not adequately investigate, resolve and correct reconciling items on a timely basis.




The Company did not have effective controls over the completeness, existence and accuracy of accounts payable, accrued expenses, and expenses. Specifically, the Company did not establish an effective accounts payable voucher and disbursement process and related internal controls in order to review and approve and accurately record expenditures on a timely basis.

The Company did not have effective controls over the completeness, existence and accuracy of renewable energy facilities, accumulated depreciation and depreciation, accretion and amortization expense.

The Company did not have effective process level and management review controls over the application of GAAP and accounting measurements related to certain significant accounts and non-routine transactions.

The Company did not have effective process-level and management review controls over manual financial reporting processes. Specifically, the Company did not have effective controls over the completeness and accuracy of information used in manual spreadsheets and the accuracy of those spreadsheet formulas.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ KPMG LLP




McLean, Virginia
March 7, 2018


Exhibit


Exhibit 16.3

March 19, 2018
Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We were previously principal accountants for TerraForm Power, Inc. and, under the date of March 7, 2018, we reported on the consolidated financial statements of TerraForm Power, Inc. as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017. Additionally, under the date of July 21, 2017, we reported on the consolidated financial statements of TerraForm Power, Inc. as of and for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2016. On March 13, 2018, we were dismissed. We have read TerraForm Power, Inc.’s statements included under Item 4.01 of its Form 8-K dated March 19, 2018, and we agree with such statements, except that we are not in a position to agree or disagree with TerraForm Power, Inc.’s statement that the change was approved by the audit committee of the board of directors, and we are not in a position to agree or disagree with TerraForm Power, Inc.’s statements under Item 4.01(b).
This letter should not be regarded as in any way updating the aforementioned reports or representing that we performed any procedures subsequent to the date of such report.
Very truly yours,
/s/ KPMG LLP