We are a Delaware corporation and our common stock has been publicly traded since February 2011.

You should read the following in conjunction with our auditedaccompanying consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto. We have prepared our accompanying consolidated financial statements under GAAP and the rules and regulations of the SEC. Our accounting records are maintained in U.S. dollars and all references to dollars in this report are to U.S. dollars, except where stated otherwise. Our accompanying consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our majority-owned and/or controlled subsidiaries, and all significant intercompany items have been eliminated in consolidation. The address of our principal executive offices is 1001 Louisiana Street, Suite 1000, Houston, Texas 77002, and our telephone number at this address is (713) 369-9000.

Competition

We are one of the largest independent operators of liquids terminals in North America, based on barrels of liquids terminaling capacity.  Our liquids terminals compete with other publicly or privately held independent liquids terminals, and terminals owned by oil, chemical, pipeline, and refining companies.  Our bulk terminals compete with numerous independent terminal operators, terminals owned by producers and distributors of bulk commodities, stevedoring companies and other industrial companies opting not to outsource terminaling services.  In some locations, competitors are smaller, independent

Source and operateTransportation Activities

Competition

Interstate Common Carrier Refined Petroleum Products and Oil Pipeline Rate Regulation - U.S. Operations

Some of our U.S. refined petroleum products and crude oil gathering and transmission pipelines are interstate common carrier pipelines, subject to regulation by the FERC under the Interstate Commerce Act, or ICA. The ICA requires that we maintain our tariffs on file with the FERC. Those tariffs set forth the rates we charge for providing gathering or transportation services on our interstate common liquids carrier pipelines as well as the rules and regulations governing these services. The ICA requires, among other things, that such rates on interstate common liquids carrier pipelines be “just and reasonable” and nondiscriminatory. The ICA permits interested persons to challenge newly proposed or changed rates and authorizes the FERC to suspend the effectiveness of such rates for a period of up to seven months and to investigate such rates. If, upon completion of an investigation, the FERC finds that the new or changed rate is unlawful, it is authorized to require the carrier to refund the revenues in excess of the prior tariff collected during the pendency of the investigation. The FERC also may investigate, upon complaint or on its own motion, rates that are already in effect and may order a carrier to change its rates prospectively. Upon an appropriate showing, a shipper may obtain reparations for damages sustained during the two years prior to the filing of a complaint.

Petroleum products and crude oil pipelines may change their rates within prescribed ceiling levels that are tied to an inflation index. Shippers may protest rate increases made within the ceiling levels, but such protests must show that the portion of the rate increase resulting from application of the index is substantially in excess of the pipeline’s increase in costs from the previous year. A petroleum products or crude oil pipeline must, as a general rule, utilize the indexing methodology to change its rates. Cost-of-service ratemaking, market-based rates and settlement rates are alternatives to the indexing approach and may be used in certain specified circumstances to change rates.

CPUC Rate Regulation

The intrastate common carrier operations of our PacificWest Coast Refined Products operations’ pipelines in California are subject to regulation by the CPUC under a “depreciated book plant” methodology, which is based on an original cost measure of investment. Intrastate tariffs filed by us with the CPUC have been established on the basis of revenues, expenses and investments allocated as applicable to the California intrastate portion of the PacificWest Coast Refined Products operations’ business. Tariff rates with respect to intrastate pipeline service in California are subject to challenge by complaint by interested parties or by independent action of the CPUC. A variety of factors can affect the rates of return permitted by the CPUC, and certain other issues similar to those which have arisen with respect to our FERC regulated rates also could arise with respect to its intrastate rates. The intrastate rates for movements in California on our SFPP and Calnev systems have been, and may in the future be, subject to complaints before the CPUC, as is more fully described in Note 17 “Litigation, Environmental and Other Contingencies” to our consolidated financial statements.CPUC.

Railroad Commission of Texas (RCT) Rate Regulation

The intrastate operations of our crude oil and liquids pipelines and natural gas pipelines and storage facilities in Texas are subject to regulation with respect to such intrastate transportation by the RCT. The RCT has the authority to regulate our rates, though it generally has not investigated the rates or practices of our intrastate pipelines in the absence of shipper complaints.

Mexico - Energy Regulatory Commission

The Mier-Monterrey Pipeline has a natural gas transportation permit granted by the Energy Regulatory Commission of Mexico (the Commission) that defines the conditions for the pipeline to carry out activity and provide natural gas transportation service. This permit expires in 2026.

This permit establishes certain restrictive conditions, including without limitationlimitation: (i) compliance with the general conditions for the provision of natural gas transportation service; (ii) compliance with certain safety measures, contingency plans, maintenance plans and the official standards of Mexico regarding safety; (iii) compliance with the technical and economic specifications of the natural gas transportation system authorized by the Commission; (iv) compliance with certain technical studies established by the Commission; and (v) compliance with a minimum contributed capital not entitled to withdrawal of at least the equivalent of 10% of the investment proposed in the project.

Mexico - National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection (ASEA)

ASEA regulates environmental compliance and industrial and operational safety. The Mier-Monterrey Pipeline must satisfy and maintain ASEA’s requirements, including compliance with certain safety measures, contingency plans, maintenance plans and the official standards of Mexico regarding safety, including a Safety Administration Program.

Safety Regulation

We are also subject to safety regulations imposedissued by PHMSA, including those requiring us to develop and maintain pipeline Integrity Managementintegrity management programs to comprehensively evaluate areas along our pipelines and take additional measures to protect pipeline segments located in what are referred to as High Consequence Areas, or HCAs, and Moderate Consequence Areas, or MCAs, where a leak or rupture could potentially do the most harm.

During September 2019, PHMSA finalized rules to be effective July 1, 2020 to expand integrity management program requirements to hazardous liquids pipelines outside of HCAs (with some exceptions) and  to make certain other changes to those program requirements, including data integration and  emphasis on the use of in-line inspection technology.  During October 2019, PHMSA finalized rules to require operators of natural gas pipelines to (i) expand integrity management program requirements outside of HCAs (with some exceptions), and (ii) reconfirm maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) on certain pipelines in populated areas including HCAs.  The ultimate costs of compliance with pipeline Integrity Management rules are difficult to predict.MAOP reconfirmations must be completed by 2035. Changes in technology such as advances of in-line inspection tools, identification of additional integrity threats and changes to the amount of pipe determined to be located in HCAsPHMSA regulations can have a significant impact on costs to perform integrity testing and repairs. We plan towill continue our pipeline integrity testing programs to assess and maintain the integrity of our existing and future pipelines as required by PHMSA regulations. These testsThe costs to comply with integrity management program requirements are difficult to predict.  Tests performed as part of our program could result in significant and unanticipated capital and operating expenditures for repairs upgrades and/or upgradesrepairs deemed necessary to ensurecontinue the continued safe and reliable operation of our pipelines. We expect to increase expenditures in the future to comply with these PHMSA regulations.

The Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2016 or “PIPES Act of 2016” requires PHMSA, among others,other regulators, to set minimum safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities and allows states to go above thoseset more stringent standards for intrastate pipelines. In compliance with the PIPES Act of 2016, we have implemented procedures for underground natural gas storage facilities.

The Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, which was signed into law in 2012, increased penalties for violations of safety laws and rules and may result in the imposition of more stringent regulations in the next few

From time to time, our pipelines or facilities may experience leaks and ruptures. These leaks and ruptures may cause explosions, fire, damage to the environment, damage to property and/or personal injury or death. In connection with these incidents, we may be sued for damages caused by an alleged failure to properly mark the locations of our pipelines and/or to properly maintain our pipelines.damages. Depending upon the facts and circumstances of a particular incident, state and federal regulatory authorities may seek civil and/or criminal fines and penalties.

We are also subject to the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other federal and state agencies that address employee health and safety.  In general, we believe current expenditures are addressingfulfilling the OSHA requirements and protecting the health and safety of our employees.  Based on new regulatory developments, we may increase expenditures in the future to comply with higher industry and regulatory safety standards.  However, such increases in our expenditures, and the extent to which they might be offset, cannot be estimated at this time.

State and Local Regulation

OurCertain of our activities are subject to various state and local laws and regulations, as well as orders of regulatory bodies, governing a wide variety of matters, including marketing, production, pricing, pollution, protection of the environment, and human health and safety.

Marine Operations

The operation of tankers and marine equipment create maritime obligations involving property, personnel and cargo under General Maritime Law. These obligations create a variety of risks including, among other things, the risk of collision, which may precipitateresult in claims for personal injury, cargo, contract, pollution, third partythird-party claims and property damages to vessels and facilities.

We are subject to the Jones Act and other federal laws that restrict maritime transportation (between U.S. departure and destination points) to vessels built and registered in the U.S. and owned and mannedcrewed by U.S. citizens. As a result, we monitor the foreign ownership of our common stock and under certain circumstances consistent with our certificate of incorporation, we have the right to redeem shares of our common stock owned by non-U.S. citizens. If we do not comply with such requirements, we would be prohibited from operating our vessels in U.S. coastwise trade, and under certain circumstances we would be deemed to have undertaken an unapproved foreign transfer, resulting in severe penalties, including permanent loss of U.S. coastwise trading rights for our vessels, fines or forfeiture of the vessels. Furthermore, from time to time, legislation has been introduced unsuccessfully in the U.S. Congress to amend the Jones Act to ease or remove the requirement that vessels operating between U.S. ports be built and registered in the U.S. and owned and mannedcrewed by U.S. citizens.  If the Jones Act were amended in such fashion, we could face competition from foreign flaggedforeign-flagged vessels.

In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping maintain the most stringent regime of vessel inspection in the world, which tends to result in higher regulatory compliance costs for U.S.-flag operators than for owners of vessels registered under foreign flags of convenience. The Jones Act and General Maritime Law also provide damage remedies for crew members injured in the service of the vessel arising from employer negligence or vessel unseaworthiness.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1936 is a federal law that provides the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, upon proclamation by the U.S. President of a national emergency or a threat to the national security, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation the authority to requisition or purchase any vessel or other watercraft owned by U.S. citizens (including us, provided that we are considered a U.S. citizen for this purpose). If one of our vessels were purchased or requisitioned by the U.S. government under this law, we would be entitled to be paid the fair market value of the vessel in the case of a purchase or, in the case of a requisition, the fair market value of charter hire.

Our business operations are subject to federal, state provincial and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection pollution and human health and safety in the U.S. and Canada.safety. For example, if an accidental leak, release or spill of liquid petroleum products, chemicals or other hazardous substances occurs at or from our pipelines, or at or from our storage or other facilities, we may experience significant operational disruptions, and we may have to pay a significant amount to clean up the leak, release or spill, pay for government penalties, address natural resource damages, compensate for human exposure or property damage, install costly pollution control equipment or a combination of these and other measures. Furthermore, new projects may require approvals and environmental analysis under federal and state laws, including the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. The resulting costs and liabilities could materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, emission controls required under federal state and provincialstate environmental laws could require significant capital expenditures at our facilities.

Environmental and human health and safety laws and regulations are subject to change. The clearlong term trend in environmental regulation is to place more restrictions and limitations on activities that may be perceived to affect the environment, wildlife, natural resources and human health. There can be no assurance as to the amount or timing of future expenditures for environmental regulation compliance or remediation, and actual future expenditures may be different from the amounts we currently anticipate. Revised or additional regulations that result in increased compliance costs or additional operating restrictions, particularly if those costs are not fully recoverable from our customers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

In accordance with GAAP, we accruerecord liabilities for environmental matters when it is probable that obligations have been incurred and the amounts can be reasonably estimated. This policy applies to assets or businesses currently owned or previously disposed. We have accrued liabilities for estimable and probable environmental remediation obligations at various sites, including multi-party sites where the EPA, or similar state or Canadian agency has identified us as one of the potentially responsible parties. The involvement of other financially responsible companies at these multi-party sites could increase or mitigate our actual joint and several liability exposures.

Hazardous and Non-Hazardous Waste

We generate both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes that are subject to the requirements of the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and comparable state and Canadian statutes. From time to time, the EPA, as well as other U.S. federal and state and Canadian regulators, consider the adoption of stricter disposal standards for non‑hazardous waste. Furthermore, it is possible that some wastes that are currently classified as non-hazardous, which could include wastes currently generated during our pipeline or liquids or bulk terminal operations or wastes from oil and gas facilities that are currently exempt as exploration and production waste, may in the future be designated as hazardous wastes. Hazardous wastes are subject to more rigorous and costly handling and disposal requirements than non-hazardous wastes. Such changes in the regulations may result in additional capital expenditures or operating expenses for us.

Superfund

The CERCLA or the Superfund law, and analogous state laws, impose joint and several liability, without regard to fault or the legality of the original conduct, on certain classes of potentially responsible persons for releases of hazardous substances into the environment. These persons include the owner or operator of a site and companies that disposed or arranged for the disposal of the hazardous substances found at the site. CERCLA authorizes the EPA and, in some cases, third parties to take actions in response to threats to the public health or the environment and to seek to recover from the responsible classes of persons the costs they incur, in addition to compensation for natural resource damages, if any. Although petroleum is excluded from CERCLA’s definition of a hazardous substance, in the course of our ordinary operations, we have and will generate

Clean Air Act

Clean Water Act

Our operations can result in the discharge of pollutants. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, as amended, also known as the Clean Water Act, and analogous state laws impose restrictions and controls regarding the discharge of fills and pollutants into waters of the U.S. The discharge of fills and pollutants into regulated waters is prohibited, except in accordance with the terms of a permit issued by applicable federal state or Canadianstate authorities. The Oil Pollution Act was enacted in 1990 and amends provisions of the Clean Water Act pertaining to prevention of and response to oil spills. Spill prevention, control and countermeasure requirements of the Clean Water Act and some state and Canadian laws require containment and similar structures to help prevent contamination of navigable waters in the event of an overflow or release of oil.

EPA Revisions to Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS)

As required by the Clean Air Act, the EPA establishes National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for how much pollution is permissible, and then the states then have to adopt rules so their air quality meets the NAAQS.  In October 2015, the EPA published a rule lowering the ground level ozone NAAQS from 75 ppb to a more stringent 70 ppb standard.  This change triggerstriggered a process under which the EPA will designatedesignated the areas of the country that are in or out of attainmentcompliance with the new NAAQS standard.  Then,Now, certain states will have to adopt more stringent air quality regulations to meet the new NAAQS standard.  These new state rules, which are expected in 2020 or 2021, will likely require the installation of more stringent air pollution controls on newly installednewly-installed equipment and possibly require the retrofitting of existing KMI facilities with air pollution controls.  Given the nationwide implications of the new rule, it is expected that it will have financial impacts for each of our business units.

Climate Change

At the state level, more than one-third of the states, either individually or through multi-state regional initiatives, already

Some climaticMany climate models indicate that global warming is likely to result in rising sea levels, increased intensity of hurricanes and tropical storms, and increased frequency of extreme precipitation and flooding. We may experience increased insurance premiums and deductibles, or a decrease in available coverage, for our assets in areas subject to severe weather. To the extent these phenomena occur, theyThese climate-related changes could damage our physical assets, especially operations located in low-lying areas near coasts and river banks, and facilities situated in hurricane-prone and rain-susceptible regions. However, the timing, severity and location of these climate change impacts isare not known with any certainty and, in any event, these impacts are expected to manifest themselves over a longvarying time horizon. Thus, we are not in a position to say whetherhorizons.

Department of Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security, referred to in this report as the DHS, has regulatory authority over security at certain high-risk chemical facilities. The DHS has promulgated the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards and required all high-risk chemical and industrial facilities, including oil and gas facilities, to comply with the regulatory requirements of these standards. This process includes completing security vulnerability assessments, developing site security plans, and implementing protective measures necessary to meet DHS-defined, risk basedrisk-based performance standards. The DHS has not provided final notice to all facilities that it determines to be high risk and subject to the rule; therefore, neither the extent to which our facilities may be subject to coverage by the rules nor the associated costs to comply can currently be determined, but it is possible that such costs could be substantial.

We employed 10,89711,086 full-time peoplepersonnel at December 31, 2017,2019, including approximately 801954 full-time hourly personnel at certain terminals and pipelines covered by collective bargaining agreements that expire between 20182020 and 2022.2023. We consider relations with our employees to be good.

Most of our employees are employed by us and a limited number of our subsidiaries and provide services to one or more of our business units. The direct costs of compensation, benefits expenses, employer taxes and other employer expenses for these employees are allocated to our subsidiaries. Our human resources department provides the administrative support necessary to implement these payroll and benefits services, and the related administrative costs are allocated to our subsidiaries pursuant to

Properties

We believe that we generally have satisfactory title to the properties we own and use in our businesses, subject to liens for current taxes, liens incident to minor encumbrances, and easements and restrictions, which do not materially detract from the value of such property, the interests in those properties or the use of such properties in our businesses.  Our terminals, storage facilities, treating and processing plants, regulator and compressor stations, oil and gas wells, offices and related facilities are located on real property owned or leased by us.  In some cases, the real property we lease is on federal, state provincial or local government land.

We generally do not own the land on which our pipelines are constructed.  Instead, we obtain the rightand maintain rights to construct and operate the pipelines on other people’s land generally under agreements that are perpetual or provide for a period of time.renewal rights.  Substantially all of our pipelines are constructed on rights-of-way granted by the apparent record owners of such property.  In many instances, lands over which rights-of-way have been obtained are subject to prior liens that have not been subordinated to the right-of-way grants.  In some cases, not all of the apparent record owners have joined in the right-of-way grants, but in substantially all such cases, signatures of the owners of a majority of the interests have been obtained.  Permits have been obtained from public authorities to cross over or under, or to lay facilities in or along, water courses, county roads, municipal streets and state highways, and in some instances, such permits are revocable at the election of the grantor, or, the pipeline may be required to move its facilities at its own expense.  Permits also have been obtained from railroad companies to run along or cross over or under lands or rights-of-way, many of which are also revocable at the grantor’s election.  Some such permits require annual or other periodic payments.  In a few minor cases, property for pipeline purposes was purchased in fee.by the Company.

We make available free of charge on or through our internet website, at www.kindermorgan.com, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The information contained on or connected to our internet website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this or any other report that we file with or furnish to the SEC.

 

You should carefully consider the risks described below, in addition to the other information contained in this document. Realization of any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

Our businesses are dependent on the supply of and demand for the products that we handle.