regulations, including guidance related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; the costs of complying with the Renewable Fuel Standard, including the prices paid for renewable identification numbers (“RINs”); shortages or cost increases of power supplies, natural gas, materials or labor; hurricane or other weather interference with business operations; our ability to access the debt and equity markets; accidents or other unscheduled shutdowns; and general economic, market, business or political conditions, including inflationary pressures, instability in financial institutions, general economic slowdown or a recession, political tensions, conflicts and war (such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and its regional and global ramifications).
For additional information regarding factors that could cause our actual results to differ from our projected results, please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including the risk factors and other cautionary statements in our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC.
We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and you should not rely unduly on them, as they involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that we cannot predict. In addition, we have based many of these forward-looking statements on assumptions about future events that may prove to be inaccurate. While our management considers these assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, our actual results may differ materially from the future performance that we have expressed or forecast in our forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law. Certain public statements made by us and our representatives on the date hereof may also contain forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained above.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Our management uses certain non-GAAP performance measures to analyze operating segment performance and non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate past performance and prospects for the future to supplement our financial information presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). These financial and operational non-GAAP measures are important factors in assessing our operating results and profitability and include performance measures along with certain key operating metrics.
We use the following financial performance measures:
EBITDA: We define EBITDA for any period as net income (loss) attributable to partners plus interest expense (including amortization of debt issuance costs), income taxes and depreciation and amortization. Historically, we considered net income (loss) to be the most directly comparable GAAP measure to EBITDA. Commencing with the third quarter of 2022, we reported net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest related to the preferred equity investment from Warburg Pincus in the Montana Renewables business. As a result of this change, we believe net income (loss) attributable to partners is the most directly comparable GAAP measure to EBITDA.
Adjusted EBITDA: We define Adjusted EBITDA for any period as: EBITDA adjusted for (a) impairment; (b) unrealized gains and losses from mark to market accounting for hedging activities; (c) realized gains and losses under derivative instruments excluded from the determination of net income (loss) attributable to partners; (d) non-cash equity-based compensation expense and other non-cash items (excluding items such as accruals of cash expenses in a future period or amortization of a prepaid cash expense) that were deducted in computing net income (loss) attributable to partners; (e) debt refinancing fees, extinguishment costs, premiums and penalties; (f) any net gain or loss realized in connection with an asset sale that was deducted in computing net income (loss) attributable to partners; (g) amortization of turnaround costs; (h) LCM inventory adjustments; (i) the impact of liquidation of inventory layers calculated using the LIFO method; (j) RINs mark-to-market adjustments; and (k) all extraordinary, unusual or non-recurring items of gain or loss, or revenue or expense.
