Tallgrass Energy Partners Reports Record Fourth Quarter 2014 Results, Provides Update on Potential Acquisition of PXP Interest and Issues 2015 Financial Guidance

Tallgrass Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: TEP) ("TEP" or the "Partnership") today reported financial and operating results for the full year 2014. In addition, TEP's financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2013 have been recast to reflect the results of operations of Trailblazer Pipeline Company LLC ("Trailblazer"), which TEP acquired effective April 1, 2014, and Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline, LLC ("Pony Express"), of which TEP acquired a controlling 33.3% interest effective September 1, 2014. The financial results for all periods presented in the table below include the results of operations of Trailblazer and Pony Express, except for periods under the column "As Reported in 2013."

President and CEO David G. Dehaemers, Jr. said, "TEP delivered a solid fourth quarter which completes an outstanding full-year performance of which our team is very proud. Specifically, the quarterly distribution of $0.485 that was paid on February 13, 2015 represents 54 percent year-over-year distribution growth, which is among the highest distribution growth rates of the high-growth MLPs. Looking ahead, 2015 is off to a great start with the announcement of the potential acquisition of another 33.3 percent interest in Pony Express."

Segment Overview

The financial results for the Natural Gas Transportation & Logistics Segment for the twelve months ended December 31, 2013 have been recast to reflect the results of operations of Trailblazer, which TEP acquired effective April 1, 2014. The financial results for the Natural Gas Transportation & Logistics Segment for the twelve months ended December 31, 2013, under the column "As Reported in 2013" do not include Trailblazer's results of operations.

The segment reporting in the tables above do not include public company costs or intersegment eliminations.

Adjusted EBITDA in the Natural Gas Transportation & Logistics segment for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $15.5 million, representing a decrease of $2.1 million as compared to the recast fourth quarter of 2013, primarily due to higher revenues in the fourth quarter of 2013 which were the result of a payment received from Tallgrass Midstream for the buyout of its transportation contract on the TIGT System. Average firm contracted transportation capacity of 1,550 MMcf/d for the fourth quarter of 2014 was slightly higher than the 1,475 MMcf/d for the recast fourth quarter of 2013. When comparing the Natural Gas Transportation & Logistics segment's Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2014 to its $17.2 million of Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2014, the decrease is primarily attributable to higher natural gas sales and lower operating costs in the third quarter of 2014.

The Crude Oil Transportation & Logistics segment Adjusted EBITDA was $15.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2014 which was the first full quarter of commercial service for Pony Express. Due to the start-up of the pipeline, delays at the two joint tariff upstream pipelines that deliver volumes into Pony Express and the expected in-service of the lateral in Northeast Colorado in the first half of 2015, it is expected that transported volumes will continue to noticeably increase over the first half of 2015. TEP will receive from Pony Express at least a minimum quarterly preference payment of $16.65 million through the third quarter of 2015. The distributable cash flow generated by Pony Express for the fourth quarter of 2014 was greater than the $16.65 million distribution received by TEP with respect to its 33.3 percent interest.

The Processing & Logistics segment generated Adjusted EBITDA of $9.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, representing an increase of $1.9 million as compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The increase was primarily due to income from the fresh water transportation pipeline and increased processing volumes during the fourth quarter of 2014. Approximate average inlet volumes were 168 MMcf/day for the fourth quarter of 2014 as compared to 147 MMcf/day for the fourth quarter of 2013. When comparing the Processing & Logistics segment's $9.4 million of Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2014 to its Adjusted EBITDA of $8.6 million for the third quarter of 2014, the increase is primarily attributable to increased processing volumes during the fourth quarter of 2014.

Pony Express Acquisition

As previously announced, TEP has been offered the right to acquire an additional 33.3 percent interest in Pony Express from Tallgrass Development. If consummated, this would increase TEP's ownership interest in Pony Express to 66.7 percent. Terms of the offer have not been finalized, but it is currently expected that, if consummated, the purchase price would be approximately $700 million and would include some level of preferred distribution from Tallgrass Development similar to the structure of the initial acquisition.

The offer was received from Tallgrass Development pursuant to a right of first offer that is contained in the Omnibus Agreement executed between TEP and Tallgrass Development in connection with TEP’s initial public offering in May 2013. A Conflicts Committee of the board of directors of our general partner, consisting solely of independent directors, has been formed to evaluate the offer with assistance from external advisors to be engaged by the Conflicts Committee. No definitive transaction agreement has been executed yet and the proposed transaction remains subject to review, negotiations and approval by the Conflicts Committee and by the board of directors of TEP’s general partner. In conjunction with the proposed transaction, the parties made required filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and the waiting period for consummating the transaction has terminated.

Financial Outlook and Guidance

Assuming completion of the acquisition of an additional 33.3 percent interest in Pony Express, TEP expects Adjusted EBITDA of $205 - 225 million, distributable cash flow of $180 - 195 million and distribution coverage of 1.05 - 1.10x, for the year ended December 31, 2015. Furthermore, TEP expects its current annualized distribution rate of $1.94 to increase by approximately 20 percent for the calendar year 2015, and believes that it can deliver a minimum average compounded annual distribution growth rate (distribution CAGR) of at least 20 percent through 2017 or beyond.

Fourth Quarter Distribution

As previously announced, the board of directors of TEP's general partner declared a quarterly cash distribution to partners of $0.485 per common unit for the fourth quarter of 2014. This quarterly distribution represents $1.94 on an annualized basis. The quarterly distribution was paid on Friday, February 13, 2015, to unitholders of record as of the close of business on Monday, January 26, 2015.

Conference Call

Please join Tallgrass for a conference call and webcast to discuss fourth quarter 2014 results at 4:00 pm Central Time on Thursday, February 19, 2015. Interested parties may listen via a link posted on the Investor Relations section of our website and the replay will be available on our website for a limited time following the live call.

About Tallgrass Energy Partners, LP

Tallgrass Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: TEP) is a publicly traded, growth-oriented limited partnership formed to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets in North America. We currently provide natural gas transportation and storage services for customers in the Rocky Mountain and Midwest regions of the United States through our Tallgrass Interstate Gas Transmission and Trailblazer Pipeline systems. We provide crude oil transportation to customers in Wyoming and the surrounding region, servicing the Bakken oil production area of North Dakota and eastern Montana through our membership interest in Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline. We also provide services for customers in Wyoming through Tallgrass Midstream at our Casper and Douglas natural gas processing and our West Frenchie Draw natural gas treating facilities and we provide water business services to customers in Colorado and Texas through BNN Water Solutions. Our operations are strategically located in and provide services to certain key United States hydrocarbon basins, including the Denver-Julesburg, Powder River, Wind River, Permian and Hugoton-Anadarko Basins and the Niobrara, Mississippi Lime, Eagle Ford and Bakken shale formations.

To learn more, please visit our website at www.tallgrassenergy.com.

Non-GAAP Measures

Adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow are non-GAAP supplemental financial measures that management and external users of our combined financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies, may use to assess:

• our operating performance as compared to other publicly traded partnerships in the midstream energy industry, without regard to historical cost basis or, in the case of Adjusted EBITDA, financing methods;

• the ability of our assets to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to our unitholders;

• our ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures; and

• the viability of acquisitions and other capital expenditure projects and the returns on investment of various expansion and growth opportunities.

We believe that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow provides useful information to investors in assessing our financial condition and results of operations. Adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow should not be considered alternatives to net income, operating income, cash from operations or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP, nor should Adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow be considered alternatives to available cash, operating surplus, distributions of available cash from operating surplus or other definitions in our partnership agreement. Adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow have important limitations as analytical tools because they exclude some but not all items that affect net income and net cash provided by operating activities. Additionally, because Adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow may be defined differently by other companies in our industry, our definition of Adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, thereby diminishing their utility.

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding the impact of interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, non-cash income or loss related to derivative instruments, non-cash long-term compensation expense, impairment losses, gains or losses on asset or business disposals or acquisitions, gains or losses on the repurchase, redemption or early retirement of debt, and earnings from unconsolidated investments, but including the impact of distributions from unconsolidated investments. We define distributable cash flow as Adjusted EBITDA, plus preferred distributions received from Pony Express in excess of its distributable cash flow attributable to our net interest and adjusted for deficiency payments received from or utilized by Pony Express shippers, less cash interest expense, maintenance capital expenditures, and distributions to noncontrolling interests in excess of earnings allocated to noncontrolling interests. Neither Adjusted EBITDA nor distributable cash flow will be impacted by changes in working capital balances that are reflected in operating cash flow. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please see "Summary Financial Information" above.

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Disclosures in this press release contain “forward-looking statements.” All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that management expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, forward-looking statements contained in this press release specifically include the date on which the Northeast Colorado Lateral is expected to be placed in-service, the ability to consummate the acquisition of an additional interest in Pony Express, as well as timing, purchase price and other terms of that transaction, the earnings and cash distribution accretion expected to be realized by TEP as a result of a potential acquisition of an additional interest in Pony Express, TEP’s 2015 financial outlook and guidance and TEP’s expected average compounded annual distribution growth rate in future periods. Forward looking statements may also include the expectations of plans, strategies, objectives and growth and anticipated financial and operational performance of Tallgrass Energy Partners and its subsidiaries, including: the ability to pursue expansions and other opportunities for incremental volumes; natural gas production growth in Tallgrass Energy Partners' operating areas; expected future benefits of acquisitions or expansion projects; timing of anticipated spending on planned expenses and maintenance capital projects; and distribution rate and growth, including variability of quarterly distribution coverage. These statements are based on certain assumptions made by Tallgrass Energy Partners based on management’s experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, anticipated future developments and other factors believed to be appropriate. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Tallgrass Energy Partners, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed by the forward-looking statements. These include risks relating to Tallgrass Energy Partners’ financial performance and results, availability of sufficient cash flow to pay distributions and execute its business plan, the demand for natural gas storage, processing and transportation services and for crude oil transportation services, operating hazards, the effects of government regulation, tax position and other risks incidental to transporting, storing and processing natural gas or transporting crude oil and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including those set forth in reports filed by Tallgrass Energy Partners with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement applies only as of the date on which such statement is made and Tallgrass Energy Partners does not intend to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Financial Statements