The Southern Company

Good afternoon. My name is Dina and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Southern Company third quarter 2023 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. At that time, if you have a question, please press the one followed by the four on your telephone. If at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator, please press star zero. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded November 2nd, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Mr. Scott Gemmell, Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasurer. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Dina. Good afternoon and welcome to Southern Company's third quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining me today are Chris Womack, President and Chief Executive Officer of Southern Company, and Dan Tucker, Chief Financial Officer. Let me remind you we'll be making forward-looking statements today in addition to providing historical information. Various important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, including those discussed in our Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, and subsequent filings. In addition, we'll present non-GAAP financial information on this call. Reconciliations to the applicable GAAP measure are included in the financial information we released this morning, as well as the slides for this conference call, which are both available on our investor relations website at investor.southerncompany.com. At this time, I'll turn the call over to Chris.

Thank you, Scott. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us this afternoon. Our premier state regulated electric and gas utilities and Southern Power continued to perform well during the third quarter. Plant Vogel Unit 3 has continued to operate at 100% reactive power since being declared in service July 31st. And we expect to deliver on our adjusted financial targets for 2023. Before Dan provides an overview of our financial results, I'd like to provide an update on several announcements since our last call. First, we continue to see economic growth across our Southeast service territories. We are excited about the important role our utilities play in attracting new jobs and investment to our states and communities and are proud of the recent recognition for those efforts as Alabama Power and Georgia Power were each named a top utility for economic development by Site Selection Magazine, with Georgia Power's recognition representing the 25th consecutive year for this honor. Last Friday, Georgia Power filed an update to its integrated resource plan. Economic development in Georgia has accelerated over the past couple of years and is contributing to extraordinary projected electricity usage growth which is significantly larger than historic levels. Electric transportation manufacturing and its supporting supplier base have been major contributors to the state's success, along with new data centers to support increased computing power needs and the growing digital economy. With this 2023 IRP update, Georgia Power is proposing additional investments into Georgia's energy future to provide economical energy solutions that should benefit our customers and communities for generations to come. Building upon the plan approved in Georgia Power's 2022 IRP, the 2023 IRP update seeks to continue the utilization of a diversified approach to help ensure resilience, reliability and flexibility on behalf of customers. And Georgia Power has requested that the Georgia Public Service Commission evaluate this update by the end of April 2024. In late September, Southern Power announced the acquisition of the 150 megawatt South Cheyenne solar facility in Wyoming and the 200 megawatt Miller's Branch solar facility in Texas. Commercial operation of the facilities is expected in 2024 and 2025, respectively. These projects represent Southern Power's 29th and 30th solar facilities, which are the newest additions to a portfolio of 5,500 megawatts of carbon-free generating capacity. Consistent with the projects in Southern Power's existing portfolio, these new projects include long-term contracts and counterparties with strong credit support. Additionally, Alabama Power's Berry Unit 8 was successfully placed in service yesterday on schedule and on budget. This 720 megawatt combined cycle unit is expected to be one of the most efficient natural gas plants in the country. Consistent with the proposed resource plan in Georgia Power's 2023 IRP update, We believe we are well positioned to continue applying our expertise and experience in constructing new natural gas and renewable generating units to serve our region's growing needs. Last week, we announced a memorandum of understanding between Southern Company and the U.S. General Services Administration to develop carbon-free electricity solutions for federal facilities across our Southeast Service Territory. The agreement documents are intent to collaborate on development of a roadmap that, when executed, will lead to federal agencies buying more carbon-free electricity in the region. We view this exciting partnership as another important contribution towards Southern Company's goal of reaching net zero by 2050. And finally, last Wednesday, we issued our annual sustainability summary highlighting the great progress that we've made as we continue to advance clean energy, lead through innovation, invest in our people, and serve and elevate the communities that we have the privilege to serve. We have worked with our states, customer groups, communities, regulators, policymakers, and other stakeholders to develop strategic solutions to deliver clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy to serve our growing economies. I'll now turn the call over to you for a financial update.