Alliant Energy Corporation

Thank you for holding and welcome to Alliant Energy's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Today's conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Susan Gill, Investor Relations Manager at Alliant Energy.

Good morning and thank you for joining Alliant Energy's second quarter 2026 financial results conference call. Joining me today are Lisa Barton, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Robert Durian, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Following their prepared remarks, we will have time to take questions from the investment community. Last night, Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for joining us. Reconciliations to GAAP results are provided in the earnings release available on our website. At this point, I'll turn the call over to Lisa.

Thank you, Sue, and good morning, everyone. We delivered strong second quarter results and continue to execute well across our business. Despite milder weather during the first six months of the year, we are currently trending in the upper half of our 2026 earnings guidance range while advancing the investments and customer solutions that support our long-term growth strategy. Our strategy is anchored in the Alliant Energy Advantage, the ability to align customer growth, constructive regulation, flexible resource planning and disciplined execution in a way that benefits customers, communities and share owners. As previously announced, our efforts to date have resulted in an expectation of driving a 60% increase in our demand by 2031 through five executed electric service agreements with large load customers. Three of these large loads are already under active construction with commission-approved contracts. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Google has energized their transmission service. They are anticipating ramping in accordance with a contracted load schedule. Also in Cedar Rapids, QTS continues to make substantial progress on construction of its seven-building data center campus with initial energization of 300 megawatts anticipated later this year. In Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, META has entered the vertical construction phase with work actively progressing on data center facilities and supporting infrastructure. We are also encouraged by continued progress on future large load opportunities. QTS remains active in development of its second Iowa project in Clinton. We plan to file the ICR for this 900 megawatt project later this year. Our recently signed 370 megawatt data center agreement in Iowa announced on our Q1 call marks continued progress on our customer pipeline that currently represents between 2 and 4 gigawatts of potential future load. And as always, each of these loads are responsible for their cost of service while helping ensure existing customers benefit from growth opportunities without subsidizing new development. These opportunities are transformational for rural communities, expanding the local tax base, strengthening schools and essential services, enhancing infrastructure, and creating lasting economic growth and prosperity for generations to come. We are prioritizing local collaboration and readiness so our communities are well positioned to compete for and capture those benefits. A recent study by the Brattle Group reinforces this approach, finding that large new electricity users, such as data centers, can improve affordability for existing customers. That is what our approach is designed to do, ensure large load customers pay their own way while creating opportunities to further reduce costs for existing customers. It remains a cornerstone of our regulatory filings and demonstrates how disciplined growth can support reliability and long-term value for all customers. Building on the customer benefits generated through last year's fiber conduit lease agreement with Meta, this quarter we amended our agreement with QTS Cedar Rapids to support accelerated load growth, allowing them to accelerate their load ramp with firm and non-firm transmission. We also remain focused on disciplined financing and have been awarded approximately $50 million of Department of Energy grants for our Columbia Energy Center and Energy Dome projects. These are just a few of the strong examples of the Alliant Energy Advantage in action, working collaboratively with customers to support their growth objectives while creating broader benefits for all customers. Across our portfolio, we consistently transform strategic intent into measurable outcomes. Our team continues to execute exceptionally well across our customer investments while advancing the next generation of investments needed to serve customers and support economic development. In Iowa, we are refreshing our resource plan to support future regulatory filings and ensure our long-term resource plan remains aligned with evolving customer needs. This approach supports base rate stability and predictability for existing IPO retail electric customers through the end of the decade. During the quarter, we made meaningful progress across our generation portfolio, from placing additional generation resources into service to breaking ground on our new gas and wind investments, as well as advancing regulatory approvals. We are building momentum that positions us well for future growth. Robert will provide more detail on these developments in a moment. Before turning over to Robert, I would like to recognize our employees and especially our line workers following National Line Worker Appreciation Day earlier this month. Recent summer storms and summer heat has once again demonstrated the critical role our field and generation teams play in safely restoring service and supporting our customers when they need us most. Their commitment to safety, reliability, and operational excellence reflects the values that define Alliant Energy. I'll close with a recent milestone our team is proud of. In the recent J.D. Power study of Midwest large utility providers, we ranked number one in power reliability and safety. On behalf of the management team, we thank our employees who work tirelessly each day to provide the energy our customers and communities count on, fueling the economic engine of our communities. With that, I'll turn the call over to Robert.