Via Renewables, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the VIA Renewables first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. My name is Melissa, and I will be your operator for today. If anyone should require operator assistance during the call, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes, and this call will be posted on VIA Renewable Inc.' 's website. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Stephen Rabelais with VIA Renewables Inc. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to VIA Renewables first quarter 2023 earnings call. This call is also being broadcast via webcast, which can be located in the investor relations section of our website at viarenewables.com. With us today for management is our CEO Keith Maxwell and our CFO Mike Barajas. Please note that today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements, which are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. Actual results may differ materially. We urge everyone to review the safe harbor statement in yesterday's earnings release, as well as the risk factors in our SEC filings. We undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of future events, except as required by law. In addition, we will refer to both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. For information regarding our non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, please refer to yesterday's earnings release. With that, I'll turn the call over to Keith Maxwell, our CEO.

Thank you, Steven. I want to welcome everyone to today's earning call. I will begin by providing a summary of results for the first quarter, and then our CFO, Mike Brahas, will provide more details on the financials. In the first quarter, we reported an adjusted EBITDA of $18.8 million, which is 74% increase from our prior first-year quarter of $10.8 million. This was mainly due to an increase in the gross margin driven by commodity prices falling from their peaks. Also, the first quarter, we grew our customer base organically, ending the quarter up 8,000 RCEs from the end of 2022. The organic growth is a welcome complement to our inorganic acquisitions. Our goal is to continue this trend and provide long-term sustainability and growth. Looking further into 2023, we're focused on financial flexibility. On April 19th, the board made a decision to suspend the dividend on our common stock. The decision was made so that we may better manage market volatility while also strengthening our balance sheet. With the improved cash flow, we'll provide more opportunities for further growth, both organically and inorganically. We are closely monitoring the market conditions and we thoroughly evaluate the best timing to reinstate the dividend on the Class A common stock. We continue to believe in the future of the company and our ability to enhance long-term shareholder value and return. This concludes my prepared remarks. I'll now turn the call over to Mike for his financial review. Mike?