Xcel Energy Inc.

Good day and welcome to the Xcel Energy 2018 Year-End Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Paul Johnson, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning and welcome to Xcel Energy's 2018 Year-End Earnings Conference Call. Joining me today are Ben Folk, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Bob Frenzel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In addition, we have other members of the management team available to answer your question. This morning, we will review our 2018 results and update you on recent business and regulatory developments. Slides that accompany today's call are available on the website. On today's call, we will discuss certain ongoing earning metrics that are non-GAAP measures. Terrible GAAP measures and a reconciliation are included in our earnings release. As a reminder, some of the comments used during today's conference call may contain forward-looking information. Significant factors that could cause results to differ from those anticipated are described in our earnings release and our fines with the SEC. I'll now turn the call over to Ben.

Well, thank you, Paul, and good morning. And I say good morning, but as you all probably know, it is brutally cold here in Minnesota, and I'd like to thank the men and women of Accel who've worked so hard to keep the gas flowing and the electricity on over these last few days. I'd say with just a few exceptions, our system has held up remarkably well and that's due to their dedication and commitment, so thank you. So 2018 was an excellent year with a long and impressive list of accomplishments. Let me share a few of them with you. We reported ongoing EPS of $2.47 in 2018, and this was our 14th consecutive year of meeting or exceeding our earnings guidance. We increased our long-term EPS growth target rate to 5 to 7 percent. We raised our dividend by 8 cents, which represents the 15th straight year we've increased our dividend. We completed our equity issuances for the five-year forecast period and don't plan any additional equity beyond our dividend reinvestment and benefit programs. Our stock hit an all-time high closing price of $53.68 in December. We secured approval for over 1,000 megawatts of new wind in Texas and New Mexico, our Colorado energy plan, 300 megawatts of wind in South Dakota. We completed construction of our 600 megawatt Rush Creek wind farm on time and under budget. We reached agreements to purchase the 760 megawatt Mankato natural gas combined cycle plant for $650 million and to acquire 70 megawatts of repowered wind farms for $135 million. We expect both acquisitions to be approved later this year. Our nuclear plants combined to achieve a capacity factor of almost 96% while reducing O and M costs by almost 3%. We filed an electric vehicle pilot program in Minnesota. We resolved tax reform proceedings in most jurisdictions with a final resolution in North Dakota expected later this year. I'm also very proud that our actions have been noticed by others resulting in numerous awards, including being recognized by fortune magazine, as one of the world's most admired companies for the fifth consecutive year, being honored by the Military Times as Best for Vets employer for the fifth consecutive year, and being named Utility of the Year by Utility Dive. So 2018 was a great year, but we're now focused on 2019 and beyond. Leading the clean energy transition continues to be a strategic priority for us as we carry out Xcel Energy's vision to be our customers' preferred and trusted energy provider, also helping us to achieve two other strategic priorities, keeping our customer bills low and enhancing the customer experience. We're a national leader in wind energy through our Steel for Fuel strategy, which adds renewables while at the same time lowering bills. As a result, we've made outstanding progress, achieving a 39 percent reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 levels. But we want to do even more. which is why we set a vision to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2030. Longer term, we expect to deliver our customers 100% carbon-free energy by 2050. These are the most ambitious carbon goals within the electric power industry, and I'm confident with supportive public policy we can achieve the 80% interim goal while keeping our bills affordable and our product reliable. Technology has come a long way in the last 10 years, and it gives me confidence that our 100 percent carbon-free goal can be met as well. We look forward to working with our regulators, legislators, and stakeholders to implement our plans across the jurisdictions we serve. We're also very focused on our customers. Earlier this month, we entered into agreements to provide electric service to a proposed new Google data center located on property adjacent to our Sherco plant in Minnesota. As you may remember, back in 2015, we announced our intention to close two of the Sherco coal units. This particular location for the new data center will create jobs, bring investment to the state, and benefit all of our customers. And consistent with our goal to lead the clean energy transition, we are planning to serve the data center's energy needs with 100% renewable energy. And I believe our environmental leadership will lead to even more economic development opportunities over time. We also recently filed to expand our pilot Renewable Connect program in Minnesota. Renewable Connect allows customers to choose how much of their energy comes from renewable sources. It's been extremely popular and has commission approval in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wisconsin. This is yet another way for us to add renewable energy and meet the needs of our customers. Importantly, Renewable Connect does not negatively impact the bills of non-participants. We anticipate that future expansions at Google and the Renewable Connect program will create potential renewable ownership opportunities for Excel. So with that, let me turn the call over to Bob, who will provide more detail on our financial results and outlook and a regulatory update. Bob?